"Dragonspine is really dangerous. The Hilichurls here are different from the ones outside. Especially the Dragonspine version of the Armored Rock Hilichurl King, it's terrifying."
The Armored Rock Hilichurl King was a giant Hilichurl they encountered in Liyue Harbor. Because of its massive size and being covered in Geo Element, it was very difficult to defeat.
The one here in Dragonspine is called the Frostarm Lawachurl, and its attack methods are different from the Armored Rock Hilichurl King's. It even performs combos on enemies, and Lumine almost suffered a disadvantage in this regard.
If she hadn't used the Geo Element for defense in time, she probably would have entered a dangerous state of 'critical damage.'
"Hmm, besides that big Hilichurl, the other Hilichurls are also strange. Frost Hilichurl Mages who use ice, Hilichurls carrying ice shields—these are all only found in Dragonspine."
Although the dropped items were the same, the Hilichurls here felt worse to them, because of their Cryo attribute, being affected would reduce their speed.
Once speed is reduced, it becomes easier to be attacked by enemies, and this vicious cycle would continue.
She somewhat understood why Miss Durandal said Dragonspine was dangerous. If it weren't for them, but ordinary people trying to conquer Dragonspine, something serious would definitely happen.
"I say... how much longer are you two going to stay there? Can we continue moving?"
Miss Durandal looked helplessly at Lumine and Paimon standing by the campfire. They had been there for about five minutes.
Just after entering Dragonspine, they had a "I'm fine," "this temperature is nothing" expression, but within five minutes, they were hugging their arms, their bodies trembling.
When they saw the campfire, it was as if they had returned home, unwilling to leave even a step.
"Just a little longer. Who knows where the next campfire will be? Please wait for us until we recover."
(The Indestructible: Has anyone ever frozen to death in Dragonspine? When Dragonspine first opened, The Indestructible experienced it, and that feeling... was too thrilling.)
Lumine constantly rubbed her hands, trying to warm herself, and Paimon did the same.
"Honestly, I told you that you'd easily be affected by Dragonspine's environment, but you didn't believe me."
Finally, Miss Durandal sighed helplessly, reached her hand into the black mist nearby, and pulled out two sets of clothes suitable for Lumine and Paimon, throwing them to them.
"This is?"
"I prepared them in advance, considering such a situation might occur, so I kept them on hand as backup. I didn't expect to use them so soon."
Looking at the warm coats in their hands, and knowing that Miss Durandal had specially prepared them, Lumine and Paimon exchanged glances, then smiled and went to Miss Durandal's side.
"What are you doing? Why are you looking at me with such strange eyes?"
"Nothing~"
Deliberately drawing out her voice, Lumine, after putting on the coat, felt the cold completely driven away. A lazy smile appeared on her face as she reached out and hugged Miss Durandal's wrist.
"It's really warm. Right, Paimon?"
"Yes, it's really warm, Traveler."
Paimon imitated Lumine, hugging Miss Durandal's other hand, already wearing the clothes Miss Durandal had specially prepared for him.
There wouldn't be clothes of Paimon's size sold in the market; even if there were, they would be for babies or toddlers, but this clearly didn't fall into that category.
The only explanation was that Miss Durandal had specifically considered Paimon's situation and specially prepared them for him. As soon as Paimon thought of this, he felt a warmth in his heart.
Although he was often called emergency food, he could feel the care both Lumine and Miss Durandal showed him.
Lumine was more obvious, but Miss Durandal was more reserved; her care was expressed in other, less noticeable ways.
Normally, she acted like, "What does your feeling have to do with me?" or "Why should I care about your feelings?" but she was actually very gentle, especially her cooking!
That's why Paimon liked her the most! Oh! And Traveler too, Paimon liked them both the most.
"You two... don't do such strange things, let go of me quickly."
Miss Durandal shook her hands, slightly impatient, wanting to break free from their grip. With her abilities, she could easily do so, yet she acted like a little girl, seemingly unable to escape, and finally just let the two of them hug her.
Shenhe, standing nearby, watched the trio's interaction, tilted her head in thought, then stepped forward and hugged Miss Durandal from behind, letting her head rest on her Slime.
"Shenhe? Why are you joining them in this nonsense? Let go of me quickly, did you hear me."
"I thought you'd be happy doing this, because when they were holding your wrists, you were clearly in a good mood."
"Master Durandal" Shenhe appeared again. Miss Durandal clearly acted annoyed, but Shenhe saw that the other party didn't dislike it; on the contrary, she quite liked being hugged so intimately by the two of them.
"...You, I told you not to say such things."
Miss Durandal bumped Shenhe's Slime with her head in dissatisfaction. She had said it many times: even if you see her true emotions, don't say it directly; just know it yourself.
Just as Miss Durandal thought, Lumine and Paimon, hearing Shenhe's words, became even more unrestrained in their actions. The three of them together made Miss Durandal completely unable to move.
Miss Durandal was helpless but also somewhat relieved. If Klee were also here, she would definitely hug her from the front, not wanting to be left out, and that image would be too awful.
Finally, Miss Durandal could only escape from the three by transforming into black mist, and sternly told them the purpose of their trip to Dragonspine; they weren't there to play.
The group, finally calmed down, resumed their journey. With the coats Miss Durandal provided, the rest of the path was much easier.
Without the threat of cold, Paimon returned to his active state, curiously observing Dragonspine, which he hadn't been able to examine closely before due to the cold.
And then... and then Miss Durandal's blood pressure rose again. Although she shouldn't have such a thing as blood pressure, they forced it out of her.
"Look! Traveler! Those are minerals not found anywhere else, let's go dig them!"
"Okay!" Took out the shovel.
"Look! Traveler! There's a treasure chest! Let's go get it!"
"Okay!" Took out the weapon.
"Look! Traveler! There's..."
"Enough."
Miss Durandal grabbed Paimon's shoulder, interrupting him, her face already shadowed.
"I know you two usually like to collect everything you see during your adventures, and I understand your obsession with treasure chests. But this time we have important business. Let's do the other things when you come to Dragonspine another time, okay?"
"Okay... okay..."
Lumine and Paimon finally behaved, following the route deeper into Dragonspine. As they walked, they saw a boy not far away, drawing in front of several Hilichurls.
His attention was completely on the drawing, utterly oblivious to the danger he would face if discovered by the Hilichurls.
Lumine immediately went forward and dealt with those Hilichurls. Only when those Hilichurls were dealt with did the other party shift his attention from the drawing.
"Do you... need something from me?"
"You must be Albedo, right? That was really dangerous just now. What if the Hilichurls had discovered you?"
Even the most ordinary Hilichurl, when one is completely unprepared, can be very dangerous. Did this person even know what he was doing?
"Dangerous? Oh~ Are you worried about me? Thank you. But I'm confident, don't worry."
"Honestly, even if you're confident, you shouldn't do something like that."
Paimon was still somewhat unconvinced and was about to say something more, but Lumine stopped him.
Miss Durandal came before him: "Are you Albedo?"
"I am. And you are?"
"I am Durandal. You must have heard that name, right?"
Albedo nodded, "When I was in Mondstadt, I saw you healing others, and Klee also told me about you. Recently, when she came to me, she told me about what happened to you in Liyue Harbor. Thank you for taking care of her, Miss Durandal."
When Klee's mother went on an adventure, she specifically asked him to take care of Klee. His relationship with Alice was very good, so he naturally accepted the request.
Although Klee often caused many problems with her bombs, Albedo would remind himself that it was nothing compared to the trouble Alice caused, whenever he thought of the difference between her and Alice.
Klee, who would usually only discuss bombs with him, one day started talking about a girl named Durandal.
That girl took great care of Klee, and Albedo was happy that she could find such a good friend.
It's just... this friend didn't seem to be a simple person. Even if Klee hadn't revealed any of Durandal's secrets, just a simple exchange of glances was enough for Albedo to see that Durandal was different.
Hearing Albedo thank her for taking care of Klee in a parental tone, Durandal's eyes suddenly became dangerous.
Durandal wasn't sure what was going on, but after hearing Albedo's words, she felt inexplicably annoyed, as if something had been snatched away.
Under this annoyed emotion, a tiny bit of Durandal's aura uncontrollably surged out.
But even just this tiny bit of aura was enough to affect the surroundings, and the previously harmonious atmosphere suddenly became dangerous.
"Eh? Eh? What's wrong? What happened?"
Even Lumine didn't understand why the atmosphere suddenly became tense, and Albedo looked at Durandal in confusion.
Had he said something wrong just now? He felt that Durandal's attitude towards him had suddenly worsened a lot.
Soon, that dangerous aura was retracted. Although she didn't understand what was going on with this annoyance in her heart, this person in front of her had always taken care of Klee, so she couldn't lose her temper with someone who had taken care of Klee. She needed to calm down a bit.
"I don't need your thanks. She is very important to me, and I am very willing to take care of her."
"I see... I understand."
Albedo nodded, wisely choosing not to talk more about Klee's matters and steering the conversation back to the main topic.
"You came to find me, is there something you need my help with?"
"No, my purpose in coming to Dragonspine this time is to investigate the movements of the Fatui here. You've been active in Dragonspine, so you must have noticed the Fatui's abnormalities, right?"
"Hmm, I've noticed some. But I can't be sure if that's what you need."
"It's good that you found something. If possible, I hope you can tell me about those things. If you know anything else, you can also tell me. I must say... about the sleeping dragon here."
At these words, Albedo's eyes visibly changed, though it was brief, Durandal caught it.
He... he really knew about Durin.
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