Within Orario, the Underground Labyrinth is segmented and defined separately.
Approximately every 12 floors, the monsters' levels undergo qualitative changes, with difficulty escalating dramatically across tiers.
Currently, the Guild categorizes the Dungeon into Upper Floors, Middle Floors, Lower Floors, Deep Floors, and Unknown Floors.
The Unknown Floors refer to unexplored territories where no Familia has yet reached—no one knows what they look like or what monsters exist there.
A thousand years ago, the Dungeon was not like this.
Back then, when surface races lacking divine blessings, they were subjected to one-sided massacres by monsters emerging from the Dungeon.
If the gods hadn't sent spirits to the lower world and ushered in the Age of Heroes, all surface races would have faced complete extinction.
However, the Age of Heroes eventually came to an end.
What followed is the present era—the Age of Gods.
The great god Ouranos not only brought the Divine Blessing but also personally stationed himself in the Dungeon, using immense divine power to suppress it and prevent monsters from reaching the surface.
Because of this, the Dungeon's rules are fundamentally shaped by the power of the gods.
Consequently, the Dungeon's hatred for the gods is bottomless.
The strength of Upper Floor monsters is defined by adventurer status levels as roughly Level 1.
Monsters up to the 3rd floor are not only weak but also have long respawn intervals, making combat difficulty very low.
"So our party has four members including me," Noah stood before the Dungeon entrance, waiting.
Two from the Hephaestus Familia and two from the Loki Familia, just as he had guessed.
The joint exploration partner was indeed with the Loki Familia.
For production-type Familias like Hephaestus, whose members are blacksmiths, being unfamiliar with combat is unavoidable.
Thus, cooperation with combat-oriented familia becomes crucial.
Building good relationships between Familia members and up-and-coming blacksmiths is undoubtedly beneficial in every way.
Typically, Familias form parties exclusively with their own members to maintain information secrecy.
For instance, details like someone possessing a unique skill are personal privacy—similar to status values, there's no obligation to disclose them.
The Guild only requires adventurers to disclose their levels.
To conceal their trump cards, Familias inevitably remain wary of each other.
If another Familia used such information to target them in a War Game and they lost, the Familia would be finished.
Therefore, adventurers in principle do not reveal their status values or specific skills.
The gods love humanity, but it's a one-sided affection, not benevolent love.
It's not uncommon for gods to wage war to obtain exceptional children, so weaker Familias naturally must hide their talented members.
The Loki Familia doesn't need such precautions.
Because they were aiming to reign supreme, those who shake the world have no reason to care about such matters.
Moreover, their advantages are simply that overpower.
Even if you knew, you couldn't do anything about it—whoever has the higher level calls the shots, a fundamental rule among adventurers.
This approach could be described as absolute confidence born from their own strength.
He just didn't know who would come today—would it be someone he recognized?
"Sorry, have you been waiting long?"
At that moment, the other member of the Hephaestus Familia arrived.
Noah turned to him with a slight smile. "No, we're still early. I'm just overexcited since it's my first time entering the Dungeon."
"Haha, you'll get used to it soon, don't worry. I'm Taro, pleased to meet you."
"I'm Noah."
"Now we just need to wait for the Loki Familia members to gather before setting off. Aren't you curious about who they'll be? I'll tell you—I already know."
This Taro dude really warms up quickly.
Is this what they call being an extrovert?
"It's a girl, right? I can guess from your reaction," Noah said calmly.
"You figured it out but aren't excited? Well, at your age, this might be too early for you."
"..."
"Ah, I think I see them! Wait... more kids?"
"Sorry for being a kid," Noah sighed with a complaint.
"Wait, woah! There's an elf girl too! Yahoo!"
'Hey now.'
'Is this guy in his crazy horny phase? He's seriously annoying.'
Noah watched as the two figures approached.
First was Ais—yes, it was Ais Wallenstein who had helped him a few days ago, the future Sword Princess.
Beside her was an elf girl.
Due to elves' near-halted aging after adulthood, her age was indistinguishable.
Truth seeker activated.
'17 years old.'
Quite young indeed.
But her strength shouldn't be underestimated—a Level 2 upper-tier adventurer.
"Looks like everyone's here! Let's introduce ourselves," Taro said first.
"I'm Taro, Level 1, usually play vanguard. My weapon is this great axe—my masterpiece!"
Taro hefted the large axe from his back.
That he could swing the heavy weapon single-handedly without trembling suggested his Strength stat was at least D—meaning he'd met one of the sublimation conditions.
Adventurers need two requirements to level up:
First, achieve a D-rank or higher in any ability value.
Second, accomplish sufficient great feats.
Regardless, Taro's strength was unexpectedly impressive—he could be considered late-stage or even peak Level 1.
Speaking of which.
"Ais, could you stop staring at me..."
Unable to endure the girl's gaze, Noah had to speak up.
This piqued the elf girl's interest.
"Oh? Ais, you know this little guy?" the elf girl smiled. "I'm Alicia, Level 2, a mage. Pleased to meet you."
After introducing herself, Alicia turned to Ais.
But Ais, after silently watching Noah for a moment, suddenly turned her face away and coldly spoke,
"No, he's a stranger."
"Ehhh—?" Alicia sounded confused. "But you've been staring at him since we got here, and he called you by name."
"Hmph."
Ais puffed her cheeks slightly.
"I don't know him! I definitely don't know him at all!"
----
Mana = mind to make it easier.