26 more floors(corrected)

'crack' 'crack'

As the group ran, the sound of dry leaves and branches being crushed could be heard. The ground on the 19th floor was different from the upper floors and due to the roots of the trees and the varied vegetation, it made it difficult to maintain a stable pace, also the light was struggling to get through due to the thick canopy of the trees.

Mark kept a close eye on the environment, as he knew that there were many monsters there that ambushed or released a poison that could paralyze a person.

At the moment, his group hadn't encountered any monsters, but several fights had already been heard from the other groups, but it seemed that the vanguard was doing a good job in reducing the number of monsters.

'There they are.' -Detecting something above the trees, Mark was about to point it out, but it seemed Cruz was faster.

"Lizardman on the trees, get ready."

Shortly after pointing it out, a group of four lizardmen, holding rudimentary swords, fell from the trees. One of them tried to hit Cruz, who was standing ahead, but he dodged it easily enough.

The lizardmen were humanoid, lizard-like monsters with red scales. They were level 2 but did not possess the strength of a minotaur, but in some respects were much more dangerous, as they possessed both an intellect and a better ability to handle weapons. In fact, they were able to devise traps like the one they had just executed.

"Ara ara, four lizards are blocking our way, shall we make one each?" -Not waiting for the others to respond, Alicia took her bow and quickly shot an arrow at the head of the furthest lizardman.

The others also began to fight, Mark ran towards a lizardman, who tried to slash him with its sword. Seeing the sword approaching, he dodged it and cut off the monster's arm.

'SHAA!'

Releasing a sharp hiss, the lizardman, spun around and tried to strike Mark with its tail made of sharp scales.

"Unfortunately for you, I pay a lot more attention to monster tails now."

Ducking down, he let pass the tail over his head and delivered a roundhouse kick to the monster's knee, knocking it over. Now on the ground, Mark plunged his sword into its head, killing it.

Shifting his gaze to the others, he could see that they had finished quite easily as well.

"Let's continue." -Still with his serious expression, Cruz started running again.

"Haaa, he should seriously show more expressions." -Elfy sighed, getting a laugh from Alicia.

Resuming running, the group reached their position again, a few times they encountered lizardmen, but they were handled quickly enough, getting to the 20th floor.

"You're good." -Cruz told him, continuing to look ahead.

"...Thanks." -Mark didn't expect Cruz to pay a compliment, he considered him the kind of person who was serious and quiet.

After exchanging those words, silence fell between them again.

"I think Cruz has met his match." -Elfy joked.

"Fufu I can't deny that, but about Mark being good it's true. I still remember my first expedition, I could barely keep up with the others." -Alicia sighed.

"Compared to me, you were lucky. I tripped over a dark fungus that paralyzed me, forcing my companions to carry me on their backs because we forgot to take an anti-paralysis." -Said Elfy irritated.

'ROOAR!'

Roaring, a bear-like monster, armored by an exoskeleton, was charging them quickly. The monster was a bugbear, surpassing the strength of a minotaur in every aspect.

"Annoying." -Showing an annoyed face, Cruz planted the handle of his spear on the ground, and acting similar to pole vaulting, he launched himself into the air, still holding the spear.

When he was on top of the monster, he changed his position and pierced the spear into the monster's back.

'What an interesting method of attack.' -Mark thought with interest as he extended his hand.

"Electric dart." -A magic circle formed from his hand, out of which came an electric dart, striking a monster bird, with scarlet feathers, that was about to throw flames towards Cruz.

Exchanging a look of understanding, they resumed running, leaving Elfy and Alicia looking at each other strangely.

"...Did a friendship just occur?" -Elfy asked confused.

"...Maybe?" -Alicia wasn't sure either.

The number of monsters they killed later was quite constant, but Mark's group handled them well, keeping injuries to a minimum. Of course, that wouldn't be possible without the experience the Loki Familia adventurers had. Many Familia struggled to reach the lower levels due to the complexity of the Large Tree Labyrinth and the monsters that inhabited it, but with Finn's command, the expedition group was taking a route that purposely had fewer monsters.

'BZZZ' 'BZZZ'

"These wasps have seriously exhausted my patience." -Said Mark in exasperation.

By now they had reached the 24th floor, and they had killed a variety of monsters, from humanoid to plant monsters, but for Mark, this wasp monster was the most annoying.

These monsters called the Deadly Hornet looked like real wasps, but about the size of a goblin, and the sound they made was unbearable. They also had two problematic traits, the first was that if one was killed, it would release a pheromone causing others to arrive and the second was that their sting possessed a toxin that could kill even a level 2 adventurer in a short time if he/she didn't have an antidote.

There was a popular saying when facing Deadly Hornets, 'if you want to kill one deadly hornet, be prepared to face a hundred more'.

"Haaa can you cast that magic again? We can't waste time every time hitting their wings." -Alicia said wearily.

Nodding at her words, he threw 'flashbangs' at the monsters, who blinded, fell on the ground.

"Let's take our chance and move away." -Cruz said, but after going a few meters, they had to stop again, because, in front of them, trolls holding a log blocked their way.

By now the group had gotten used to how the others fought, so they quickly got into position without even exchanging words. Alicia and Elfy would provide cover, slowing down or killing the monsters further down, while Mark and Cruz would handle the ones in front.

Facing the trolls, was not much different from fighting the orcs, in fact, they were very similar, the only difference was that the trolls were much bigger, but they attacked the same way, so Mark already had a strategy.

Running quickly, he dodged the trolls' slow blows and counter-attacked, throwing 'electric darts' at the monsters' faces causing severe injuries and blinding them, but they had already started to heal.

'The trolls' vitality is indeed frightening'.

Fascinated by their ability to heal, he approached them, before they could recover, and began cutting down their legs, knocking them to the ground. Now down and still blind, the fate that awaited the monsters was the arrival of the grim reaper, in the form of a human.

"We're the best." -Elfy said as he made V with her fingers.

Although it didn't seem like it, Elfy also had good strength. She used fire spells and had defeated a few monsters. But being only a sorceress, she relied heavily on the use of the Falna and because of that, most of her enemies were handled by Alicia, who besides being a sorceress with ice spells, she was very skilled with the use of the bow.

'In some ways, you could consider her the mascot of the group.' -He thought ironically. Although she didn't kill many monsters, with her cheerful attitude, she managed to lighten up the mood.

"Cruz do you know how far it is?"

"Hmm I have walked this road only once, I only remember that near the entrance of the next floor of this area, there is usually a green dragon. So I don't know exactly." -Cruz said, but soon after, several noises could be heard from the front.

'GRAAA!'

"You overgrown lizard! Did you just try to attack my captain?! UNFORGIVABLE!"

'BOOOM!' 'BOOOM!' 'BOOOM!'

'Gr- GrAAA!'

"HAHAHA does it hurt?! Then I shall continue!"

'BOOOM!' 'BOOOM!'

Hearing Tione's yells and the monster's wails of pain, the group could only look at each other with complicated faces. They stood slightly away from the vanguard, but they could guess what Tione was doing with the monster just from the noise.

"Is it just me, or is the monster hitting the ground?" -Elfy asked to confirm.

"Knowing her, it's likely." -Said Mark scratching his head.

After running for a couple of minutes, they reached the entrance leading to the lower floor, with a few people already there. On a rock nearby, Tione could be seen sitting next to Finn with a peaceful expression, but from the looks on the others' faces, it was clear what she had just done.

It didn't take long for everyone to reach their destination, but they didn't continue immediately. Unlike the upper floors, some had been injured or poisoned, so Finn had set a half-hour break to allow everyone to recover.

Mark also took immediate advantage of the situation and sat down. Even though he had leveled up and his stamina had increased, it didn't mean he wasn't getting tired. Continuing to run and fight intermittently was drastically increasing his stamina consumption and was also mentally exhausting.

Looking at the entrance to the lower floor, a tired sigh escaped his lips. According to the plan, he would stop at the 50th floor along with the others, this meant that he had to go through 26 more floors, where the monsters would begin to be level 3 or higher.

"Now I understand why the strength of the Exploring Families is greater than the others."

"If you are done recovering we will continue, our destination is the 28th floor. Once there, we can get a good rest." -With Finn's command, the exploration continued.