After Udaeus was successfully defeated, the team members quickly searched the Throne Room for any potential loot.
Once satisfied, they immediately headed down the dungeon stairs toward the 38th floor.
With the high efficiency of the Lv.1 adventurers, less than an hour later, they reached the day's target: the 39th floor, the first safe layer in the "deep" zone.
At this moment, Tiona, Ais, Bete, and others were clearing nearby stray monsters. Meanwhile, Finn, Riveria, and Teone accompanied Renjiro (Aether) and Lumine to the teleportation anchor that had been set up earlier.
Before the device could be fully activated, there was a tedious step: Paimon could only manifest and photograph the anchor, but activation required the Traveler twins to be nearby.
Much like the game Genshin Impact, an unactivated anchor glowed red.
This was one reason Renjiro couldn't simply send Paimon alone to lower floors to photograph anchors.
Another reason was more practical: Paimon's physical endurance was weak, roughly equal to Renjiro's pre-"God's Blessing" state, a normal human level. Yet her overpowered abilities consumed massive amounts of magic.
Even worse, Paimon had no [stats of her own]; any mana she used would be drawn directly from the Traveler's body.
Under these conditions, she could maintain an "invisible" state for extended periods, but not for days alone.
Only when activating Time Stop could she become invincible and immune to attacks.
In short, clinging to a strong ally while setting anchors on lower floors was the safest approach.
After all, the anchor's most useful feature was that it could not be destroyed. Placed on a safe floor, it could withstand any number of monsters attacking.
In the words of some battle-torn village analogy: it was like a super-sized, indestructible teleportation jutsu.
As an added bonus…
"Once I can photograph and activate the final anchor on the 50th floor tomorrow, it won't just be for expedition supply transport… there are other practical uses too."
Renjiro's thinking was flexible.
He remembered that when he and Lefiya accidentally fell to the 37th floor, one buff from the Starry Abyss skill increased mana recovery efficiency the closer one was to the abyss. The effect was floor-specific.
Recently, when Renjiro accompanied Welf through the dungeon and crafted the Universal Shovel, he had taken advantage of this to maximize mana recovery.
Now…
"If the main body ever needs fast mana recovery, one of the Travelers can teleport to the 50th floor and act as a human anchor."
"Even during the day, I could get 22× mana recovery efficiency."
Currently, post-Lv.2, Renjiro only needed a ×9 mana recovery multiplier to maintain a permanent Genshin clone.
With the 50th-floor anchor as backup, any large-scale mana-consuming activity would no longer feel constraining.
Combine this with the versatility of Crown of Insight and Primordial Human magic…
I've already got no sh… eh-eh-eh!
Renjiro quickly interrupted the potentially catastrophic thought before it became a death flag.
Looking around…
"So this is the teleportation anchor."
Finn, Riveria, and Teone examined the device curiously. Riveria, a highly skilled Elf mage, was particularly interested.
Oddly, at this moment, the usually confident "Mama-san" seemed hesitant…
"Can I touch it?"
Please don't say such an adorably serious thing right now…
"Of course." Lumine smiled, gesturing toward the anchor.
"The anchors I set up are indestructible. They've probably been attacked by monsters before we arrived."
"Rest assured, they're very sturdy."
Hearing this, Riveria chuckled and nodded, inspecting the anchor carefully.
As for Finn… the tiny hero of the Pallum race rested his chin in his hand, lost in thought.
After a moment…
"Lumine, you said that once the anchor is placed, it cannot be moved for a long time, right?"
"Correct." Lumine nodded.
Finn continued,
"Have you tried anchoring it to a movable object? Like a large cart or a ship… something like that?"
"…Of course, that's clever," Lumine muttered with a twitch at the corner of her mouth.
Renjiro, intrigued by this idea, immediately asked the System for clarification. The answer was somewhat disappointing.
[Teleportation anchors remain active without consuming the host's mana by drawing energy from the world's ley lines.]
[Therefore, shortcuts like mobile anchoring are impossible.]
[Unless the mobile object possesses an immense amount of energy itself.]
Ah, that explained it.
Previously, teleporting to Babel Tower while fetching ingredients consumed no mana, but sending items to Lumine via Statue of The Seven skill did. Now it all made sense.
"Better to clarify these details now, so no mishaps occur later."
Lumine shared some of the permissible info with Finn. Renjiro realized that talking more with the halfling hero could yield novel ideas in the future, definitely a win.
Coincidentally…
"Finn, the surrounding monsters have all been cleared."
Ais, Bete, and Tiona returned; the lone werewolf youth was still destroying terrain nearby.
"Good, let's set up camp."
Finn ordered, "Tonight we rest, set up the tents…"
"No need for that."
With permission via mental link, Lumine interjected:
"Camping in the dungeon isn't safe. I have another solution."
As she spoke, the jade-colored crystals adorning her body shifted to a golden hue.
"Perfect, time to practice using Geo Element more efficiently."
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