The Loki Familia currently had three Level 6 adventurers, who also happened to be the three core veteran members of the Familia: Nine Hell, Braver, and Elgarm.
These three came from the elf, palum and dwarf races, respectively.
Honestly, it was a pretty bizarre combination.
From what Noah understood about the Loki Familia, their expeditions were usually led by Braver—the Level 6 palum, Finn.
That guy was an incredibly rare strategist.
Not only was he the captain of the Loki Familia, but he also possessed one of the absolute sharpest minds not just in the labyrinth city, but in the entire world.
However, this time around, the one leading the team wasn't Finn.
It was Nine Hell, the city's strongest mage.
Honestly, maybe this was for the best? If it was Riveria, she could completely flip the tide of a battle with just a single spell, even if some crazy abnormal situation popped up.
You could basically call her a walking disaster.
Ever since that whole incident with Syr, Noah had put a lot more strict restrictions on how he used his Appraisal.
At the very least, he definitely wasn't going to recklessly try and peek at Riveria's stats.
After all, it was highly unlikely he'd actually get anything useful out of it.
The level gap between them was just way too massive—he was a freshly minted Level 2, while she was a peak Level 6 adventurer.
He probably wouldn't get anything beyond her name anyway.
Right around then, Riveria noticed Tsubaki and Noah walking up.
She greeted Tsubaki first, since the two of them were already pretty familiar with each other.
"Tsubaki, you made it."
"Yep, and I brought our junior along, too."
"With your participation, this expedition should proceed much more smoothly. Thank you," Riveria said with a polite smile.
Honestly, this whole scene felt a bit weird.
It was common knowledge that elves were an insanely proud and noble race with a severe hatred for anything unclean.
They especially couldn't stand rough, unkempt, and rowdy dwarves.
The two races were pretty famous for absolutely despising each other.
Looking at it from that angle, Riveria was definitely more of a true adventurer than someone blindly tied down by old racial habits.
But then again, of course she was.
Everyone has to start from the bottom and grow out of their weakness.
Even Alfia, the woman the gods constantly praised as the absolute most "talented," was no exception to that rule.
From her humble beginnings all the way to effortlessly slaying the sea Leviathan in a single strike, you could only imagine just how much she had to struggle and push through in the Dungeon.
Riveria was definitely the exact same way.
An elegant elf who hated getting even a speck of dirt on her clothes had no choice but to brutally fight her way through the muddy labyrinth.
Her willpower was undeniably terrifying!
"Is this child the one you mentioned before...?"
"Ah, yep! This is Noah-boy."
"Hm? Noah?"
Riveria's eyes shifted slightly as she quietly repeated the kid's name.
She actually found the name strangely familiar, like she had just heard it recently—maybe even just last night—straight from her own goddess, Loki.
On top of that... both Ais and Alicia had definitely brought him up more than once.
"Is something wrong?" Tsubaki asked, immediately catching her subtle reaction.
But Riveria just shook her head. "It's nothing."
During the pre-expedition briefing, Noah and Tsubaki just stood off to the side as external support, quietly observing the rest of the Loki Familia.
Up at the very front of the formation, Ais clearly wasn't paying attention to the meeting at all, instead turning her head to stare toward the back.
The clean-cut, black-haired boy was standing totally aloof from the rest of the group, carrying that massive, heavy pack on his back.
His metal-gauntleted hands gripped the shoulder straps tightly while he just stood there with a completely blank expression.
"Very similar..." Ais murmured softly to herself.
The boy's quiet figure really reminded her of her past self—back when she was still a weaker version of herself.
Alicia had obviously noticed Noah too, though right now definitely wasn't the appropriate occasion to go catch up.
She leaned in and whispered to Ais, "Let's go say hi to him later. Otherwise, Riveria is definitely going to get mad at us."
In reality, Noah was actually busy scanning the ranks himself, trying to pick out any faces he recognized from his memory.
Riveria obviously went without saying, then there was Alicia, Ais, and that incredibly plain-looking guy over there that he almost mistook for a random bystander—Raul Nord.
Without even needing to think about it, the cat-person girl standing right next to him had to be Anakitty Autumn.
He remembered that those two were from the exact same cohort and were considered pretty good friends within the Familia.
These guys likely made up the absolute core of the Loki Familia's second-string members.
"Are we really the only supporters?" Noah asked Tsubaki, who was standing right next to him.
"Nope, the Loki Familia should be bringing their own personnel, too. After all, I have my own personal objectives for this trip, so they're gonna have to handle picking up all the dropped loot themselves."
"Got it. Then it must be those two Level 3s standing over there."
"Hey!" Tsubaki instantly caught his implication and shot him a sharp warning glare.
"Don't go abusing your damn skill on them. It's terrifying."
She knew right away that Noah had just casually used Truth Seeker to appraise the Loki Familia's second-string members.
What an absolutely fearsome ability to have.
Just being looked at could leak all your vital information—something that would be strategically fatal in a real battle.
"Our main destination is the deep floors—specifically, the White Palace down on the 37th floor. Everyone is to strictly follow Finn's formation. Absolutely no unauthorized deviations from the path, and that means especially you, Ais!" The elf mama called her out directly, causing Ais to immediately turn her face away to avoid eye contact.
"Do not get complacent just because I am accompanying you all today. Listen well—I absolutely will not intervene unless we are facing a party-wiping crisis!" Riveria announced loudly.
"Now, we will advance rapidly straight down to the 18th floor safe zone. I will not tolerate anyone falling behind!"
Her words were incredibly stern, carrying a heavy, imposing pressure.
Yet, the members of the Loki Familia didn't show a single ounce of hesitation—their gazes were totally firm, and some even looked crazy eager.
"As expected of the Loki Familia. This is exactly how it should be," Tsubaki remarked with an impressed smile.
She patted Noah heavily on the back, signaling him to keep up as the group finally prepared to move out.
The massive 24-member expedition team quickly arranged themselves into a clearly defined, strict formation and aggressively surged right into the Underground Labyrinth.
Surprisingly, their actual marching pace wasn't even particularly fast.
At least, they definitely weren't sprinting at full speed.
Yet, in what felt like just a few brief moments, they had already managed to descend all the way down to the 14th floor—a totally unfamiliar level for Noah.
The completely abnormal efficiency of the group genuinely puzzled him.
Even if someone with Tsubaki's Level 5 stats was advancing at full speed, the time she'd save wouldn't be significantly greater than this.
With a group this large, achieving such an insanely high clear rate was something Noah absolutely hadn't anticipated.
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