Chapter 35: Strength

[Comprehended "Favonius Swordsmanship - Royal"]

Today the sky is gray and gloomy, it is probably around dusk now.

After Eula's patient guidance, Nolan barely managed to learn the ritual dances and has also initially learned to combine and apply Favonius Swordsmanship, successfully getting a start on Eula's unique sword technique.

"It seems you've grasped it well." Eula nodded slightly.

Nolan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Phew~ Eula you sure teach well."

"Hmph, cut down on the flattering words."

Eula's fair face lifted up slightly, speaking in a rather dissatisfied, prideful tone.

[Eula Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 75 Affection Points, Current Affection Level Lv.3 (25/300)]

Sorry, your heart has already betrayed your expression. Nolan looked at Eula with some amusement.

With Eula's current affection, the two of them were considered to be familiar friends, one step closer to max level.

"That's all for today, starting tomorrow our 'Spindrift Knight' unit will end our rest period and continue moving forward. Wait until my next rest period and I'll come test your progress, don't let my sword technique go to waste!"

Eula crossed her arms and propped them under her chest, slightly relieving some fatigue from standing too long. Her fair face faced Nolan, her words full of sternness.

It was as if she would hold a grudge against him again if he really did neglect the swordsmanship.

It's not like I can neglect it even if I wanted to. Nolan thought to himself, but he said:

"Don't worry, I'll make time to practice every day."

Speaking of which, if I could temporarily join Eula's Spindrift Knight, wouldn't I be able to increase my Adventure EXP by fighting monsters while interacting with Eula at the same time?

Nolan pondered the feasibility of this idea.

In the end, he realized it probably wouldn't work. After all, the Favonius Knights naturally have their own rules and regulations, it's not just a matter of wanting to tag along. So making this kind of request would also put Eula in a difficult position.

It wasn't very realistic, and could also negatively impact Eula's favorability towards him, since the two don't exactly have an unbreakable relationship right now.

"Alright, then I'll leave first."

Eula revealed a smile. Her legs clad in knee-high black leather boots separated and took a step to the right, just about to turn around, when Nolan's voice rang out.

"Wait Eula, there's one more thing I want to ask you for help with." Nolan called out to Eula.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Eula looked at him with her beautiful eyes.

"It's just that I feel like I should have grown stronger recently, but I don't know what level I'm at. So I wanted to ask Eula to help test me."

Nolan voiced his thoughts.

"Oh~ Should I take this as you challenging me?" Interest sparked in Eula's mirror-like eyes, and the Cryo Elemental Vision on her right shoulder glimmered slightly.

"Uh, don't get the wrong idea, I really just want to see where I stand."

Nolan said helplessly. As it neared evening, the cooling weather blew the 'Anemo Archon's Breath' with a slight chill. He didn't expect Uvra to joke with him like this too.

"Fine, bring it on!"

The blue metallic heels stepped on the rocky ground, the skin-tight black boots clearly highlighted the soft contours of the ankles. Eula stretched out her palm and gestured.

Looking at Eula's light blue gloved palm, Nolan did not hesitate and threw out a punch with all his might.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out, his fist was grabbed, and through the skin of his hand, he felt a warmth and tenderness that could not be hidden even through the gloves.

Eula received Nolan's full-force punch, the sudden gust of wind stirred her icy blue hair into a mess, yet her right arm did not move an inch. The force dispersed throughout her body, pushing her back slightly.

Her voluptuous legs seemed frozen in place without the slightest tremble, but the blue metal heels still carved two shallow tracks into the ground.

Nice stability!

Nolan could not help but marvel internally. He realized that it was as if he was hitting Eula's whole body, not just her palm.

"Not bad strength." Eula released the fist her five fingers had wrapped around, nodding like a teacher praising a student, "Roughly equivalent to a normal Hilichurl Berserker's full-force flaming club swing."

"Hilichurl Berserkers are very different from ordinary Hilichurls. They are the one-in-a-hundred warriors of the Hilichurl tribes. Without elemental potions or weapons, just pure strength, it would take two or three regular Favonius Knights to subdue one."

After hearing Eula's explanation, Nolan finally had a clearer understanding of his own strength. With just his physique he could match a Hilichurl Berserker, with a weapon he could probably easily defeat it.

It seems to be a decent level, but having his full-force punch so effortlessly caught by Eula was still quite disheartening.

"Eula, so how much of your strength would my punch compare to?" Nolan asked curiously.

"If you were ten times stronger, you could arm wrestle me."

Eula crossed her arms under her chest again, speaking generously with some pride.

"..." Nolan was speechless.

After helping Nolan test his own strength, Eula left the training grounds. She had to resume her Caption duties starting tomorrow, so she still needed to brief her team members about the mission ahead of time.

After Eula left, the only ones left in the training grounds were Nolan and Ellin, who was diligently practicing her swordsmanship on a wooden post nearby.

Nolan still remembered that he had a commission from the fishing tackle store owner Sanborn that he had yet to do. After practicing swordsmanship for so long, he was tired and hungry, he needed to go find some food to fill his stomach.

Then take a quick rest and he should be ready to take action. By then Lucas should be back home too.

"Miss Ellin, you've been practicing for a long time, why not take a break? You need work-life balance." As he was leaving, Nolan greeted Ellin in passing.

Hearing someone call her, Ellin stopped her sword-swinging motions and used the back of her hand to wipe away some sweat. Looking over, she saw it was the Liyue young man whom Captain Eula had instructed in swordsmanship for an afternoon.

Of course, Ellin would not be envious. After all, Captain Eula also gave her pointers in swordsmanship occasionally, like today.

"You look like you were just practicing swordsmanship too. Could it be you're also participating in next year's knight selection trials?"

Ellin came over, wooden practice sword in hand, and asked curiously.

Nolan shook his head at his words:

"You can tell from my looks that I'm from Liyue. How could I participate in the knight trials?"

"It's just that when I was practicing swordsmanship at home, I happened to run into Miss Eula. Since I was so awful, she really couldn't stand watching, so she wanted to instruct me a bit. That's why I came here this afternoon."

"So that's why!" Ellin's eyes widened slightly, her expression surprised as she exclaimed, "Captain Eula really lives up to being an admirable Favonius Knight, she's so commendable!"

"Uh... she's pretty good, actually we're friends," Nolan said.

Ellin seemed to think of something at this moment, her eyes brightening as she said:

"That's right, I've been practicing swordsmanship for so long but never had a real match. How about we spar a bit?"

(End of Chapter)

To be continued...

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