"Alright!" Noelle's face was red. "I need to go back to the Knights of Favonius dormitory to do some cleaning work."
"You take care of your injuries."
"So late?" Ryan was surprised.
"Today's matters cannot be left until tomorrow," Noelle said earnestly. "The trash in the corridor will start to smell, won't it?"
"Who's so ill-mannered? Shouldn't trash be thrown out in the morning? Or taken with you when you leave?" Ryan blurted out.
Noelle lowered his head: "I won't tell!"
"Silly boy!" Ryan lightly flicked Noelle's forehead with his finger, causing him to yelp.
He clutched his forehead.
Ryan was getting more and more out of line.
The two went to bid farewell to Eula, then took a carriage, each returning home.
Baron Bunny came to open the door, and Ryan discovered Amber was taking a bath.
He returned directly to his room to study on his own.
By now, he had already mastered three languages, able to write and converse fluently, and translate between them.
These days, the lessons Amber gave him were on Teyvat's astronomy and geography, an introduction to the element system, artifact pairing, and the architectural aesthetics of various nations…
This stack of books was quite thick, borrowed from the Knights of Favonius library.
He spent an hour, relying on his photographic memory, devouring a book titled "Common element Shield-Breaking Theory."
Feeling tired, he went to bed.
Photographic memory only allowed him to remember; to understand and apply it, he still needed to use his brain more.
Early in the morning, it was another beautiful day, starting with Amber's kind wake-up call.
Breakfast in, sword out.
He was the first to arrive at the Training Field, then ran out the side gate, breathing in the fresh air wafting from Cider Lake.
While jogging in the small woods, he practiced the Westwind Breathing Technique.
His metabolism greatly accelerated.
His clothes were soaked with contaminated sweat, but his skin became even fairer and smoother, without any dark spots or dullness.
He performed a few sets of boxing and a few sets of swordplay.
Then, he rested for a moment, allowing his body to cool down slightly.
He glanced at the rising sun, then leaped from the cliffside of Mondstadt.
He entered the water perfectly, without a splash.
The Grace of the Spring Spirit began to take effect, but Ryan, wanting to train his breath-holding time and swimming ability, declined the water's kindness.
He free-dived for a few minutes, then swam towards the side gate.
He encountered a submerged lakebed, a Shitou pulled from the bottom of the lake.
He practiced sword dancing underwater on it.
This was his latest discovery for training his body's attack speed and balance.
The instability of the water, the encroaching currents, every challenge was interesting.
Furthermore, in this situation, he could feel the swelling Qi sensation within his body more clearly.
The more he suffocated, the more he felt a power about to burst forth from his internal organs.
Breathing was no longer primarily through his lungs, but his entire body was breathing, vying for the scarce air and life force.
Ryan would push himself to the limit every time.
Until he fainted, only to be rescued by the Grace of the Spring Spirit.
During this time, he wouldn't choke on water.
He could even replenish his expended stamina.
Like a fish turning belly up, quickly waking from the water, Ryan came ashore at the dock by the lake's side gate.
Hot air, dazzling flames, four small Fire Slimes hopping around, just enough to fit in a large basin, and one large Fire Slime four or five times bigger.
They appeared before him.
Ryan was stunned: "Monster attack on the city?"
He quickly scanned the surroundings and, finding no other monsters, let out a sigh of relief.
While he was momentarily stunned, the five Fire Slimes—one large and four small—wantonly destroyed the surrounding grass and bushes.
The smoke from the Fire Element Burning was faint; the bushes directly turned into charcoal and ash.
The Slimes noticed him.
Their red-rimmed, incandescent oval eyes showed strong intent to attack.
The small Fire Slimes gathered.
The small Fire Slimes charged!
The large Fire Slime, with tiny, hard-to-notice horns, had flames soaring into the sky.
One after another, fireballs spewed from its mouth.
Without thinking, Ryan stepped back on the water, retreating a hundred meters.
He looked at the steam rising from the lake and wiped away a cold sweat.
His wu feng sword in hand, he watched the Fire Slimes pacing on the shore, waited for a minute, but saw no Knights of Favonius.
"What kind of efficiency is this? Where are the guards at the side gate? They didn't run away in fear, did they?!"
Ryan was speechless.
He really didn't want to face Fire Slimes; that Burning sensation was too terrifying!
Getting splashed by oil while cooking, spilling boiling water on his foot, or dripping candle wax on his hand, none of it was even one-thousandth as bad as being scorched by flames.
The Fire Element on these Fire Slimes was very powerful and of high quality, much stronger than the Slimes he had seen used for boiling water in Hilichurl tribes before.
His backpack wasn't with him, and his crossbow was not in hand.
He only had a plain wu feng sword for training.
Fortunately, his artifact was stored upon his Soul.
Green light shone; although there was no element resistance, the defensive barrier could still allow him to slightly withstand the scorching of the Fire Element.
"I'll have to face you sooner or later, so let me test my sword on you!" Ryan's feet pressed against the water's surface, blue light rippling.
A straight white line stretched across the lake.
Three seconds, he was back on shore.
Ryan avoided the flames, his sword swung, and the wind howled.
He recalled the path he took during the Knight's assessment when he cut six wooden stakes.
That instant, sharp intent to destroy everything around him.
"One, two, three, four, five!"
His figure left an afterimage; in a blink, his blade pierced through the four small Fire Slimes, striking each of them five times.
Then, he plunged his sword into the body of the large Fire Slime.
Retreat, pull back!
One second later, four small Fire Slime death explosions rang out.
The Fire Element diffused like a wave of Qi.
Ryan fell back into the water again, using the Grace of the Spring Spirit to dispel the scorching heat on him, drawing the life Qi from the Cider Lake current to repair his blistered skin.
"There's still one!"
He looked at the large Fire Slime, injured but not dead, its internal structure not yet destroyed by him.
Ryan took a deep breath.
The Westwind Breathing Technique drew a massive amount of surrounding air into his throat, into his lungs, accumulating in his chest, slowly sinking.
His blood flowed rapidly, and his strength and speed increased again.
The large Fire Slime continued to spew fireballs in quick succession.
Ryan advanced, pressing closer.
The constantly leaping large Fire Slime suddenly soared into the air, descending like a mountain.
The air instantly became heavy.
It was like a scorching summer day in June, with the sun high and the earth parched.
A huge, viscous, flowing fireball plummeted.
Ryan rolled, avoiding the large Fire Slime's subsequent brutal charge after its descent.
The killing moves and heavy attacks of Favonius Bladework were unleashed one after another.
The artifact's light shield was also gradually broken through by the more surging Fire Element.
He didn't know how many swords he swung, fully unleashing his swordplay.
Enough to cut out a plate of Wensi Tofu.
A minute later, seeing the large Fire Slime's body begin to swell, Ryan immediately retreated.
A loud bang sounded on the spot.
Red Fire Element scattered like New Year's fireworks.
A blob of Slime Condensate, and several blobs of Slime Condensate, landed on the scorched earth.
Ryan panted, went back to the lake to wash himself, then scratched his almost-charred hair before coming over to collect the spoils.
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