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'Standing in front of Silver, the Captain of the Loki Familia, Finn Daimne closed his eyes with an awkward look as everyone watched Bete be pulled into the woods by Riveria, albeit he did not bow his head.'

"Apologies for his behavior once more, he means no harm…"

Most of the times...

"He's just tired, spending 2 weeks in the Dungeon fighting has placed all of us on edge, and you know how he normally is..."

Hm... Asking him that may have been too much, they only saw each other a few times after all.

Once he comes back, he'll be a target of mockery from Loki for the next few weeks... Sigh, he dug his own grave.

"I don't really mind, he has some right, after all, my words were nothing but half-assed excuses."

"So?" Tiona asked

'Silver's eyelids twitched as he saw her genuine expression.'

"So what?"

"What is the truth then?"

'It didn't seem she had any intention of letting this go...'

"I never lied though?"

I can go on all day.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

/THUD!/

'Tiona pouted, but her light kick towards the ground made the place tremble a bit.'

'She immediately became a bit embarrassed, she didn't want to let lose like that, a "rookie" mistake.'

'Adventurers rarely lose control of their own strength, but Tiona was so mentally tired and annoyed about her own condition that she did, for a moment, forgot to hold herself, almost shattering Silver's toes.'

'With a shadowy dark expression, Silver looked at her with his lips trembling...'

"Ahh… Well… Can't you tell?"

'Silver raised his arms to the sky as he stretched.'

"Isn't everything you need to know all around you?"

"In a sense it is but… It doesn't make sense you know!"

'Silver smiled, he was about to retort when…'

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

'The painful screams of a man echoed in the plains…'

'No one looked behind though, they wouldn't associate themselves with that guy and whatever he was passing through.'

/Gulp.../

'Raul swallowed dry, he was a smart man, he saw someone call Riveria old, and after what happened to the poor sod, he vowed to never talk about age whenever he was anywhere near her.'

'Some of the girls trembled, they had been within the ones that were unfortunate enough to either call her that or to be dragged into her wrath.'

'Gareth wanted to laugh, but he knew better, doing so would make him the next target, and he, more than anyone else didn't want to receive an hour-long scold about maintaining composure as a Top Executive of the Loki Familia.'

'Riveria was a master at bickering, perhaps the very reason she had yet to meet a partner to this day... The other one being that in the entire world, there wasn't a single Elf that could match her.'

'Being a High Elf, and therefore part of Elven royalty, Riveria is extremely revered by other Elves, who hold her in high regard.'

'Despite this, she has never acted conceited or taken advantage of it, even expressing annoyance at the preferential treatment she usually receives and the devotion they express.'

'Even if at first she saw Pallums as inferiors and Dwarves as annoying, after living decades outside her forest, she lost those traits.'

'However, this did not mean that her views on romance had changed... She still saw herself as an Elf that would one day marry another Elf... Albeit after so long, such thoughts had been almost completely forgotten, thrown to the back of her mind due to the mountains of work she always find herself with.'

'No one dared to say, but beyond her age, being called a loner was truly the thing she hated to hear the most.'

...

'Time passed and the screams ended, though at this time, Tiona had already forgotten her reason for questioning Silver, and so did the others.'

"Since that's over..."

'Finn on the other hand felt this was the right chance to strike.'

"You asked me before if you could tag along, are you still up for it?"

/Surprise/

'The others didn't expect Finn to step up like this, they were expecting him to just bluntly disagree.'

"Do you mean it Capitan?"

"I already talked this over with Riveria, and I don't think you are against this are you Gareth?"

"I'm with you."

"So that's that…"

'He raised his head to look at Silver, due to the difference in height, he had to stay a bit further away otherwise it would be awkward...'

'But even so, Finn never felt offended nor that there was a need for him to find another way to enforce his authority.'

'His courage was as tall as his spear, let it shine in golden light.'

"Sorry for being blunt, but would you mind if I went on our ways? I do have a schedule to meet and we are already a tad late."

'Silver nodded, he also wanted to leave the Dungeon as soon as possible.'

"Also, would you mind sharing with us what just happened?"

"I wouldn't."

"HAH?! When I ask you don't want to talk about it, but he asks and you suddenly want to?"

"You didn't ask me that, you asked me how I came down here, not what happened here..."

"You!"

'Silver shrugged as he looked at the annoyed Tiona, instead looking at Finn again.'

"Just one thing then… Do you have a Mind potion? I'll pay you all later of course don't worry."

"I'm just... A bit too..."

/Tap!/

"Don't worry about it kid, here, have this one." Gareth said as he passed Silver a small blue bottle from a pouch on his back

"Thank you, I'm actually pretty spent."

/Pop!/

'While Silver drank his potion, the others started to check on their equipment again, they had a very rare rest after all, so they better make the most of it.'

'Albeit it was interesting meeting someone they knew in the Dungeon, and they wanted to ask all sorts of questions, it was time to move.'

'They came here to know what had happened, but since it seemed everything had already finished and there were no looming dangers for the future, Finn decided that it was better to ask the rest as they moved.'

'Of course, this meant putting some trust in his words, but who would dare to lie to the Braver? The person with the strongest intuition in Orario?'

'Since their questions had yet to be truly resolved, Ais and the others figured out that it would be better to find out on the way rather than directly ask questions, although, of course, Tiona still kept babbling her mouth as they went on...'

'Such as what was the deepest floor he had ever reached? Only to hear his lackluster reply, "This one"...'

'But just before they left, Silver raised his right hand.'

/Tremble…/

"Owa?! What is happening?" Tiona asked as she felt the ground vibrate

"Huh... KYAA?!?!"

'Lefiya, who was awakened by the commotion, suddenly saw a massive rock floating above her head, sending shivers down her tummy.'

"Kium..."

'She immediately fell unconscious again in the arms of the golden-haired Elf.'

'But Lefiya wasn't the only one confused, everyone else, including the Top Executives, questioned the nature of his sudden actions.'

'However, even when they looked at him, Silver did not back down and continued what he was doing, calm and focused.'

"Can you take a step to the side?" He asked slowly and gently to Tione

"Huh?..."

/THUD!/

'Just had she taken a step to the side, a large rock crashed against the ground where she previously stood.'

"..."

That would've hurt... A little.

Not like my hair can get any messier than this.

/Crack!/

'The ground parted open as dust was sent into the skies as many colorful items took over the canopy of the trees.'

'Magic stones and all kinds of drop items… Were flying above their heads?'

'Everyone was left without breath by this exotic sight…'

"Where is it?... Ah, there it is." Silver mumbled to himself as his right hand closed

'Among those, a few items slowly descended into Silver's hands, it was a pair of large magic stones the size of an adult's chest and a few drop items like fangs and scales, for Finn and the others, it was clear what they were.'

'The Tyrant and the Empress drops!'

'Once everything he wanted fell into his hands, Silver opened his mouth to say:'

"Sorry for the commotion, I just wanted to grab some things before proceeding."

"I may not be able to bring everything with me, but at least this…"

These magic stones will barely pay for the potions I used today, and these drop items can be sold as well for a certain margin of profit…

'Silver's eyes then sharpened.'

I won't leave the rest behind though, too much to waste…

Once everyone advances… I can collect the rest.

"Ah, so you're cleaning up, very responsible." Anakitty said as she looked at Silver

Still… How are there so many?

There are so many glittering stones... I know that the monster density in the Lower floors is much higher, especially here, but even so... This isn't the Deep Floors.

At least several dozen parties of monsters were defeated here today.

It doesn't make sense, it makes me feel as if an Expedition group passed through here… But he's alone.

"You can say that this is something I made, normally, I would take everything I could back with me, leaving the rest for the Dungeon to clean..."

"But it isn't really possible to bring much back this time, so I'll have to go out of my way to make sure these won't pose a problem to others, even if I'm making a loss."

'They grimaced, they understood his feelings very well, no adventurer felt well leaving behind the loot he/she worked so hard towards, much less actively discarding these items.'

'A certain Amazon girl only saw piles and piles of gold being buried in the ground...'

'But to prevent trouble, they had to bury the Magic stones at the very least to reduce the chances of monsters consuming them.'

'And by doing so, it speeds up the reabsorption by the Dungeon.'

'All items and things left in the Dungeon, from a person's body to the things they used will eventually disappear within the Dungeon, this is how it cleans itself.'

'However, that can take some time, and in that time window, things could happen... Very dangerous ones.'

'If a monster of these floors were to consume enough Magic stones to become an enhanced species, it could become something more dangerous than even the Tyrant, and if it were to become an Irregular, things may go out of control really quickly.'

'It could lead to the death of many all due to a lack of responsibility, the very reason Finn came here, to check on the mess and make sure it didn't impact others in the future.'

'Silver also understood that, so he raised his other hand…'

/Tremble…/

'The pile of items was dropped inside one of the many craters scattered throughout the field...'

'And further in the distance, a small mound of earth was raised before it fell back onto the earth under his command, covering all of the items, burying them five feet under...'

/Grumble…/

'And thus, with the gurgling sounds of the earth, Tens of millions of Valis were buried forever in the dust… Returning into the embrace of its creator, the Dungeon.'

"I feel like I just shot myself in the foot." Silver said with a black expression

Please... Don't be reabsorbed...

"Another one of your abilities?" Gareth asked as he raised an eyebrow

"Not really, just the same old telekineses."

This time I'm not lying.

I could use other abilities, but I don't see the need to... It would only give me more work later on as I would need to explain, even if simplified to them.

"That was pretty cool!" Tiona said as she walked to his right side

'She raised her massive double-edged great sword, lifting it to him.'

"Can you do the same with Urga?"

"I… I can."

'Honestly, he didn't mind playing with this Amazon... Yet, she wasn't exactly in good condition right now.'

'She smelled... Pretty bad... But Silver didn't have the heart to say it out loud.'

'So he merely grabbed her Sword, it was heavy, and it made him bulge his muscles a little to lift it up in the air.'

'It was a true berserk strength weapon, albeit, for this little Amazon with rather thin arms, it was as light as a feather... A metal feather.'

'She normally swung it around like a kid would swing a broom around thinking it was a legendary sword... Much for everyone else's fear and displeasure.'

'She had been scolded many times for such behavior, and she would likely keep being scolded for many years to come.'

"It's a bit heavy."

"Is it? I think the weight is just alright! Still! I'm quite surprised, Raul can barely even lift it!"

"HEY! I can do it..."

"We know you can't bro."

"Shut up Cruz! You can't do it either! You are weaker than me!"

Looks at this guy!

"But different from you, I have learned to realize what I can do..."

"Huh?! But I'm aware of what I can do!"

"Do you?"

"I..."

Why me?!

'While those 2 discussed, without showing anything else on his face, Silver lifted Urga in front of his face and… Let go of it.'

/Gasp/

'Yet, Urga did not fall, it stayed motionless in the air.'

"How… Weird!"

"..."

They're like the girls back at the Manor, when they joined us, they also asked me many questions and wanted to see my powers.

Their expressions were just like hers... Albeit now, they are barely surprised by them.

Sometimes I ask myself if I made them too numb to this...

Still... Is it so impressive?

I find it rather... Cool, I guess? The many years of using these powers seem to have had their toll on me...

'The first thing Tiona tried to do was grab it, but Urga did not move an inch from its still position in the air, as if it was embedded in the hide of a very thick monster…'

'By applying a bit of force, it did move, though Silver started to sweat a little as she kept adding more and more power behind it.'

'She could literally ride her weapon in the air…'

"Yay!"

'While Tiona had fun standing on top of her massive dual greatsword, Finn shook his head in helplessness.'

'He could only thank Silver for being responsible and cleaning up after what he did… He didn't mind the destruction on the floor, after all, how many parties can come here in the first place?'

'Of those that can, none would be troubled by those fires.'

'But now that everything had been taken care of, Finn had everyone enter in formation to move.'

'He looked at Silver with an inquisitive gaze, but it was clear what he was asking…'

"Don't worry about me, I can offer rear support, if I hold you down for even a moment, I'll make the rest of the way up on my own."

/Step step.../

"You better hold onto your words." Bete said in displeasure from the side, his two cheeks red and swollen…

"..."

""...""

'Silver rolled his eyes and so did the others, and as such, the Loki Familia Expedition continued on their way above…'

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Notes

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Really now, this chapter was pure talk, I'm sometimes surprised by just how fast the words go by...

It feels like nothing happened, but there are 2.7K words here...

Sheesh.

Anyway, see you all next time.