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Chapter 19: The Fierce Wolf Bete
It could be seen that the originally dim, colorful starlight icon in Aiden's consciousness interface gained a nearly imperceptible brightness at the edges.
That's right, his Golden Finger required Magic Stones to charge.
When the energy was full again, he could perform the next summon.
He didn't touch the remaining Magic Stones.
They still had to live, there was a useless god who knew nothing but eating cake to support, and they needed to replace their weapons and equipment immediately. All of this required money.
Fortunately, the drop rate of these special monsters was quite good.
In addition to Magic Stones, they also obtained a pile of various slime condensates and Hilichurl masks.
Aiden guessed that these were valuable materials. Just handing them to the Guild for appraisal should yield a considerable income.
After organizing the loot, the two set foot on the road back to the surface.
Just as they were following the path back and arrived near the entrance of the first floor from the second, a group of people walked toward them.
It was a team with an aura so powerful it made people look sideways. Leading them was an elegant High Elf, flanked by a doll-like girl with golden hair and eyes, two noisy Amazon sisters, an impatient-looking silver-haired werewolf, and an elf girl following behind looking somewhat nervous.
Aiden's pupils contracted instantly.
Loki Familia.
Ais Wallenstein.
He recognized this group of Orario's top combat power at a glance.
Just as the two groups passed each other, the silver-haired werewolf—Bete Loga—suddenly stopped. He whipped his head around, his sharp gaze locking dead onto Aiden's back, his nose twitching instinctively.
"What's wrong, Bete? Someone you know?"
Riveria noticed Bete's anomaly and asked.
"Ah..."
Bete's brows furrowed tightly, his face full of confusion and puzzlement. "How did he... become an adventurer?"
In his memory, wasn't this human brat from the extreme north unable to accept divine grace due to some special reason?
"Eh?!"
Hearing this, Tiona immediately exclaimed exaggeratedly.
"Could it be a friend of yours, Bete? You're lying, right? How could you have something like a friend?"
"Shut up, you Amazon idiot!"
Stung in a sore spot, Bete instantly flew into a rage out of humiliation, roaring viciously at Tiona.
"Who are you calling an idiot, you idiot werewolf!"
Tiona wasn't one to take a loss and immediately retorted.
The two instantly started scuffling, making the already crowded passage even more chaotic.
"P-Please don't fight, Miss Tiona, Mr. Bete."
Lefiya tried to mediate helplessly from the side.
Riveria sighed wearily and pressed her temples again.
She knew bringing this group out would lead to nothing good.
In the crowded passage, Aiden did not look back.
But he could clearly feel a gaze as sharp as a wolf's nailing into his back, filled with shock, confusion, and inquiry.
No need to think; it was Bete Loga.
He had recognized him.
In Aiden's mind, the scene of that snowy farewell five years ago instantly surfaced.
Bete came from a beastman tribe in the extreme north, and that tribe happened to have frequent trade relations with the village where Aiden lived.
Because of a fight with other beastman children, the two unexpectedly built a decent friendship.
Later, a dragon escaping from the Dragon Valley destroyed Bete's tribe.
The surviving Bete, shouldering a blood feud, left his hometown and went to Orario to seek power.
Five years ago, when Aiden was eleven, the sixteen-year-old Bete returned.
By then, he was already an adventurer of some repute. Alone, he slew the dragon occupying his homeland, completing his revenge.
Afterward, covered in blood and grime, he had found Aiden and invited him to go to Orario together.
"What's the point of staying in a small place like this? Come with me, Aiden. Orario is where you belong."
Aiden still remembered how he looked then, and his own answer.
"I cannot accept a god's grace. Going to Orario would just make me a cripple unable to fight, unable to survive."
Now, five years had passed.
He was sixteen, finally stepping onto the path of an adventurer, but he was just a newly registered Level 1 rookie.
And Bete, now twenty-one, was already an executive of the city's strongest Familia—Loki Familia—a Level 5 First-Class Adventurer with the title "Vanargand," his fame resounding throughout the world.
The gap between the two was like heaven and earth.
Feeling the gaze behind him finally vanish as the Loki Familia group moved further away, Aiden secretly breathed a sigh of relief and led Robin out of the Dungeon without stopping.
As they stepped out of Babel Tower and returned to the sunlight on the surface, Aiden felt the heavy sensation of being stared at by the Dungeon quietly dissipate.
His skill [Abyss Gazed Back] had ended its effect.
This meant that inside the Dungeon, apart from the Slimes and Hilichurls that had already spawned but hadn't been exterminated, no new special monsters would be born.
This caused quite a bit of trouble for the Loki Familia, who had come to investigate with high expectations.
"Weird... what's going on?"
Tiona swung her massive double-bladed sword "Urga," kicking a stone in boredom.
"Didn't the Guild people say new monsters were everywhere? We've been searching for half a day, how come we've only encountered a scattered few?"
"It is indeed strange,"
Riveria also frowned.
"According to the rookies' descriptions, the spawn frequency of the new monsters should be extremely high. Now it looks more like the state after a 'Monster Party' has ended."
Ais said nothing, merely silently dissecting a Pyro Slime she had just slain with the tip of her sword. Looking at the red slime and Magic Stone, a thoughtful look appeared in her golden eyes.
This highly anticipated investigation mission ultimately ended hastily amidst the disappointment and depression of several core executives.
On the other side, Aiden and Robin went directly back to the Guild Headquarters.
When they pushed open the main door, they immediately saw Eina pacing anxiously at the reception desk.
"Mr. Aiden, Miss Robin."
The moment Eina saw the two, she cried out in surprise, the heart hanging in her throat finally settling down.
She walked up quickly, her beautiful brows furrowed tightly, carrying obvious lingering fear.
"You're finally back. The Dungeon underwent an anomaly, and you two rookies didn't come out for so long. I... I was worried to death. I was about to find other adventurers and commission them to go down and find you."
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