Though faith points were often just a number to Leon, their utility was undeniable when needed.
Whether exchanging them for gifts to players or restoring his strength, they had their uses.
In the story, relying on his own power was preferable, minimizing dependence on Elation.
The closer you got to Aha, the closer Aha got to you…
That was not the future Leon wanted.
…
About a month after Honkai: Star Rail's public release, first-wave players reached the Trailblaze Level needed to fully ascend their characters.
This meant they could tackle the highest difficulty permanent content: Memories of Chaos.
It was also the period of the second limited character, Jing Yuan's, banner.
Not everyone pulled both Seele and Jing Yuan.
Clearing Memories of Chaos fully with only standard or four-star DPS, plus one limited character, was no small feat.
The launch period was especially resource-scarce.
Even with the generous rewards from completing the Jarilo-VI main story, including Leon's gift, it wasn't enough.
Low resources meant low investment, making Memories of Chaos a grueling challenge.
Either you had enough survivability but lacked damage,
Or enough damage but lacked survivability.
Or, worse, neither was sufficient.
At this moment, a strategy streamer named Lao An was tearing his hair out in frustration.
His own account had long cleared Chaos Layer 10 with full stars.
But streaming was his livelihood, and he had to grind stars for fans and sponsors.
In this era of stark build disparities and low average game knowledge, every grind was a silent struggle.
Too punishing, too torturous.
Why was he called Lao An? Because in just a few days, he'd grinded dozens of underbuilt accounts.
Almost none were "smooth" accounts. Those with both Seele and Jing Yuan were considered lucky.
After Jing Yuan was once again floored by Cocolia's elbow drop, Lao An couldn't help but wail:
"Arghhh, why can't I split Leon into two?!"
The live chat erupted in laughter.
But they understood why Lao An was howling.
The account he was grinding had abysmal luck and low investment.
The account owner, a female player, skipped the first half of the banner, saving resources for Jing Yuan's.
Her luck was so bad she never got a single clean pull.
Jing Yuan's character took 165 pulls to obtain, and his signature Light Cone was a miss too.
Her big monthly card weapon was a Harmony one, forcing her to use the free "Breakfast's Sense of Ritual."
With most resources poured into Jing Yuan and Leon, the other team was a mess, relying on a physical Trailblazer to DPS.
But survivability was a problem—no Gepard or Bailu from standard pulls.
In Chaos Layer 10's upper half, facing two Outer Universe Flames, Natasha alone couldn't keep the team alive.
Either the main DPS died, or the supports died—someone always fell.
March 7th wasn't built, so swapping the physical Trailblazer for a fire one wasn't an option.
With Leon and the physical Trailblazer in the upper half, they could easily crush the two Outer Universe Flames.
But that left Jing Yuan to suffer in the lower half.
Man!
Enjoying Cocolia and the Ice of the Outer Universe's freeze combo gift pack?
In this failed run, Jing Yuan's Divine Monarch failed to act for three consecutive turns.
The stream's entertainment value was off the charts.
That's why Lao An blurted out why there was only one Leon.
And this was with a cleanse support, Bronya, in the team.
But if Bronya herself got controlled, how could she cleanse Jing Yuan?
Even if she did, just as Divine Monarch was about to act, Cocolia's ice spike would freeze Jing Yuan again.
Lao An slumped in his chair, looking drained, like a broken toy.
[Stop grinding, Lao An, this account's hopeless.]
[Don't hate, it was this close to clearing.]
[Two hours of torture, always this close. I'd have lost it ages ago.]
"I refuse to believe it!"
Lao An gritted his teeth, exited to the character screen, and stripped all of Leon's relics to equip on Natasha.
Then he swapped Natasha's relics to the supports, and so on.
In the end, seven of the eight characters wore gold relics, while Leon was stuck in a set of +9 purple relics…
Utterly pathetic.
[Lao An, you're insane! Giving Father purple gear? He can't even keep himself alive!]
"No madness, no success!"
Lao An assigned Leon to the lower half with Jing Yuan and started the challenge again.
This time, with Leon's relics boosting Natasha in the upper half, she could finally keep the team alive.
Even so, it took 14 turns.
Players then realized that without Leon in the upper half, they didn't just lose survivability—they lost damage.
All his skills used an attack module and scaled with HP.
In an era of poor relics, he could deal decent damage, supplementing the main DPS.
Beyond that, he offered a 10% resistance reduction on follow-ups, 25% Break efficiency, energy regeneration percentage from his signature Light Cone, and attack reduction debuffs on enemies.
Most importantly, the account owner's fully Constellated Leon could reflect DoT damage.
This was another damage source.
Leon could apply Burn to the Outer Universe Flame, which was immune to Burn—another "my code trumps yours" moment.
All things considered, with Leon, the upper half was cleared in 8 turns.
With Natasha, it took 14 turns—a massive gap.
(In the launch version, the Abyss had 40 turns, with 20+ remaining for full stars.)
Truly, no comparison, no harm.
But, but—
Now Lao An had stripped Leon's relics, leaving him in rags.
With an underleveled Light Cone, his HP was a pitiful 1,954—600 less than Tingyun, nearly 1,500 less than Jing Yuan!
Could he withstand Cocolia's burst damage? Many viewers, even veteran Chaos grinders, were skeptical.
It was their first time seeing a Leon with such terrible relics.
And only 6 turns remained for the lower half.
The first wave was straightforward—Jing Yuan's Divine Monarch cleared it instantly.
The second wave: two ice axes and one Outer Universe Ice.
Seeing the ice axes push their own bars and the Outer Universe Ice freeze itself, Lao An felt better than ever.
"Grandma's…"
To keep the upper half alive, he'd grinded the lower half with Natasha at least ten times.
He'd almost forgotten how comfortable it was to use Leon in the lower half the past few days.
The second wave was dealt with.
But he miscalculated damage, and with the energy rope given to Natasha, Leon entered the third wave short on ultimate energy.
Cocolia's first two moves didn't control, nor did the Outer Universe Ice's first move.
By the Ice's second move, Lao An glanced at Leon's still-unready ultimate, his heart in his throat.
"Please, Tingyun, trigger your Preservation Fox's Will talent…"
"Divine Monarch's almost at the action bar's top. As long as Leon and Bronya aren't frozen, we're fine."
The Outer Universe Ice unleashed an ice spike at all characters, freezing Jing Yuan and Tingyun.
"Yes, yes, YES!!"
Lao An was ecstatic.
The hit filled Leon's ultimate energy.
"Your humble servant knows a bit of medicine…"
"Who here is sick?"