The combat power displayed by the Hestia Familia sent shockwaves through the entirety of Orario. The strength of those two women was simply beyond absurd.
News of the events at the Denatus spread like wildfire. No one expected the Hestia Familia, newcomers to the city, to possess such overwhelming might.
Within the Freya Familia's headquarters, Freya couldn't help but turn to Ottar. "Ottar, what did you make of those two?"
Facing her inquiry, Ottar spoke with a heavy, solemn expression. "They are strong. Especially the black-haired woman who appears so gentle... She is extremely dangerous."
The sense of dread Ottar felt from Yor Forger was far more intense than what he felt from Natsuki Minamiya. While Natsuki possessed an aura of danger, it wasn't nearly as visceral as the threat Yor posed.
A truly monstrous individual. Her level is definitely higher than mine... She might even be Lv.8.
The thought made Ottar's expression darken further. A "crossing dragon" had truly arrived in Orario.
Hearing Ottar's assessment, a glimmer of interest flashed in Freya's eyes. "Otherworlders, huh? How intriguing. Their souls are quite brilliant as well."
It was a pity. Since they had already reached such a level of power, it was impossible for her to force them into her own Familia. However, she wondered about the other members of the Hestia Familia.
"Otherworlders..." Freya whispered, her curiosity piqued. "Those sent here must all be quite exceptional, wouldn't you say? I think I'll observe them for a few days."
In truth, she wasn't the only one. Many in the city were filled with both curiosity and wariness toward the visitors from another world. Hestia had mentioned they even possessed God Slayers.
It was simply ridiculous. How exactly did they slay a god? It was a question worth exploring. Exactly what kind of unlucky deity had been killed by the people from that side?
Ren Isana remained blissfully unaware of the stir in the city. Since the group was in a Safe Floor, everyone had managed to get a good night's sleep.
The following morning, Ren and the others woke up one by one. After washing up and eating some of the rations they had brought, they resumed their operation. Their objective for the day remained the 16th floor.
After packing up their camp, they headed toward the passage leading to the 17th floor. As they reached the tunnel, they encountered many other adventurers. These people carried massive rucksacks.
Inevitably, these were adventurers returning from the lower floors, heading back to the surface.
Ren glanced at them briefly but didn't pay them much mind. The other adventurers likewise looked over Ren's group. After all, it was rare to see such a large party descending all at once.
However, once they realized they didn't recognize the Familia emblem, they lost interest and continued their trek back to the surface with their heads down.
The group arrived at the 17th floor once more. No monsters had spawned yet. Ren and the others didn't linger, pushing through to the 16th floor. Just like the previous day, they split up to hunt.
They spent the entire day in combat, only gathering at noon to rest and eat lunch. By evening, they returned to the 18th floor to rest.
In this short span of time, everyone was gradually acclimating to life in the Dungeon. Without teammates, the Dungeon was an incredibly lonely place.
Fortunately, Ren had organized them into four-person squads. Having someone to talk to was vital; otherwise, the oppressive environment would have driven them to a breaking point.
At times, the Dungeon felt far too claustrophobic. If one stayed in such a place year-round, they would likely develop psychological issues.
Though exhausted by the end of the day, everyone was quite satisfied. Their haul was massive. The materials collected from this trip alone were enough for Ren to give everyone's weapons a significant upgrade.
After several days of fighting, everyone's weapons were more or less chipped. This was the result of constant clashes with monsters; there were simply too many enemies for their blades to keep up.
Back on the 18th floor that evening, Asuna looked at her weapon with a pained expression. It was frustrating. This weapon, which she had purchased for a high price, already had several notches in the blade.
The tip of her sword was even slightly bent. The others were in an even worse state, as their equipment wasn't as high-quality as Asuna's.
"This is ridiculous. It's been such a short time, and the weapons are already like this!" Asuna grumbled. The quality of her blade wasn't low, but in this Dungeon, it seemed it wasn't quite up to the task.
"That's why this world has all sorts of enchanted weapons—features like [Automatic Repair] or being [Indestructible]. Everyone, work hard to earn Valis. At the very least, we should all have decent weapons by the time we head back, right?" Ren said as he examined his own Tang Dao.
His blade didn't suffer from such issues. Because it had been personally forged by Hephaestus-sama, it possessed two enchantments: [Automatic Repair] and [Sharpness].
These two attributes made Ren's weapon incredibly powerful. With [Automatic Repair], any damage to the blade would slowly fix itself if left alone.
Of course, if he injected [Magic Power] into it, the recovery was even faster. If possible, Ren hoped his weapon could gain the [Indestructible] attribute, similar to Ais Wallenstein's Desperate Monster.
As long as a weapon was [Indestructible], other attributes didn't matter as much. One single [Indestructible] tag was worth everything else. Thinking of this, Ren began to ponder.
How should I upgrade this weapon to have the [Indestructible] attribute? It was currently one step away from being a top-tier weapon, but that required the sword to drink blood—specifically, the blood of a god.
When upgrading a weapon, its existing traits could usually be enhanced as well. He would just need to add specific rare materials. To put it simply, [Automatic Repair] was essentially a half-finished version of the [Indestructible] attribute.
Ren's words caused Asuna and the others to nod in agreement. However, they were still relying on Ren since he was the only one among them who knew how to forge.
If they went to a local blacksmith... they didn't even know how many materials they'd have to farm just to afford the labor. The price for a god-tier blacksmith to forge a weapon was astronomical; they couldn't afford that.
"We can only collect the materials and let you handle the forging then," Asuna said with a smile. It was their only option if they wanted to bring back high-quality gear.
"That's fine. Just collect more materials, and I'll forge them for you slowly. But if you want even better weapons, we'll have to go deeper." Ren shrugged. This meant that the group would simply have to get stronger.
They would have to venture into more dangerous territory to obtain superior materials. Relying on materials from the upper floors would never yield a truly great weapon.
Everyone understood this logic. Power brought better weapons, and that was their goal. After chatting for a while, they began preparing dinner.
The camp where Ais and her party had been staying was now empty. They had still been there when Ren's group left in the morning, but they were gone now.
Likely, they had returned to the surface. Ren didn't dwell on it and focused on eating with the group.
During the meal, Ren laid out the plan for the next day. "Tomorrow, we'll head back to the 16th floor. We'll start heading back to the surface around noon and aim to leave the Dungeon before dark."
If they didn't return to the surface before nightfall, the entrance would be closed. This was a rule in Orario to prevent monsters from escaping the Dungeon at night.
No one had any objections to the arrangement, but Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but ask, "When are we coming back next?"
Yukino was becoming somewhat addicted to fighting in the Dungeon. She could clearly feel herself becoming stronger, and she wanted to maintain that momentum.
"In a few days. This trip back is mainly to update our statuses and upgrade everyone's weapons. Otherwise, your gear won't hold up," Ren explained after glancing at her.
Yukino nodded. That made sense. The others agreed as well; their weapons really were at their limit.
"Aside from that, for tomorrow's activity, we'll all stay together. We'll find a monster room and grind for half a day to practice our teamwork." The further down they went, the more critical team cooperation became, yet they hadn't actually fought as a cohesive unit.
The only time they had worked together was in the dungeons back in their original world, but even then, they mostly fought as individuals.
So, for their final day, Ren intended for everyone to coordinate. At the very least, they needed some basic synergy.
Hearing Ren's plan, no one objected. It was for the best. They would simply follow Ren's lead; whatever he said, they would do.
The group quickly finished their food and handled their personal hygiene, finding spots to wash up.
Once everything was done, they prepared for sleep. However, Ren didn't plan on resting just yet. He intended to visit the town on this floor to see if there were any valuable materials worth buying.
Just as Ren was about to leave, Asuna returned from washing up. Seeing Ren moving out, she asked curiously, "Where are you going?"
Ren looked at Asuna, whose hair was still slightly damp. "I'm going to check out the town. If there are materials, I'll buy some."
Asuna's eyes lit up. "Then I'm coming with you. Wait for me!"
With that, Asuna dashed back to her tent. Moments later, she emerged with her Spatial Backpack and joined Ren's side.
Ren didn't say anything, silently leading the way toward the town. The two left the camp together. Some of their classmates saw them, but no one spoke up.
Most wanted to rest. They weren't like Ren, who seemed to have bottomless energy and acted as if a full day of combat was nothing. They didn't have that kind of stamina yet, so sleep was the priority.
As for Megumi Kato and Yukino, they were still washing up with the other girls, so they didn't know Ren and Asuna had left.
By the time Ren and Asuna arrived at the town, it was at its liveliest. Many adventurers had returned to the Safe Floor from below, and small parties were setting up stalls in the market.
They were processing the loot they had harvested that day. Additionally, there were "porters" walking around with massive bags—people specifically hired to buy materials and haul them back to the surface to resell.
As Asuna followed Ren into the settlement, she couldn't help but frown at the smell. The place was a cocktail of various unpleasant odors.
The stench coming off some of the people was enough to make her gag. She slightly regretted following Ren, or at the very least, she wished she had brought a mask. As a person from the modern world, this was hard to stomach.
Just as she was considering leaving, Ren handed her a mask. "Put this on."
Asuna hastily took it and pulled it over her face. Only then did she feel a bit better. The idea of people adventuring for days in the Dungeon without bathing was... terrifying, to say the least.
With their masks on, the two began browsing the town. Ren's eyes scanned the stalls. Most sold monster drops and Magic Stones.
Beyond that, there were ores mined from the Dungeon. These ores were Ren's true target. After a quick circuit, Ren's gaze landed on some silver-white minerals. He walked over with Asuna and asked, "How much for this Star Silver Ore?"
The stall owner looked up. Noticing they were masked, he paused for a moment before quoting a price. "50,000 Valis."
Since Ren could name the ore on sight, he clearly knew his stuff. There was no point in trying to scam him; the owner just wanted to sell it quickly so he could go back to his camp and rest.
"Fine. I'll take it all." Ren nodded. The price was reasonable—actually cheaper than on the surface. Without hesitation, he bought the lot.
After settling the payment, Ren placed the ore into Asuna's Spatial Backpack and continued browsing. Whenever he saw useful materials, he bought them without a second thought.
Materials here were far cheaper than in the city above. By the time they were done, Ren had spent nearly a million Valis on various ores and supplies.
He didn't buy many monster parts. Once they finished their rounds, Ren led Asuna out. She hadn't said a word the entire time, only speaking once they cleared the town limits.
"Ugh, if I'd known, I wouldn't have come. That smell was awful." Asuna was a bit grumpy. She had been far too impulsive; she really shouldn't have gone in there.
"Well, I'll just come alone in the future. The materials here are much cheaper, so it's worth making special trips to stock up." Ren was quite satisfied with the haul.
Specifically, the combination of those ores could be used for enchanting. Although this type of enchantment would be relatively weak, it would be sufficient for now.
"Cheap is fine, but the people in there are so filthy!" Asuna grumbled. She made a mental note to over-prepare for future Dungeon trips.
She would definitely bring more water down. She had seen the state of some female adventurers back there...
She absolutely did not want to end up like that.
Ren looked at Asuna with a faint, amused smile. It seemed this little excursion had taught her just how difficult the Dungeon could be. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Among the materials I just collected, there's a combination that can be used for an enchantment. I can add an attribute called [Durability] to everyone's weapons." Ren began the walk back, explaining the plan.
[Indestructible], [Automatic Repair], and [Durability] were all part of the same enchantment family. [Durability] was the lowest tier, but it would be enough to get them through.