"I've been thinking about something, Durandal. If elements are used well, they can do a lot of things."
"...What strange thing are you thinking about now?"
One day during a break, Lumine, right after drinking the sweet water Durandal handed her, suddenly blurted out this sentence.
Durandal, who usually faced most things with a poker face, showed a clear expression of disdain upon hearing this.
"What kind of talk is that, and your gaze is so rude. It's as if nothing I ever think of is a good thing."
"In a sense, that's correct."
"Seriously!"
Lumine pouted, looking at Durandal somewhat angrily.
She had been somewhat hesitant, but since Durandal said that about her, she had no more reservations.
Shenhe and Noelle looked at Lumine in confusion. elements could be used in many ways, but what was she trying to express by suddenly bringing up this question?
Under the gaze of Shenhe and Noelle, Lumine extended her right hand towards Durandal, her expression serious, as if she were about to attack Durandal.
This action piqued Durandal's interest. She wanted to see what kind of trick this person, who was a beautiful Damselette in front of strangers but acted like a fool in front of acquaintances, was up to.
"Now!"
Lumine shouted, and her right hand suddenly swung upwards, mobilizing the surrounding Anemo element.
The force of this wind was a little strong. Under Lumine's control, it gathered beneath Durandal's skirt. As Lumine manipulated it, the wind suddenly blew upwards, and the consequences... I believe everyone can imagine.
(The Indestructible: Updraft.)
"Pfft! What... what are you doing?! Traveler!"
Paimon, who was drinking water, was stunned, even spitting out the sweet water in his mouth, looking incredulously at Lumine, who had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation.
Shenhe showed no reaction; his attire was already quite bold, and combined with his lack of common sense, he didn't realize anything was amiss with Lumine's actions.
Noelle, on the other hand, blushed and covered his eyes with his hands, but the gap between his index and middle fingers was too wide to block anything.
"Hehe~ I've been studying the application of the Geo Element for a while. Just now, I had a sudden thought: besides controlling the Anemo element in my hands, can I control the wind elsewhere?"
"This is not the time to talk about such things. Do you know what you're doing?"
Paimon excitedly grabbed Lumine's face, trying to make him calm down, return to normal, and quickly realize what a dangerous thing he had done.
He nervously looked at Durandal, noticing that the gust of wind Lumine had just created was still blowing Durandal's skirt. Because Durandal's face was blocked by the skirt, he couldn't see her expression.
Although he couldn't see it, it didn't lessen Paimon's nervousness. This feeling was like holding a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.
Finally, Paimon calmed down, let out a long sigh, and flew away, shouting as he flew: "Goodbye, Traveler. My journey with you has truly been joyful."
"Eh? What do you mean by that?"
Lumine noticed that not only Paimon, but even Shenhe and Noelle had distanced themselves from him, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
"You... seem very happy, Lumine."
Durandal's voice came, and he saw her pick up the great scythe again, emitting a terrifying black-purple aura, walking towards him little by little.
Ah, seeing Durandal in this state, Lumine finally understood what he had just done.
But there was no chance to apologize. Durandal was already rushing towards him, brandishing the great scythe. Even if he wouldn't kill Lumine, he would at least make him pay for his rude behavior.
"Since you're so idle that you can do such things, then let's do extra training. Don't even think about resting until I'm satisfied."
"Wait... wait a minute! I was wrong! I just wanted to try out the Anemo element's application, I really had no other ulterior motives!"
"Do you believe that yourself?"
"No!"
The subsequent conversation was forcibly cut short. Durandal's attack had arrived, and Lumine no longer had the presence of mind to speak.
Paimon and Noelle, who were already far away, exchanged glances and let out a long sigh.
"Are honorary knights... always like this?"
"No, don't misunderstand. This guy is usually very normal, really very normal, at least he wouldn't do something like this!"
Paimon tried hard to explain to Noelle that Lumine was really not like this normally. Not only was he not unreliable, but he was also very dependable. At least, he had never seen Lumine do something like this to anyone else.
"Then... then why did he?"
"Maybe he wanted to play a prank on Durandal. When he's with Durandal, the Traveler is the most relaxed and has the fewest worries. Perhaps it's because the Traveler considers Durandal his best friend that he dares to joke so brazenly."
It was precisely because Lumine considered Durandal his best friend that he dared to play such a bold prank. If their relationship was ordinary or if it was with a regular person, Lumine would never do such a thing.
Durandal wasn't as angry as he appeared. First, he wouldn't feel shy like ordinary people. The reason he reacted this way was because Lumine's actions were inexplicable, and he felt he should teach him a lesson.
Don't let their intense battle scene fool you; Durandal was holding back at every turn, and Lumine only looked disheveled.
The battle lasted for about half an hour, and Lumine eventually collapsed from exhaustion, unable to get up. His left hand even wrote the character for [miserable] on the ground in front of him.
"Enough, stop feigning death. I've already extracted your fatigue. I know exactly what state you're in right now."
Durandal placed his right hand on Lumine's back and said, "If you dare to do such inexplicable things again, next time I'll let you experience something novel."
To make Lumine understand his power, Durandal injected the fatigue he had just absorbed, along with that of others, into Lumine's body.
A massive wave of exhaustion swept over Lumine. He felt utterly powerless and mentally drained, a situation more terrifying than running a marathon.
This feeling lasted only a few seconds before disappearing, but that sensation was deeply etched into Lumine's memory, becoming the feeling he least wanted to experience.
"Why did you suddenly do that? Was there any meaning to it?"
Any meaning? Of course there was meaning! At least it fulfilled a long-held wish and got the answer he wanted.
Lumine took the handkerchief Paimon handed him, wiping the dust from his face while recalling the scene he had just witnessed.
He wasn't sure what ability Durandal had used. Usually, no matter how strong the wind, he could only see the Absolute Domain, and even when sleeping at night, he had no chance.
Now that his wish had finally been fulfilled, do you think it had any meaning?
"Strange fellow... I don't quite understand your thoughts."
Durandal didn't quite understand Lumine's thoughts. He would ask Venti next time he saw him; he should know the meaning of Lumine's actions.
The break ended. This time, the training involved injecting the Geo Element into tree branches without breaking them. Success was achieved if the branch remained intact while the element was injected.
This was quite difficult. Tree branches are inherently fragile, and finding the right amount was truly challenging.
Lumine was supervised by Shenhe and Paimon, while Durandal was responsible for Noelle's progress.
Noelle was very well-behaved; even without Durandal's reminder, he would diligently complete his tasks.
After failing for the third time, Noelle wiped the sweat from his brow, picked up a nearby branch, and prepared to start again.
"If you're tired, take a break. Fatigue can easily affect your concentration and make you unable to focus."
"I'm fine, Miss Durandal. Compared to my usual work, this fatigue is nothing."
Not only was it not tiring, but it was even within the realm of relaxation. It was just about concentrating, nothing major.
"Miss Durandal cares a lot about the honorary knight. Your relationship is really good."
"Good relationship, huh? Maybe. It's just easier to be around him. And we've made a promise to witness the end of his journey. I'll stay with him until he gives up on me."
"Stay with him always? So, as long as the honorary knight doesn't ask you to leave, no matter what he does to you, you won't leave him?"
Noelle inexplicably recalled a book he once found in the restricted section of the library. It was a romance novel with some content that was very stimulating for Noelle.
If... if Durandal could even accept today's behavior, did that mean that in the future, if Lumine did other things to him, Durandal would also accept them? As long as Lumine didn't dislike Durandal, Durandal would stay by his side.
Inexplicably associating them with the protagonists of a certain novel, Noelle's mind completely lost focus, and his thoughts became extremely muddled for a while.
"What are you thinking about? Concentrate."
"Yes... yes!"
Concentrate, Noelle! Wuwuwu~ I can't do it!
If it were normal combat training, he could still divert his attention through fighting, but now without fighting, it was easy for people to focus on other things.
"Calm down, Noelle. You can't continue training like this."
"Okay... okay."
ε=(´ο｀*))) Alas~ It seems he won't be able to calm down anytime soon. I wonder what he was thinking about, what kind of chaotic things.
During the subsequent training, Durandal noticed Noelle frequently observing his interactions with Lumine, always with a peculiar gaze. When he asked what he was thinking, he would stammer and completely refuse to answer.
Right until the end of training, Noelle hadn't recovered. He kept apologizing to Durandal, saying he had ruined today's training and promised it wouldn't happen again.
Next time? You want a next time! Seriously, pull yourself together, Damselette!
And if you're really sorry, tell me what you're thinking! You have no sincerity like this!
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