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Chapter 25: Higher Drop Rates
"So... so amazing..."
The Elf girl, Lefiya Viridis, covered her mouth, her blue eyes filled with shock.
Today, she was just accompanying Ais Wallenstein, whom she admired most, to the Dungeon to clear her mind. Because Ais was concerned about the new monster types, they had come to the upper floors together. With their strength, they could practically walk sideways through the upper zones. Even the newly appeared Rock Shieldwall Mitachurls, which had reached the level of high-tier Level 1, couldn't withstand a casual strike from Ais.
However, as the frequency and variety of monsters increased again, the two traveled onward and unknowingly arrived at the 6th Floor, where they witnessed that battle. In Lefiya's eyes, that wasn't just a battle; it was a perfect concerto.
That white-haired young man faced the siege of what could be called a monster army alone, yet he remained at ease the entire time. Sometimes he used sword skills for precise and lethal kills; other times he used that unheard-of, ferocious sonic bombardment for long-range suppression. The transition between offense and defense was smooth and flowing, without a single wasted movement.
And the silver-purple-haired girl who had just revealed her true face acted perfectly every time. Whether it was clearing distant threats or forcing aerial units to move, her support attacks always appeared at the most critical nodes, creating the best attack opportunities for her companion.
Lefiya found it hard to imagine that these were two rookies who should be adventuring on the upper floors. Even the most elite companions in the Loki Familia couldn't have achieved such perfect coordination when they were rookies. Moreover, a monster group like that would be incredibly tricky even for veteran adventurer parties. But these two clearly weren't Level 2 adventurers. No Level 2 would hang around the upper floors; it provided no training effect and yielded almost no experience points.
And that silver-purple-haired girl's beauty...
Lefiya looked at Robin in the distance, exclaiming in her heart. In the Loki Familia, Ais's beauty was already comparable to a Goddess, and the Vice-Captain, the High Elf Riveria, was equally magnificent. But this girl before her, in both appearance and that calm, elegant temperament, was in no way inferior to them. Such a stunning beauty being unknown in Orario could only mean one thing—they were newcomers who had arrived in the city recently.
Standing beside her, the "Sword Princess" Ais, though silent, had her golden eyes locked tightly onto Aiden's figure, seemingly deeply interested in his fighting style. As high-level adventurers, they could both see that although the battle seemed perilous, the rhythm had been firmly in the white-haired young man's hands from start to finish.
The Dungeon had an unwritten rule: unless an adventurer actively asked for help, kill-stealing was forbidden. Therefore, the two only watched from a distance without making any extra moves. When the battle ended and Aiden was picking up magic stones, his gaze naturally shifted toward the shadows in the distance. Realizing they were discovered, Lefiya smiled awkwardly, showing a trace of apology, then gently tugged at the corner of Ais's clothes, signaling that they should leave. Ais withdrew her gaze and nodded. The two turned and left silently.
Only then did Robin have the chance to pull her hood back up, covering her overly conspicuous face.
"Just now... our battle was seen," she said softly, a hint of worry in her tone. "Will there be any trouble?"
She had just exposed her appearance. Given humanity's pursuit of beauty, she was worried this would attract unnecessary trouble. Sometimes, being too beautiful was simply a burden.
"It's fine. It was people from the Loki Familia," Aiden shook his head, signaling her not to worry.
He remembered Ais and Lefiya from his memories of the original work. Both were kind and upright characters. Their Loki Familia, although led by a Goddess who used to be a prank-loving Evil God, had now "gone straight" under the Familia's influence and was considered a decent group. Among the two King Familias of Orario, compared to the Freya Familia—which acted domineeringly and took the Goddess's personal whims as the highest standard—the Loki Familia was much easier to get along with and would be a good partner in the future.
Due to the unique nature of his skill, the Focalors Familia was destined not to recruit adventurers in large numbers like other Familias. At least for now, Aiden only planned to let the companions he summoned join. This meant the Familia's numbers would remain small. However, exploration-type Familias, once reaching a certain level, would be forced by the Guild to conduct Expeditions into the dangerous lower or even deep floors.
An Expedition was never a great undertaking that a few people could complete. Massive supplies and the loot along the way required a large number of hands to transport and process. At that time, a Joint Expedition with other powerful Familias would become an inevitable choice. And the Loki Familia was undoubtedly an excellent partner. Of course, the current Focalors Familia didn't have the qualifications yet, and the Loki Familia wouldn't look twice at their meager strength. But in the future, who could say?
They could certainly choose to abandon the loot and conduct Expeditions purely for training and adventure, but looking at those glittering magic stones and rare drops, Aiden felt that would be too much of a waste.
...
Although their stats had achieved a leap in growth within a single day, and Aiden held specification-defying magic, they knew clearly where their limits lay. The monster group on the 6th Floor had required their full effort; going deeper would only increase the risk unnecessarily.
So, for the entire next day, Aiden and Robin stayed on the 6th Floor, exploring no further down. And the harvest from this day was abnormally rich.
Because of Aiden's Abyss Gazed Back skill, the otherworldly monsters that appeared dropped magic stones of far higher quality and materials of far greater value than the original Dungeon monsters of the same level. More importantly, their drop rate was astonishingly high; almost every monster killed left behind a piece of loot. By the end of the day, the giant sacks the two used to carry loot were more than half full.
This secret was actually discovered by other adventurers as well. When another adventurer party took a huge risk to kill a Rock Shieldwall Mitachurl and found a magic stone a size larger and of higher quality than its peers under its ashen remains, the spark of greed was ignited. News spread like it had wings, moving rapidly through the Dungeon entrance and the Guild Hall.
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