Even though it was called a roll call, everyone already knew who Finn’s chosen individuals would be.
Needless to say, the first candidates were undoubtedly the executives, who were First-Class Adventurers.
Starting from the 51st Floor, the monster classifications easily exceeded Level 4, with some powerful ones, like the Level 6 dragon Cadmus, appearing regularly. On such floors, where monsters of that caliber were common, it was impossible to proceed without a party composed of First-Class Adventurers.
Hence, the exploration from the 51st Floor onward had to be led by First-Class Adventurers, and they had to be in groups. If it were just one person, even someone at Level 5 would likely meet their end on that floor.
From this, it was clear that Riezel, who could venture alone on floors below the 50th Floor and even repeatedly fight through to the 58th Floor, was no ordinary human. It went without saying that, without the assistance of Tier Magic and exceptional magic items like Divine Meloe and the others, he could not have accomplished such feats.
Consequently, there was no doubt that the First-Class Adventurers would be selected.
In addition to them, there was a need for supporters—those who could assist by carrying backup equipment and supplies and by collecting dropped items. They would be chosen from the second strings, who consist of Level 4 adventurers, for otherwise, they might struggle to keep up with the First-Class Adventurers.
Looking at this summary, it was already clear who Finn would select.
Aside from the entirety of the executives and the best of the second strings from the familia, there was no one else in mind.
As expected...
"The main combat power consists of me, Riveria, Gareth, Riezel, Ais, Bete, Tiona, and Tione, a total of eight."
"The supporters are Raul, Aki, Alicia, and Lefiya, a total of four."
"With Tsubaki as our weapon maintainer, that brings the total to thirteen people, forming the party that will explore the floors below the 50th Floor."
Finn called out the names while looking at everyone.
"Any objections?"
Upon hearing this, all the First-Class Adventurers, including Riezel, nodded in agreement, signaling no issues.
"Am I... a supporter again?"
"I’ll do my best."
"Let’s do our best together."
Raul looked somewhat sullen, while Anakitty and Alicia, the two girls, remained calm.
"I’ve been looking forward to this."
Tsubaki spoke with a carefree smile, showing no tension, and appeared eager for the challenge.
Only Lefiya, upon seeing the party lineup, couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.
"I-I’m only Level 3... Is that really okay?"
Indeed, of all those selected by Finn, only Lefiya didn’t meet the mentioned criteria—she was neither a Level 5 First-Class Adventurer nor a Level 4 like the second strings, but a lone Level 3.
Knowing this, Lefiya felt quite nervous, worried she might hold the party back or perform poorly.
Of course...
"Look at you, you’re at it again, aren’t ya?" Tiona suddenly hugged Lefiya from behind, laughing heartily. "I already told you, Lefiya’s amazing. Don’t worry about stuff like that."
"Yeah," Tione added with a smile. "You’re Riveria’s successor, right? Gotta have a little confidence!"
Just like that, the others also reassured Lefiya, with none of them having any objection to Finn’s choices.
Riezel even spoke up directly.
"With more magic than Riveria and attack power on par with a Level 5, you won’t be weaker than any other Level 4. Honestly, even if you’re just acting as a support mage, it’s totally fair to see you as a Level 5."
"So don’t sell yourself short."
"This expedition’s definitely gonna give you a chance to shine, so trust yourself."
Riezel’s calm words made Lefiya take several deep breaths.
"I’ll try my best!"
Lefiya was still nervous, but she clenched her small fist as she made such a statement.
"Don’t worry," Riveria said, patting her disciple on the shoulder. "The vanguard will protect us. We just need to do our part."
"Yes!" Lefiya nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Finn continued.
"Well, this is the lineup for the exploration party. The others will stay behind to guard the camp."
"If any of those colorful, new species monsters show up, use the magic swords or magic provided to you as the primary means of attack to drive them off."
"As for the camp command... Narvi, Cruz, it’s up to you two."
At Finn’s direction, the human girl Narvi and chienthrope boy Cruz stood up.
"Understood, Captain."
"We’ll handle it here."
The two accepted the responsibility with seriousness and solemnity, and the surrounding members voiced no objections, showing that among the second strings, Narvi and Cruz were the most trusted.
"Hephaestus Familia, please cooperate with our familia’s members to guard the camp. If necessary, we may need you to gather materials and forge weapons to defend the camp."
"As for the exploration party, you should all get ready. Rest well tonight, and tomorrow, after breakfast, we’ll head out immediately."
"As always, we have one goal: the floor we have yet to reach—the 59th Floor."
With that, Finn raised his drink.
"Here’s to our success and triumphant return."
Immediately, everyone raised their drinks in unison and then declared:
""Success and victory! A triumphant return!""
===
As nightfall came, the adventurers who had finished their meals at the camp dispersed to prepare for the next day’s events.
For those assigned to guard the camp, they began rotating shifts for patrolling and standing guard, with every four hours being the changeover, in order to prevent any monster attacks.
As for the blacksmiths of the Hephaestus Familia, they took out their tools to repair the weapons of the Loki Familia.
Meanwhile, the exploration party was exempt from the night shifts and patrols, so they could sleep soundly and properly rest up for the deadly journey tomorrow.
But under such circumstances, it was unclear how many would actually manage to sleep peacefully.
In any case, Raul was constantly nervous and worried, so much so that Anakitty finally decided to drag him out of the tent so he could get some fresh air.
Alicia went to speak with Riveria, discussing many matters related to the elves.
Lefiya, on the other hand, had been pacing around restlessly ever since the disbanding, and eventually, Tiona and Tione caught her and dragged her back to their tent so the three of them could sleep together.
As for Bete, Gareth caught him at just the right moment, and the two were later seen sitting together, seemingly engaged in conversation. Bete looked visibly displeased, while Gareth laughed heartily, their expressions forming a stark contrast.
At this time, Riezel went over to Finn alone to talk.
"I have a feeling that we might encounter those hybrids on the way to the 59th Floor."
Finn narrowed his eyes at Riezel’s words.
"You feel that way, too?" Finn voiced the same thought.
"You also feel the same, Captain?" Riezel asked back, seeming surprised.
"Yeah, something like that..." Finn replied while licking his thumb. "My thumb has been aching a bit, which tells me tomorrow’s expedition won’t go smoothly. And from the information you brought back last time, we can infer that those hybrids are likely guarding the Pantry. Since that’s the case, when we move into the lower floors, it won’t be surprising if those guys appear again once we encounter the colorful monsters."
It was confirmed that the caterpillar monsters and the woman-like monster that had appeared on the previous expedition were connected to those human-monster hybrids.
Especially the woman-like monster, it was identified as one that had been parasitized by the Jewel Fetus.
In other words, just like the Pantries on the 24th and 30th Floors, the Pantries below the 50th Floor might have become a breeding ground for colorful monsters, with Jewel Fetuses absorbing the nutrients from the quartz pillars and eventually parasitizing the monsters to turn them into woman-like monsters—this was the obvious conclusion.
For that reason, when the expedition party reaches the lower floors and encounters the colorful monsters, it would not be surprising if those hybrids show up as well.
"On the surface, our expedition’s goal is to reach the unexplored floor, but secretly, we also aim to investigate those hybrids and colorful monsters, and even find out exactly what this Jewel Fetus is."
Finn massaged his aching thumb as he spoke.
"Although it’s easier said than done, especially once we reach the 52nd Floor."
Hearing these words, Riezel nodded quietly, understanding why Finn would say this.
One should know that from the 52nd Floor onward, everyone who had reached it would face a terrifying hell.
Just as the floors from the 19th to 24th were known as the Large Tree Labyrinth, and the 25th to 27th were referred to as the Water City, the 52nd to 58th Floors were collectively known as the ’Dragon’s Vase.’
On these seven floors, dragon species monsters—rarely seen on the Upper, Middle, or Lower Floors—were common.
All these dragons had powers and characteristics far beyond those of typical monsters.
There were three-meter-long ’Ill Wyverns’ that would swoop down from the sky.
There were ’Valgang Dragons’ capable of breathing fire from great distances, sniping their targets from afar.
Particularly, the Valgang Dragons, which were mainly found on the 58th Floor, could detect adventurers entering the Dragon’s Vase from multiple floors away.
Once an adventurer stepped onto the 52nd Floor, these dragons would aim at them and shoot enormous laser-like fire breath, powerful enough to pierce through several floors, from the 58th Floor all the way to the 52nd Floor, reducing anyone struck to ash.
Clearly, for the adventurers, this was a terrifying phenomenon, one that was unheard of on floors above the 52nd.
As a result, adventurers entering the 52nd Floor had to keep moving without pause, without rest, or risk being targeted and killed by the Valgang Dragons’ long-range sniping attacks.
Even if they weren’t killed by the fire breath, adventurers would have to fight and run constantly, as the Ill Wyverns would fly up from the pierced floors to attack adventurers above.
Now, it was clear why the floors starting from the 52nd Floor were considered a hellish nightmare.
It was all because of the horrifying floor-defying nature of these dragon species monsters.
"In the Dragon’s Vase, even we will be too busy to care for ourselves. We will only be able to keep running downward, unable to stop, or else we’ll become targets for the Ill Wyverns and Valgang Dragons."
"Before you joined the familia, we had to stop at the 58th Floor because, after experiencing the Dragon’s Vase, all of us, including Riveria, Gareth, and myself, lost the ability to keep fighting."
"We barely made it to the 58th Floor, and we had to retreat, exhausted, unable to reach the 59th Floor."
Finn sighed as he spoke.
"In such circumstances, trying to investigate the hybrids and the Jewel Fetus would be far too difficult."
Not only Finn but even Riezel, who had been so bold before, had also stopped at the 58th Floor.
He had repeatedly used Gate to reach the Deep Floors below the 50th Floor, battling many monsters, but still failed to enter the 59th Floor.
Of course, this was also because he knew exactly what awaited on the 59th Floor and deliberately avoided it.
If he truly wanted to go, he would have found a way.
However, that was not the point right now.
Riezel approached Finn for one particular reason.
"If those hybrids appear, Captain, would you allow me to deal with them?"
Riezel unexpectedly suggested this.
"Deal with them?"
Finn paused for a moment.
"Yes," Riezel replied, looking Finn in the eye. "As you said, trying to advance through the Dragon’s Vase while investigating the Jewel Fetus is too troublesome. Why not split our forces? Captain, you continue with the exploration and head for the 59th Floor. As for the hybrids, if they appear, I’ll take care of them."
Riezel’s proposal made Finn lift his head and meet his gaze.
In the end, after a brief moment of silence, Finn sighed with a smile, then agreed.
"Alright, let’s do that."
Riezel didn’t say anything more, but smiled and nodded.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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