Ryen never imagined there would come a day when he'd be proven so utterly wrong.
Last time, when a Druid Mage appeared, he hadn't been paying close attention.
The fact that it dropped the Thunder Staff was already absurd beyond belief.
But…
How could there possibly be so many Druid Mages?
Weren't these creatures supposed to be scattered thinly across the world, their numbers few?
And if there were more of them anywhere, it should have been in the Dark Forest, not here!
"Should we shoot it? Should we?"
Hu Tao gleefully raised her light machine gun, looking at Ryen with eager eyes.
Ryen waved her down, speaking softly:
"Don't rush. I want to see what the other four spells on that staff are."
"Four?"
Lisa glanced at him in surprise.
Ryen pointed at the Skeleton Druid.
"Normally, Skeleton Druids only spawn in the Dark Forest. That balance isn't supposed to break.
If they show up in other regions, it's most likely because they've been summoned by another spell.
"Summoning Skeleton Druids is an apprentice-tier necromancy spell. Which means… this staff is at least apprentice-tier."
At his words, everyone's eyes burned even hotter with desire.
An apprentice-tier staff—that meant a 30% boost to elemental power.
"Pull back a bit. Fire near it, but don't actually hit it."
With that, Ryen led the group into retreat.
Gunfire rang out, stirring up the Druid Mage. Its eerie green eyes grew colder with anger.
Raising its staff, it gathered chilling power.
A freezing mist roared forth.
"Frost Breath—an ice-element apprentice spell. Pretty standard."
Ryen nodded, calmly evaluating.
The frost mist dissipated before even reaching them.
The Druid Mage wielded the staff clumsily, leaving everyone watching impatiently.
"What a waste of such a staff!"
Lisa scowled in disdain.
"A wide-area freezing ability like that should be cast up close! This idiot is just going through the motions."
"You want it to have intelligence? Then the fight would be much harder."
Ryen rolled his eyes.
Just then, the Druid Mage swung its staff, and its figure blurred and vanished.
Ryen's brow arched.
"Not bad… an apprentice-tier spell, Cloak of Mist?"
"Summon Skeleton Druids for harassment, activate Cloak of Mist for stealth, then move in for close-range Frost Breath…"
"As far as apprentice-level spell combinations go, that's actually pretty solid."
"Stay alert."
He warned, and the group huddled closer, watching their surroundings warily.
Cloak of Mist wasn't true invisibility—not even as good as an invisibility potion.
But when used in darkness…
It was far stronger.
And unfortunately, the Dark Forest was a realm of eternal night.
In such pitch-blackness, the spell made its user practically transparent.
Even someone like Zhongli would struggle to track it down.
Which was why Ryen considered Cloak of Mist, when used in true darkness, to be on par with master-tier invisibility magic.
"Three apprentice spells so far. Don't tell me this staff is only apprentice-level?"
Ningguang frowned slightly, a hint of disappointment in her tone.
"High-tier staves aren't exactly common cabbages. You don't just stumble upon them."
Ryen shook his head.
"We don't know what the last two spells are yet. But even if it's just apprentice-level, it's still a good staff.
"At the very least, its spell synergy is excellent."
Two glowing green seeds shot toward them. Xiao blocked with his shield.
One came from the Skeleton Druid's cast. The other, however…
"Druid's Touch—another apprentice spell…"
Ryen shook his head slightly, a little regretful.
"Four apprentice-level spells… looks like it really is just an apprentice-tier staff."
"You can't put it that way, you know…"
Lisa shook her head with a teasing smile.
"Last time you also said it was only an advanced-tier staff, but in the end, didn't it unleash a master-level spell?"
Ryen froze for a moment, then chuckled.
"Well, that's true, but still—"
Before he could finish, an overwhelming sense of danger swept down from above. Looking up, he saw a heavy layer of dark storm clouds rapidly gathering.
Ryen's pupils contracted.
"Something's wrong! Retreat!"
He didn't even need to remind them—everyone else had already sensed it. They all bolted at once, narrowly escaping from the danger zone.
Almost at the exact moment Diluc pulled back last, sheets of pitch-black raindrops came crashing down like a torrent.
Ryen's expression grew complicated.
"An advanced-tier spell… Acid Rain…"
"So this staff really is advanced tier!"
He exhaled with emotion. At this point, five of its spells had already been confirmed:
Summoning: Summon Skeleton Druid.
Utility: Cloak of Mist.
Offense: Frost Breath, Druid's Touch, and Acid Rain.
This setup was already extremely well-rounded.
Both the Skeleton Druid and the staff itself could release Druid's Touch, dealing Dendro damage.
Then there was Frost Breath from the Cryo element, plus Acid Rain—called Electro on paper, but in truth more like a deluge of corrosive water.
A truly excellent combination.
Next, all they had to do was seize the staff and confirm its elemental affinity.
When the Acid Rain faded away, the Skeleton Druid's time limit also ran out, and the Cloak of Mist cast by the druid mage dispersed.
Everyone immediately raised their guns.
They had already studied this staff inside and out. Now came the plundering.
An advanced-tier staff—whatever its elemental alignment—was worth taking.
"Let Ganyu handle it."
Ryen waved his hand. This time, he didn't pass her the Vampiric Staff.
Ganyu had grown wary of that weapon. Ever since she had drained the druid mage's life with it, she had been unsettled by the malicious intent the staff seemed to awaken in her.
She gave a small nod, lifted her sniper rifle, and took aim at the druid mage.
The latter tried to move closer, clearly wanting to cast a spell at point-blank range.
But before he could take more than a few steps, several gunshots rang out, striking him square in the head.
He froze for a second, then collapsed with a heavy crash, dissolving into green smoke.
On the ground remained a radiant blue staff and a stone ring.
Ryen strode forward quickly, picked up both items, studied them, and his face lit up with joy.
"Perfect! An advanced-tier Cryo staff—Frostbearer!"
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