Alise pulled out her rapier and stepped forward. "Perfect timing."

Asahi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let me." ​​

"What? I wanna fight!"

Asahi slid his hand down her back before stopping on her butt. "Crybabies shouldn't act strong."

Alise gritted her teeth. He made her cry, now he was rubbing salt on her wounds. A pinch on her butt squashed her rebellious thoughts.

'This man won't stop with my butt!'

She silently cursed him, despite an obvious smirk playing on her face. Her butt was a part of her, meaning he was attracted to her!

Ryuu shook her head. Asahi casually harassing Alise had become a familiar sight in the Familia at this point.

Ais pulled out her swords and charged into the hellhounds. Asahi stopped wasting time and rushed behind Ais. Overtaking the loli, he blew a hellhound's head with a kick and punched another. The shockwave behind the attack splattered all of them into the wall.

Finn shuddered at the display of brute strength. On top of that, he saw Asahi's agility being higher than Ais's.

'He can't be made into an enemy.'

Riveria had the same thought. If Asahi had any intention to harm her, she wouldn't be able to react in time, much less cast a barrier for protection.

Meanwhile, Bete saw hellhounds spawn behind and pounced on them. With bare hands, he grabbed a hellhound's jaws and ripped it apart. Trying to defy Asahi's orders, he became too reckless and let a pair of hounds snuck on him.

Aki came just in time and slashed the hounds with her sword. "Don't be wild, Bete."

Bete didn't listen to her and dove into another fight. Aki only fought the monsters in her way.

Asahi finished the hellhounds and spread his Life Sense skill. The flame golems camouflaged as scarlet rocks didn't escape his C-Rank Life Sense skill.

Tiona couldn't take her eyes off of his figure as he fended numerous monsters. Every step and attack was precise to the point Tiona questioned if he was a man or a machine.

After hoarding all the magic stones in his ring, Asahi returned to the group.

Finn greeted him with a cheeky smile. "We're adventurers, not props. Seeing a man tear through monsters like that makes me want to fight more."

"I'll let you engage with the goat demons," Asahi said with a shrug.

"Goat demons? You mean Fomoire?"

"Yup. Until then let me do the work."

Even though he wanted the XP, fighting the fomoire horde alone would consume a fair share of his time. He could destroy them with his magic, which will also destroy the dungeon and summon a juggernaut. The adventurers would lose their sanity if they saw a beast like a juggernaut.

Riveria couldn't understand Asahi's reason. Was he that hungry for excelia that he'd fight hundreds of monsters alone?

'Is that the reason Ais calls him Onii-san?'

Both had an unmatched thirst for strength. Riveria had an inkling of Ais's motive, but Asahi's motives were up in the air.

"Let's go," Asahi said and led the path.

Alise and Ryuu were ready to follow him, but Tiona cheerily walked up to them.

"He is strong. What level do you think he is?"

Alise puffed her chest. As her senior, she was extremely proud of him. "His strength can't be measured in our levels."

She had seen him traveling dimensions. Even the deities of this world couldn't achieve this feat. Using levels to measure his strength was a waste of time.

"Aren't levels here to help us ascend into immortals?" Tiona asked.

Kali, who was her previous goddess, had described leveling up as akin to shedding mortal shells. A demigod should be closer to deity than a human, which meant they could still be measured in levels.

"When you're near Asahi, you need to shove that common sense up your…" Alise covered her mouth for a moment. "I almost tainted my innocent tongue with a curse. It's all Lyra's fault."

"We should follow Asahi," Ryuu said with a sigh.

Ais looked over to Riveria. "Go…?"

The high elf released an exasperated sigh before giving a nod. "It is our familia expedition. What are we waiting around for?"

The adventurers felt their cheeks burn. Finn was no exception. Asahi had already sprinted into the next room, and they were here discussing.

The group trailed the corpses left behind by Asahi. By the time they found him, he was standing near the tunnel leading down to the next floor.

"Kinda late, don't you think?" Asahi asked with a grin. "Be quick on your feet or you'll lose your way."

Asahi's words hung in the air as he descended into the 46th floor.

Something similar happened on the next floor. Asahi cleaned up everything while Loki Familia followed. Usually, they would take nearly a day to clear one floor as they had to protect the supporters carrying the supplies as well as making sure they suffered minimum injuries. Each healing potion was precious in the dungeon. This methodical approach was universal across Orario.

But Asahi's fists changed everything. He plummeted everything, whether it was a hellhound, a wyvern, or a giant golem.

Doubts about his real identity rose in Riveria's mind.

***

After five hours of constant battles, Asahi's Wild Martial Arts leveled up to C-Rank. A few minutes later, he arrived at the path leading into the 49th floor.

"You guys want a break?" Asahi asked.

"Yes," Finn said with a smile. He wasn't tired at all. A timeout was needed for clarifying his strategy to Riveria and Gareth.

"Alright."

They all gathered in a nearby room. The smell of blood was overwhelming. It wasn't that unbearable during fights. Sitting idly, the smell tortured his sharp senses. He put on his mask and sat down in a corner, giving Finn space to go over the strategy again.

Finn wanted to invite Asahi but chose to not bother his rest.

Ryuu and Alise sat on Asahi's sides.

Ryuu pointed at his mask. "Is that for smell?"

"Yes. Want one?"

"Give one to me!" Alise shook him. "This smell is violating my nose."

She acted like the incident in the morning never happened. She was a little too enthusiastic sometimes.

"Okay," he said and shoved a mask on her face. He handed one to Ryuu as well. "Try it."

[—Ryuu Lion: Affection +4]

[—Alise Lovell: Affection +2]

He chuckled, making the elf blush. "You're cute."

Ryuu put on a mask with a serious face. She had to try her best to not pay any attention to his attractive face. Sitting so close, she could feel an odd warmth radiating from him. It made her relax as if she was sitting at home instead of a dungeon room reeking of blood.

Alise pouted when the two of them neglected her. Knowing the mask would hide her face, she puffed her cheeks even more.

Asahi pinched Alise's cheeks. "Stop pouting, Captain. A smile suits you more."

"Liar."

"..."