Chapter 142: Brave Heart (2-in-1 Chapter)

"So, you mean artificially creating an environment with a higher concentration of elemental power for me to practice in?" Nolan said thoughtfully.

That's easy to understand. Let's say there are seventy small balls of different elemental powers in front of Nolan.

There are ten of each of the seven elemental powers, all mixed together. Now, Nolan needs to pick out the wind element ball. As a beginner, it might take a bit longer, and it's normal not to grasp it immediately.

And this method also consumes more energy.

What Lumine did was to pick out the ten wind element balls first, and directly present them to Nolan, like "feeding" him.

Perhaps the analogy isn't entirely accurate, but understanding the gist is enough.

Obviously, practicing in an environment with a high concentration of elements would make it much easier for Nolan.

"I see, the clever Paimon understands too." Paimon, wearing a small short-sleeved shirt, nodded and then took a bite of the apple in her hand, followed by a crisp chewing sound.

"Yeah, that's it. So, why don't you give it a try now?"

Lumine's fair right foot stretched out from her slipper, slightly pulling it back, pressing her ankle against the left leg, nestled in the gap between the soft couch.

"Sure, no problem."

Nolan nodded, bringing both hands close to the swirling mass of wind elemental power floating above Lumine's fair palms.

Relying on his intuition, he activated his character specialization, [Gospel of the Sky], attempting to slowly guide the wind elemental power in front of him into his own hands.

The spinning mass of wind elemental in Lumine's hand stalled slightly.

Then, two small "tentacles" were drawn to Nolan's hands, as expected, with Lumine's assistance, it was much simpler than guiding it himself.

"Wow, it moved, it really moved! Nolan, you're quite talented," Paimon exclaimed, swallowing the chewed-up fruit and then puzzledly asked, "Huh, why did it retreat?"

As Paimon said, just when Nolan thought he was about to succeed.

The wind elemental power he had drawn out retracted again. It seems that even in an environment with a high concentration of elements, he needs to practice several times.

"How does it feel?" Lumine used her left hand to tidy up her hair, which hadn't completely dried yet.

"It's indeed much easier, but there also seems to be an additional resistance to compete with you for control of the wind element."

Nolan thought for a moment, summarizing his feelings and said.

"My resistance?" Lumine pursed her lips, lightly nodded her fair chin in understanding, and continued, "This time, I'll release control of the wind elemental power. Seize the opportunity to guide them when they start to dissipate."

"Uh-huh." Nolan nodded softly, his palms still cradling the swirling mass of wind elemental power.

With a thought, Lumine released her control over the wind elemental power, causing it to start dissipating. Nolan seized the opportunity to guide them again.

The cyan-colored wind elementals seemed to gain some kind of force to maintain its cohesion between his palms, slowly rotating between them.

"It seems like it worked... Oh, it's dissipating again. Can't these wind elemental powers behave?"

Once again, Paimon was disappointed when she thought Nolan was going to succeed.

"It's okay, I feel like I've found the knack, Lumine, et's try this method a few more times."

Nolan wasn't as crestfallen as Paimon; he did manage to control the wind elemental power just now, albeit not for long.

As long as he familiarizes himself a few more times, he believes he'll get the hang of it soon.

After a long time passed.

Lumine and Paimon kept accompanying Nolan to practice controlling the wind element like this, they yawned, feeling a bit tired.

On the other hand, Nolan, with his [Abundant Life] specialty, didn't seem to feel sleepy.

Nolan didn't pay attention to how many times he practiced, anyway, he looked at Lumine's hand that was condensing the wind element, and it looked like she couldn't even lift it up.

Her head bobbed, as if she could fall asleep at any moment.

Nolan watched the unstable wind element gathered in her hands, seeming like it would dissipate at any moment.

Instead of waiting for Lumine to release her control over the wind element, he tried to guide it directly. This time, the resistance was minimal, and the rotating wind element easily came to Nolan's hands.

One second, ten seconds, one minute, three minutes...

"Phew~ Finally succeeded!" Nolan exclaimed in surprise. He felt like he could freely control this mass of wind elementals now.

After playing around for a while, he released his control over the wind elementals on his hands. When it completely dissipated, Nolan tried to guide the elementals without Lumine's assistance.

A faint breeze rotated in his palms. After several familiarizations with guiding the wind elements, he had successfully mastered this technique!

"Ah did it work, if it doesn't work again, I'm going to fall asleep."

Paimon, lying on the couch with Lumine's soft thighs as a pillow, rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"Looks like you're learning well, that's all for today, just practice for a few more days and you should be able to apply it in a real battle."

Lumine said, relieved to see Nolan finally succeed. She raised her hands, stretching lazily, and the white short-sleeved top was lifted slightly, revealing her snow-white belly.

...

The next morning.

After Nolan and the others finished breakfast, they came to the Knights HQ and greeted the Knights of Favonius standing guard at the entrance, and entered the Acting Grand Master's office.

"Both honorable knights, and Paimon, you're here."

Jean, wearing the Knight Order uniform, smiled. This time she didn't sit on the chairs in the office area near the window.

Instead, somewhat unexpectedly, she sat on the right side of the square-long table, with a cup of steaming hot tea in front of her.

The Scout Knight with a red bunny ear knot on her head, also sat next to her.

"Good morning, Grand Master Jean, eh? Amber's here too."

Paimon greeted Jean first, then looked at Amber with some surprise.

"Hehe, why wouldn't I be here as a Knight of Favonius? Nolan, Lumine, come over and have some tea!"

Amber's white face revealed a smile as she stood up and picked up the ceramic teapot on the tablet and poured a cup of black tea for everyone.

"Wow, it smells so warm and nice."

Paimon didn't sit down on the chair like Nolan and the others did. Instead, she floated in mid-air, holding the teacup and sniffing it near her nose.

Jean picked up the white tea cup and put it to her soft lips and took a sip:

"This is a souvenir given to me by the Tianquan of Liyue when she came to Mondstadt to discuss business cooperation."

"It seems to be a tea called 'Dyed Dragon Snow,' produced on a tea tree unique to Liyue. According to them, this special tea tree grows differently from others, only producing tender buds and leaves in large quantities during the winter season. They need to be nourished by snow and cold, and only when it's 'Great Snow' season can they be picked to have a special tea fragrance, which is extremely rare and therefore precious."

"Great Snow? Is it a day with heavy snowfall?"

Lumine looked at the reflection of her face in the red liquid in the teacup, a bit puzzled.

"'Great Snow' doesn't refer to snowy weather, it's a solar term in the calendar of Liyue, a fixed day."

Amber explained.

"I see." Lumine and Paimon both nodded.

"Hehe, Nolan, as someone from Liyue, you should know about it, right?"

Amber looked at the young adventurer and asked.

"..."

Nolan paused with the teacup in hand. He understood the concept of 'solar terms,' but tea trees were something the game hadn't mentioned. How would he know?

Anyways, he is not really from Liyue, it's just he looks like one for obvious reasons.

Hmm. When he first crossed over, he didn't tell Amber the truth due to various considerations. It had always made him feel a bit guilty about not being honest with her.

Now was a good opportunity to come clean. After all, continuing like this would eventually lead to exposure, and it wouldn't be good to lose Amber's affection.

"Actually, Amber, I'm not from Liyue," Nolan replied after a moment of silence.

"Hmm? Huh?!"

Amber nodded twice as if to say she was listening, then widened her eyes in realization.

"Cough, actually, it's like this." Nolan patiently explained his situation of coming from another world to both Amber and Grand Master Jean. "At the time, to avoid being misunderstood by you, I said I was from Liyue. After all, if someone suddenly said they were from another world, anyone would find it suspicious, right?"

"Mm, I see. I can't believe it. If it weren't for knowing you for so long and knowing you're not someone who likes to joke around, I would have thought you were joking," Amber said somewhat surprised.

"That explains it. You seemed like an ordinary person with mediocre martial skills before. It's understandable that you concealed your bizarre origins," Jean nodded thoughtfully, leaning back against the chair.

"Well, since there's a reason for it, I won't hold it against you for deceiving me."

Amber's red bunny ear hair knot wiggled as her soft lips curved up slightly in a smile:

"Rather, I'm glad you told me your secret. It means I'm still worthy of your trust as a friend."

[Amber Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.4 (350/400)]

"Amber has a point. As an honorable knight, the Knight Order will always be your strong support!" Jean folded her hands across her chest, showing a faint smile.

[Jean Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 180 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.5 (10/500)]

Due to their already high levels of Affection, even though Amber and Grand Master Jean heard something unexpected, they showed understanding towards Nolan. This made him feel somewhat relieved.

"Ahem, that... Grand Master Jean, Amber, actually I am too..."

At this moment, Lumine, with white flowers in her golden hair, looked embarrassed as she spoke up.

"..."

Jean and Amber's faces showed helplessness. When did visitors from another world become so common?

Not only did they appear in Mondstadt, but they also became honorary knights of the Knights of Favonius at the same time.

After thoroughly understanding the situation between Nolan and Lumine, Jean sighed and nodded:

"Your situation is indeed a bit unexpected, and it does make sense for you to conceal it. Too many people knowing about it would inevitably lead to trouble, so we won't announce that you two honorable knights are visitors from another world.

"Anyway, let's put that aside for now. You're here to claim the Artifacts Set rewards I promised yesterday, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Nolan and Lumine nodded slightly.

"I have two sets of Artifacts here. Because of their similar powers, even in their initial state, the resonance effect of the set can provide a considerable boost in power to the bearer."

Jean stood up and took out two sets of golden-hued Artifacts from her Vision, placing them in front of the two.

"Wow, they're so beautiful!" Paimon admired their color, reminiscent of round Mora coins.

"Hehe~ They're called 'Brave Hearts'. They were found in a new secret realm discovered by the Knights of Favonius when we explored it together," Amber said with a slight smile on her fair face.

"I see. Well, then we won't be polite and accept them." Nolan nodded.

He remembered that in the game, the two-piece set of "Brave Heart" increased attack power(+18%), while the four-piece set boosted damage against high-health targets(Increases DMG by 30% against opponents with more than 50% HP).

Overall, it was quite good.

Artifacts are as mysterious as the existence of treasure chests, and their nature is precipitated by the history of a long time, with magical power.

So, the way to equip them was also quite mystical.

Anyone who touched them with their hands could choose to integrate them into their bodies as energy. Once successfully carried, removing them was as simple as a thought, very straightforward.

With the Knights of Favonius' reward in hand, Nolan and his companions prepared to leave.

According to their plan before leaving, the three of them would go to the Adventurers' Guild to pick up quests after collecting their rewards from the Knights of Favonius.

Although Lumine hadn't asked Venti if he knew the unknown god who kidnapped her brother, she probably knew it wasn't the mischievous Anemo Archon.

So, she would soon embark on the next adventure of her journey. But before that, she needed to earn enough Mora and buy some essential supplies in Mondstadt.

After all, a trip to Liyue, the closest neighboring nation to Mondstadt, would take about a month for a merchant caravan hauling goods by wagon.

She and Paimon couldn't continue living off the land by hunting forever. At the very least, they needed to bring enough food and clean water.

"Oh, wait a minute. Nolan, Traveler, do you have time now?"

Amber called out to Nolan and his companions.

"Hmm? Amber, what's up?" Paimon asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Later on I'm going to post your brother's missing person notice. Oh and by the way, I'm going to clean up some of the debris that was blown onto the walls and roofs of the buildings due to the windstorm, are you guys free to join me?"

Amber said with deliberation.

"Of course!"

Lumine nodded heavily, taking on a commission to earn Mora could come later, but finding her brother would have to be taken seriously first.

"Since that's the case, I'll help too," Nolan naturally wouldn't refuse.

"Hehe, count me in too."

Paimon raised a hand, indicating her willingness to join.

"Great, let's start by checking the rooftop of the Knights of Favonius' building. We'll see if anything has been blown up there."

Amber smiled gently.

Next, everyone bid farewell to Master Jean, left the Acting Grand Master's office, and followed Amber to the stairs leading to the upper floor behind the hall.

Two girls, wearing knee-high white boots, swayed their skirts as they walked up the stairs, the sound of their heels tapping against the ground crisp and clear.

(End of Chapter)

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