The battle ended very quickly. It was a complete crushing victory, yet everyone in the party felt it was reasonable. After all, even more unbelievable things had happened last night.
However, noticing that Zephyr had no intention of collecting monster meat after killing the Silverbacks, for some reason, Charles scratched his head, feeling a sense of emptiness in his heart.
He asked, "Zephyr, why aren't you collecting the monster meat?"
"Huh?"
Zephyr looked at the Silverback corpses on the ground. Compared to this type of primate monster, the Dungeon Lizards, Needle Rabbits, and Infant Dragon they had encountered before were clearly much easier to accept.
He was just about to speak when he heard Charles's explanation, "I feel like monster meat doesn't seem that hard to accept. For today's Dungeon exploration, I didn't even bring a lunch box. I was just waiting for you to cook."
When saying this, Charles himself almost couldn't hold it together. When exactly did he start to subconsciously believe that monster meat was edible?
Clearly, before coming to Orario, his only thought upon seeing this stuff was just the thrill of battle.
However, looking at the Silverback corpse in the distance, he felt in his heart that some things could never return to the way they were before.
"The more I think about it, the more delicious it tastes."
"?"
He hadn't even added any seasoning to this stuff!
But thinking that cooking was just a simple task for him now, Zephyr did not refuse Charles's idea of wanting a free meal.
"Lili has plenty of Infant Dragon meat left over from yesterday in her backpack. It's enough for us to have as lunch, so don't worry."
"Really?"
Recalling that sumptuous dragon meat hot pot, Charles felt himself drooling inexplicably, but he knew that the environment for Dungeon exploration was relatively crude, wanting to eat that well was certainly unrealistic.
After receiving Zephyr's nod of approval, Charles turned his head and scanned the party members who had just finished this battle.
He suggested, "The next part is the middle floors, how about we rest here?"
"No problem."
"I heard that in the middle floors, the strength of the monsters will increase. Adjusting our condition will help us better cope with the upcoming battles."
"Yeah "
"At this current pace, advancing to the safe floor is just a matter of time."
The people in the party expressed their opinions one after another.
Zephyr was certainly willing. Since the party members had all tasted the dragon meat hot pot, he didn't even need to be particularly discreet about cooking anymore.
Finding a relatively flat rock platform nearby, he took out the processed Infant Dragon meat from Lili's backpack, the gathered firewood, and the cooking utensils. When he was about to start a fire and set up the pot, Zephyr looked up.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lefiya gradually approaching, her brows slightly furrowed, clearly somewhat distracted. She seemed preoccupied, as if she had something to say to him.
After spending time together over this period, especially that night when he went to find Soma to update his status and met Lefiya just as he came out, Zephyr clearly realized that this slightly strange elf in front of him was the type of person who kept many thoughts bottled up inside, just like now.
He took the initiative to ask, "Lefiya, is there something you want to tell me?"
"..."
"If it's because you didn't prepare a lunch box, don't worry about lunch. The Infant Dragon meat I brought is enough for everyone in the party to eat."
"..."
How could he associate this with eating!
But looking at the Infant Dragon meat, which she had eaten last night and tasted good, Lefiya nodded impulsively. "Then... thank you."
"No, wait..."
Realizing she had been led astray by him, she immediately shook her head.
She lowered her head, not daring to meet Zephyr's gaze directly, and continued, "Actually... I'm looking for you... it's just that I wanted to ask, do you have any... thoughts about joining the Loki Familia?"
Zephyr's eyes showed some surprise.
Was this reasonable? It was reasonable.
With the talent he currently possessed, it was normal to receive an invitation. After all, when updating his status last night, it was impossible for Loki not to have seen it.
From an objective perspective, as a top-tier familia in Orario, the Loki Familia was definitely the most suitable place for his future development as an Adventurer at this stage.
Resources, intelligence, equipment support... everything was top-tier.
He could also gain opportunities for deep Dungeon exploration, meaning stronger monsters, higher quality ingredients, and faster growth.
'It seems there is no reason to refuse.'
Setting aside other identities, as a Gourmet Hunter, the quality of ingredients determined the speed of growth. The depth of the Dungeon that the Loki Familia could reach far exceeded the range he could currently reach on his own.
The 20th floor, the 30th floor, or even deeper areas—what kind of improvement could the monsters inhabiting those places bring?
What kind of monster talents could be acquired through Gourmet Cells?
Just thinking about it filled Zephyr's heart with anticipation.
However...
He looked at Lili not far away, who was crouching by the rock wall munching on her lunch. Since he had to choose a familia, he definitely had to take Lili into consideration. After all, he couldn't have developed smoothly until now without the help Lili provided.
Lefiya and he were both very familiar friends, so he had no intention of beating around the bush.
He asked directly, "Lefiya... if I agree to join the Loki Familia, can I bring Lili along? I feel that when exploring the Dungeon, having familiar partners makes me feel more at ease."
"Besides, I can't just abandon my former partners because I have a better future, right?"
As expected!
It didn't exceed Lefiya's expectations. Zephyr could even risk his life to save his partners, so saying something like this was actually quite normal.
The most critical point—last night, she had just asked Loki.
Lefiya nodded with a light smile, her tone lighthearted. "I think Loki-sama would be very happy to welcome you to the Familia."
"Then I have no reason to refuse."
"After the Dungeon exploration ends today, shall I take you there?"
Facing the invitation proactively issued by Lefiya, Zephyr pondered for a moment and did not answer directly.
He knew that Loki could agree entirely because of the talent he possessed. If it were just himself, he wouldn't have any psychological burden. But after all, he was bringing Lili along.
The other party was willing to do this favor out of goodwill, but that didn't mean he could accept it with peace of mind.
In other words, since Loki chose him because of the talent he possessed, he had to use his talent to prove that this choice was flawless.
How to prove it?
It's simple. At my current rate of improvement, it will take at most 2-3 days to likely push all my stats to their limit.
When the time came, even with Lili in tow, Loki wouldn't hesitate at all.
Noticing Lefiya's puzzled expression, he smiled and explained, "Give it a couple of days. I want to wait until my stats reach their limit before transferring to the Loki Familia, and I can update my status and rank up at the same time. That way, it won't be so much trouble."
"Okay."
Having received Zephyr's definitive answer, Lefiya's heart finally settled.
Lefiya was very satisfied, her curved eyes overflowing with gentleness. "Loki-sama will surely be very happy about your arrival."
"Yeah."
Just as Lefiya wanted to say something more, she realized that Zephyr had already turned his head and continued cooking his monster cuisine.
The Infant Dragon meat slices in the pot were flipped over, fat oozing out as a rich aroma spread through the corridor. The edges of the meat had been seared by the high heat of the pot, locking in the juices inside, which sizzled under the high temperature.
"..."
Lefiya felt powerless. They had just been discussing the path of an Adventurer's development, and he turned around and started cooking. She still hadn't fully gotten used to this speed of switching gears.
But for some reason, she was looking forward to seeing Zephyr serving monster cuisine to the Familia seniors during future Dungeon explorations.
Just how bizarre would their expressions be?
Just thinking about it, her lips curved into an arc. She didn't continue to disturb Zephyr's cooking and returned to the temporary camp where the rest of the party was.