Truth be told, aside from someone as eternally reliable as Zhongli, the characters who would help Renjiro the most right now were healers and those who could deal damage or shield from the backline.
For the first category, no explanation was needed: Jean, Qiqi, Barbara, Sayu, Kokomi, anyone would do. If he got lucky enough to pull Diona or Noelle, he'd even have access to a budget shielder.
As for certain two "true gods" of six-star tier, well, like he kept saying: there weren't any real wars to fight yet.
So aside from healers, Renjiro placed great importance on characters who could pop a skill in a second, then retreat. After all, his own mana reserves weren't large. Maintaining Genshin Descent only let a single clone remain for about fifteen minutes.
Even with his high-efficiency mana recovery skill, Starry Abyss, he was still constantly strapped for energy. At best, it made Starfire's Flowing Light and Paimon Times practically free to use.
That was why characters like Albedo, Fischl, Xiangling, Kokomi, Mona, Thoma… and especially Raiden Shogun, were invaluable. They could step in, drop a skill, and step back, dramatically improving Renjiro's combat endurance.
Because the clones' Elemental Skills and Bursts only had cooldowns, no mana costs. Even if Bursts required energy particles, the system treated them as essentially free.
In other words: as long as Renjiro had the right lineup and his mana reserves grew strong enough, his army of clones could become a true perpetual motion war machine.
But for now…
"It's bad enough that my options are limited, and then they hand me a health-draining maniac on top of it."
"And according to the System, if a Genshin character dies, I have to exit Starfire's Flowing Light mode and return to my body to revive them, and they only come back with 35% HP."
"Sure, it's better than nothing… but way too clunky to use."
The only saving grace was that clones could still passively gain EXP while benched. Otherwise, Renjiro might have already despaired of leveling.
In short…
"For this run, let's set a small goal. At the very least, I need to raise myself (Aether), Lumine, and Xiao to Lv.10 or higher. I can't afford to have anyone on the team be paper-thin."
No sooner had he resolved this than,
"Ugh… my liver hurts."
OTZ (kneeling person)
That night, Renjiro stayed in the Dungeon without returning once. He didn't know that close to midnight, the goddess of beauty herself, Freya, had quietly visited his room atop Babel Tower.
Finding that the teleport waypoint in his room remained active, and confirming the details in his [Personal Information], she finally left, reassured of his safety.
Then came the next day… and Renjiro still hadn't returned from the Dungeon. Since the waypoint was still present, Freya wasn't worried for his life.
But then the third day came. Then the fourth.
A whole week passed.
And Renjiro remained missing.
At that point, even knowing he was alive, Freya's brow twitched in irritation.
She was no pure pleasure goddess, that much was true. The reason the gods left Heaven in the first place was to experience the dazzling variety of sensations brought by mortal life, since their divine omnipotence was sealed away.
Lately, however, nothing much had amused her. Bored to death, she found herself curious about Renjiro's growth.
After all, the boy possessed three BUG-tier magics. Surely his first Dungeon dive would offer her some delightful surprises.
She had assumed she'd see results that very night. At worst, she thought, in a day or two.
Never had she expected him to go wild, so wild that he spent a full week in the Dungeon without surfacing once.
And by the looks of it…
"Ottar."
"Yes."
"Go check on his condition in the Dungeon."
"As you command."
Inside the same top-floor chamber with its floor-to-ceiling windows, the warrior standing behind Freya's throne asked solemnly:
"Freya-sama, shall I bring him back?"
Freya fell silent, considering. Finally, she shook her head.
"No need. Just tell him that when he leaves the Dungeon, he is to return to the Familia headquarters immediately. I want to see him. Until then, let him proceed at his own pace."
For Freya, this was remarkably lenient. Ottar, loyal as ever, had never seen her treat another member with such freedom. Normally, what Freya wished was absolute, first priority.
But now…
"Understood."
Though he harbored some doubts, Ottar was not one to question orders. That was why Freya trusted him above all others.
"Then I will depart at once."
"Go."
Freya's reply was simple. Ottar bowed deeply, then backed out of the chamber.
Half an hour later, for Ottar, a Lv.7 adventurer, the upper floors of the Dungeon were little more than his backyard.
It was true that the Dungeon often spawned strange and dangerous anomalies, enough to kill many high-level adventurers. But when your power so vastly exceeded the floor's difficulty, it became a matter of overwhelming force.
And Ottar was no ordinary Lv.7. Four of his five stats were S-rank. Only his Magic sat at D.
For such a giant, finding someone on the upper floors was trivial.
Sure enough, by the time he reached the Seventh Floor,
Screeech, chitter chitter
In a secluded dead end where few adventurers dared venture, he found Renjiro, or rather, the figures of Aether and Lumine.
The place was swarming with monsters known as Killer Ants. Dark, chitinous giants the size of calves, their mandibles razor-sharp and their carapaces tough enough that most novices couldn't scratch them.
Adventurer's Common Knowledge: On upper floors, if you wound but don't kill a Killer Ant, it will summon its kin, more and more, until you're overwhelmed.
Which meant, without a doubt, whether by deliberately retreating into a deserted dead end, or by exploiting the ants' behavior to gather a swarm, Renjiro was doing something that most adventurers would never dare attempt.
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