Hearing Sora announce to everyone that she had been bitten by a dog, Kumo wished she could find a hole to crawl into. She pinched Sora with her good hand and complained in dissatisfaction, "Can you please not say I was bitten by a dog? It was a Hellhound!!"
She had just been a little careless, that was all. She definitely wasn't bitten by a mere dog! How hateful, to phrase it like that—it was just too mean!
Hearing Sora's words, the corners of Ren Isana's mouth couldn't help but twitch upward into a slight smile. He generally understood what had happened. Waving her over, Ren examined her arm and said, "It's fine, the bone isn't broken."
Hearing this, Kumo sighed helplessly. "If it had hurt the bone, I'd probably be screaming right now. The wound isn't deep; it was just a scratch from its teeth. I managed to dodge in time."
Ren nodded. Without another word, he removed her makeshift bandage and cast [Healing Magic] on her. Under the soothing light of his spell, the wound rapidly closed.
In just a few short seconds, the injury on her arm was completely healed. Looking at her flawless skin with no trace of a scar, Kumo breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Thank you, Class Rep!"
For a girl, whether or not a wound left a scar was incredibly important. Fortunately, her arm was perfectly fine, which was the best news she could have hoped for.
They waited at the rendezvous point for a while as the rest of the squads gradually returned. Overall, everyone was in good shape, with only a few people suffering minor injuries from carelessness.
After spending a few moments healing everyone, Ren announced, "Let's go. We'll head down to the 18th floor first, and then we'll find a place to rest."
With that, Ren led the way toward the passage to the 17th floor, and the rest of the class quickly followed. As they passed through the tunnel, a massive gray space soon entered their field of vision.
The room was incredibly expansive. Aside from the dull gray stone, there were no other colors to be seen. A single, clear path cut straight through the center of the massive chamber.
This path led directly to the Safe Floor on the 18th floor. Technically, this 17th floor could also be considered a safe zone—provided you weren't worried about the Floor Boss suddenly spawning on top of you.
However, the floor directly below was a true Safe Floor, so adventurers generally preferred not to linger here.
Ren scanned the surroundings and noticed that the Floor Boss hadn't spawned. This filled him with a deep sense of regret. Without stopping, he led the group straight across the massive room toward the visible exit tunnel on the other side.
The classmates were quite curious about the room. *So this is a Floor Boss room?* It was nothing but gray upon gray, devoid of any other colors.
Looking around, there wasn't a single trace of life. It was incredibly desolate. Many students began whispering among themselves, highly curious about the giant monster that was supposed to spawn here.
Unfortunately, there was no boss to be found. The group followed Ren's brisk pace, crossing the massive spawn room and quickly reaching the tunnel on the opposite side.
The boss room wasn't unimaginably huge—at most, it was the size of a few football fields. With the current physical capabilities of Ren and his classmates, crossing such a distance only took a few minutes.
With no monsters and no obstacles, getting through was a breeze. The group entered the tunnel leading to the 18th floor. After walking for a while, a bright light appeared ahead.
Seeing the light, Ren decisively quickened his pace. The moment they stepped out of the tunnel, a scene as bright as day unfolded before them. There was a sprawling prairie, and in the middle of it sat an adventurer town.
However, this wasn't a city built from stone and brick, but rather a massive gathering of tents forming a makeshift settlement. Seeing the landscape in the distance, the students' eyes lit up.
"It looks really nice! Do monsters really not spawn here?" The environment was completely beyond Sora's expectations.
"Right. Ever since the Dungeon was discovered, no monsters have ever spawned on this floor. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called a Safe Floor," Ren said, giving the environment an approving nod.
It looked incredibly comfortable. There was even a gentle breeze blowing, meaning there was proper air circulation. Ren vaguely remembered that there were other hidden paths that led directly here as well.
"Let's head over. We'll find a place to set up camp and rest here for the day," Ren said, taking the lead once more.
The others followed closely behind. The so-called town was essentially a massive supply point. Merchants carried various goods all the way down here to sell, and adventurers could even offload some of their monster drops.
However, the prices for supplies were astronomically high, and the purchasing prices for materials were dirt cheap. After all, the merchants came here to make a profit—buying low and selling high was the name of the game. Still, it was a willing buyer and a willing seller situation, and many adventurers were happy to pay the premium.
After all, traveling all the way back up to the surface took a massive amount of time and energy. It was much easier to just restock here. Even if it cost a lot more Valis, the convenience made it absolutely worth it.
But none of this mattered to Ren and his class. They possessed multiple Spatial Rings and Spatial Backpacks, allowing them to carry mountains of supplies through the Dungeon with ease.
Not to mention Ren himself—he was basically a walking, massive mobile warehouse. If the class ran out of inventory space, they could just dump everything into his storage.
Upon approaching the small town, the group found a spot near a water source to set up camp. Naturally, the arrival of such a large group drew quite a bit of attention.
However, this group felt entirely unfamiliar to the veterans of the 18th floor. No one recognized them, leaving many onlookers scratching their heads.
*Which Familia do they belong to?* That was the question on everyone's mind. Of course, there were a few who knew exactly who Ren was—such as Ais, who had briefly crossed paths with him before.
Ais was currently resting nearby with a few members of her Familia. When she noticed Ren, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes. Beside her stood the elf girl from before, along with a few others.
"Miss Ais, it's the people from the Hestia Familia," Lefiya said hurriedly upon spotting the group. Hearing her words, the others beside Ais looked over in surprise.
"Hestia Familia? Is that the Familia Lady Loki has been constantly complaining about lately?" A werewolf youth with a lightning tattoo on his face cast a frivolous, mocking gaze toward Ren's group.
He looked them up and down before scoffing disdainfully. "What the hell? They look incredibly weak. I don't get why Lady Loki values them so much!"
In his eyes, this group was pathetic. Yet, Loki had been loudly complaining recently that the Hestia Familia would definitely become a major threat in the future.
"Don't underestimate them, Bete. That guy is very strong!" Ais stared at Ren with a solemn expression. Her instincts weren't lying; she genuinely felt a sense of threat radiating from him.
Hearing her words, the werewolf youth known as Bete Loga was stunned. For Ais to call someone "very strong"... now that was interesting. Just as he was about to say something else, Ais stepped forward and began walking straight toward Ren.
Ren, who was in the middle of setting up a tent, paused and looked at the approaching swordswoman.
He had noticed them the moment he chose this campsite, but he hadn't expected her to actually come over and say hello. The other students also noticed the uninvited guests.
"Hello! I am Ais Wallenstein." Ais took the initiative to introduce herself, her eyes locked onto Ren, filled with curiosity and a burning fighting spirit.
The people following behind her quickly caught up. There were three girls and one guy. Aside from Lefiya, there was a pair of twin girls with wheat-colored skin.
Looking at their attire and hair color, it wasn't hard to guess their origins. They were Amazons—Tione Hiryute and Tiona Hiryute.
*As for that dog,* Ren thought, *he's undoubtedly tagging along shamelessly. Ais and the girls probably just came out to hang around, and this guy stubbornly followed them. He's definitely a simp.*
"Ren Isana!" Ren calmly stated his name, his gaze sweeping over the members of the Loki Familia without a change in expression.
Hearing his name, Ais nodded. She stared straight into his eyes and asked, "Do you want to fight me?"
Ais issued a direct challenge. She wanted to see exactly what kind of strength this person possessed to make her feel such danger. She also simply loved fighting strong opponents.
"No time!" Ren rejected her without a second thought. *Are you kidding me?* The camp wasn't set up, he hadn't eaten lunch, and he hadn't eaten dinner. Fight her? For what? Ren couldn't help but complain internally.
However, Ren's blunt refusal instantly rubbed someone the wrong way. Bete, the werewolf youth, sneered aggressively. "Hey, watch your mouth, kid—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the Amazon twins dragged him to the side. The older sister, Tione, snapped, "Shut up, Bete!"
*Sure enough, bringing this guy along was a mistake. He's always causing trouble. So annoying!!* They really shouldn't have let him tag along.
Ren merely cast a faint, dismissive glance at the lapdog before turning his attention back to Ais, who was standing there in a daze, completely caught off guard by his immediate refusal.
"So, are you guys here to pick a fight?"
The moment Ren's words fell, the students who had been watching the exchange instantly drew their weapons and surrounded the Loki Familia group.
Several of the girls directly raised their staves, their Magic Circles flaring to life. As long as Ren gave the word, they would launch a devastating barrage of spells.
Ais and her group were completely dumbfounded. *What are these guys doing?!* Ready to attack over a single disagreement? And so many of them could use magic simultaneously?!
Suddenly locked onto by dozens of hostile adventurers, the Loki Familia members felt their scalps tingle. Bete, who had been acting so arrogant just a second ago, instantly went pale. He never expected the situation to escalate like this.
"I'm sorry, my companion caused trouble for you. We aren't here to pick a fight!" Ais snapped out of her daze and hurriedly apologized. In the brief moment she had spaced out, things had nearly turned into a bloodbath. It was truly a headache.
Knowing she had been presumptuous, she apologized immediately. Seeing her sincerity, Ren calmly replied, "Your companion should have his mouth stitched shut."
Ren gave the werewolf one last cold glance before waving his hand, signaling his classmates to stand down and get back to work. Seeing this, the students sheathed their weapons and dispersed.
They went back to setting up the camp, though many of them were highly annoyed by the local "stray dog" named Bete. These native adventurers were incredibly rude.
Ren had merely said he didn't have time, and the guy started barking about 'watching his mouth'? *Damn it, we really wanted to rip that guy's mouth wide open.*
They had seen arrogant people before, but never someone this blindly arrogant. That was the collective thought the class shared regarding the werewolf.
Bete heard Ren's remark and was furious, but he didn't dare say another arrogant word. This group was absolutely toxic—drawing their blades and locking onto them with magic over a single sentence!
At the same time, Bete had finally seen their true strength. A unified group of Lv.3s! And there were over forty of them?! On top of that, a massive portion of them were mages!
That fact alone was enough to shock him to his core. In that moment, he finally understood why Loki had declared the Hestia Familia to be their greatest rival.
"Then... can we fight when you're free?" Despite the unpleasantness, Ais still didn't want to give up. She really, really wanted to fight Ren.
Hearing this girl's persistence, Ren felt a headache coming on. *She's still not giving up?* After a moment of thought, Ren decided to just agree. It would be the perfect opportunity to copy her magic anyway.
With that in mind, Ren said, "We'll talk after I'm done. If you want to fight, come back later."
Seeing Ren agree, Ais's eyes lit up. She quickly nodded. "Okay, I'll come over later."
With that, Ais turned and left without looking back. Lefiya hurriedly followed, while the Amazon twins physically dragged Bete away from the campsite.
After they were gone, Asuna couldn't help but ask, "Are you really going to fight her?"
In her eyes, it was a thankless task and completely unnecessary. Furthermore, she had a terrible impression of that arrogant werewolf. In her mind, a guy like that probably threw his Familia's name around to bully others all the time.
The entire Loki Familia didn't seem like good people to her. Ren had no reason to agree. Because of Bete, many people in the class now felt that the Loki Familia were the bad guys.
After all, Loki herself wasn't exactly a saint of a Goddess. As the saying goes, *if the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant.* Like Goddess, like Familia.
"That girl's eyes are filled with nothing but the pure desire to battle. Besides... aren't you curious about the magic of this world? She uses a rapier too," Ren said, glancing at Asuna.
Ais and Asuna were actually quite similar; both were rapier users. Ais's magic was definitely worth learning. Moreover, the girl didn't have any malicious intentions; she purely just wanted to spar.
Hearing this, Asuna paused. *I guess that makes sense?* After a moment of thought, she nodded and didn't press the issue. It was obvious Ren had only agreed because he was after her techniques.
"Besides, she's not a bad person. She's just a complete airhead," Ren added with a shrug before getting back to work.
Asuna's expression turned slightly weird. *Wow, you know everything, don't you? How did you figure out she's an airhead so quickly?*
But thinking back on it, Asuna realized the girl really did have a blank, dazed look on her face. She only cared about fighting Ren and seemed incredibly slow to react to anything else.
Keeping her thoughts to herself, Asuna decided to drop it. Maybe Ren was right. The only real problem was that werewolf youth, and the other girls seemed quite different from him.
Asuna decided to set aside her prejudice and observe them later. With that settled, she busied herself with setting up the tents and helping everyone prepare dinner—their very first meal of the day!