In this Age of Descent, when the gods still walked among mortals, even the Dungeon city had merchants selling small trinkets like pocket watches.
These weren't powered by magic stones, but by finely wound springs, a purely mechanical, handcrafted item.
Bulky things, heavy in the hand.
Several of the Loki Familia, including Finn, Riveria, Alicia, and Anakitty, had bought them.
Not because they were magic tools, but because they were convenient for measuring surface time while inside the Dungeon.
At the moment,
"It's seven-thirty in the evening. The surface has long since gone dark."
"Mm. Right on time for dinner."
"Lumine~ we'll have to trouble you again!"
"I still want tasty meat!"
"Haha, alright, no problem."
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Inside the Great Labyrinth Tree, the expedition members had all gathered.
Some were busy clanging away, setting up tents.
Others had portable hearths and whetstones out, maintaining the weapons and armor that had been swapped out after battle.
And then there was Gareth…
The dwarven veteran was hefting his massive battleaxe, tearing up the ground around camp.
Yes, tearing up.
As a Level 6 warrior, already in the Heroic Realm, every swing of his axe above ground could cause a small quake. Yet here, he worked carefully, deliberately gouging up the soil.
Lower-level adventurers rarely experienced this.
After all, most of them followed the "single-day return" rhythm, they never stayed overnight in the Dungeon.
But for upper-class adventurers, especially those who had pushed past the 18th floor, things were very different.
After all, the 24th floor had no Safe Zone. Monsters could hatch here at any time.
That was why professional expedition teams like Loki Familia always destroyed the surrounding terrain before setting up camp.
Because once the Dungeon was "wounded," it would prioritize repairing terrain over spawning monsters in those damaged zones.
Meaning the only threat left would be from other sections, which could be intercepted at the entrance.
Still, there was a critical fact Aether knew,
If more than 20% of a single floor's terrain was destroyed at once, the Dungeon would enter a state known as Wailing.
At that point, it would spawn an incarnation of Calamity, its immune system against adventurers.
Its name: Amphisbaena.
This monster, centipede-like in form, was blisteringly fast and had two revolting instant-kill traits.
First, its shell reflected all offensive magic.
Second, its claws could shred nearly anything. Even weapons forged of adamantine, like Tiona's great double-blades, would be snapped apart like twigs.
Perhaps an unbreakable divine artifact could withstand it, but such items, like the famed Desperate Sword, weren't something just anyone could get.
Once, the entire Astraea Familia, then composed solely of Level 3s and 4s, had been wiped out by it, leaving only a single survivor.
Those who knew the truth said: had that tragedy not occurred, Astraea Familia would now stand as one of Orario's Three Great Factions.
But in this world of dreams and miracles, where cruelty lay just as deep, there was no such thing as "what if."
The living fantasize; the dead are reduced to ash.
How many adventurers had lost their tomorrows in the Dungeon?
A single glance at Orario's First Cemetery, with its endless expanse of gravestones, said enough.
"Still… even Riveria, the city's strongest mage, couldn't trigger a Wailing on the Lower or Deep Floors with her area magic. And she'd almost never unleash such wide-scale spells in the Upper or Middle Floors."
Which means… once I draw Emperor, I'd better not recklessly throw around a mana-boosted Heavenly Calamity.
Nearby, Lumine was at the central campfire, tending a pot with Tiona, Lefiya, and Ais helping.
Aether, having done his share in the day's battles, had only helped pitch a single tent before finding himself idle.
Now, he was taking the chance to tally up his harvest for the day.
Counting carefully,
It had been 22 days since his sudden arrival in this world and entry into Orario.
In that time, he had drawn cards 21 times.
His haul so far:
★★★★★ Character ×1
★★★★ Characters ×3
★★★ Weapons ×17
And just within the past three days of waiting for the expedition to start, he had drawn yet another character card,
Razor.
Another Electro Vision holder from Genshin Impact.
With Fischl in the party, that meant he could now trigger the High Voltage Elemental Resonance.
[High Voltage: Hydro status duration reduced by 40%. Triggering Superconduct, Overload, or Electro-Charged reactions has a 100% chance to generate 1 Electro Elemental Particle. Cooldown: 5s.]
Back when Renjiro had played Genshin before crossing over, he'd always thought this resonance was underwhelming.
Look at Impetuous Winds, reduced stamina cost, increased movement speed, and shorter cooldowns.
Meanwhile, High Voltage's particle generation was once every five seconds, and only one particle at a time.
Still… if it didn't have a cooldown, it'd be completely broken. He sighed.
"But shortening Hydro affliction duration… in this world, that's actually really useful."
At least, it would make certain "traitor" Genshin characters less able to sabotage allies.
Of course, Aether currently had no Hydro characters at all. So, that issue was irrelevant.
"Razor was the card I drew two days ago. Haven't had a chance to level him yet."
"But today, thanks to the fights, the backline exp he's been leeching wasn't bad."
After all, everyone else, Traveler Twins, Xiao, Fischl, Diona, were already capped at Level 20.
So every monster he killed now funneled experience straight into Razor.
And so,
Razor, Level 13.
Looking at that result, Aether estimated silently:
At this pace, by the time this expedition ends, his exp will be overflowing.
He couldn't help but hope.
If only I could pull another character card in the next few days…
Though, with a wry smile, he added,
Yeah, right. I'm no "Luck Emperor."
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