Skirk pondered for a moment, then finally nodded.
At the same time, she developed a bit of good feelings toward Nolan:
[Skirk Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 740 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.5 (460/500)]
The "Star Abyss Power" she wielded was actually derived by her master from a transcendent power he himself had mastered.
As for whether others could learn it, Skirk honestly wasn't sure.
More than ten years ago, she had tried to teach this power to a disciple she had taken in by chance. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, that person trained for a long time yet failed to grasp even the slightest hint of it.
Perhaps they simply lacked the aptitude for it.
Thankfully, that child's combat talent was still fairly decent, so at least they had barely managed to get started with her martial techniques.
Although she hadn't succeeded in teaching her own disciple, her master had been able to teach her to wield this power. By logic, she should be capable of teaching others as well.
Skirk agreed to do one thing for Nolan—something within her capabilities.
His request was to have her teach him the Star Abyss Power. That was something she could certainly do, so there was no reason for her to refuse.
As for whether he could truly comprehend it, that would depend entirely on him.
Given how unexpectedly powerful he was, perhaps he might even grasp it more easily than she had.
Seeing that Skirk had agreed—and even developed good feelings toward him—Nolan felt secretly delighted and continued:
"Then I'll have to trouble you.
"However, I still have something to take care of later, so we can only start learning in the afternoon or tomorrow morning. And considering we don't know how long it'll take to master it…
"To avoid wasting your time, how about I give you a way to contact me at any time?"
Nolan then introduced the ability called "Interstellar Travel," preparing to give it to Skirk.
However, he planned to use a modifier of that ability to block her perception of the other girls.
This way, she would only be able to sense Nolan.
The main purpose was to prevent her from curiously chatting with the other girls and then realizing that Nolan actually had designs on her, which would be a bit troublesome.
Although her affection toward him had already reached Level 5, after all, they had known each other for less than half a day.
Without the passage of time to solidify it, Level 5 affection could still drop. It would only be truly stable once it reached Level 7 or 8.
At the same time, when explaining the "Interstellar Travel" ability, Nolan deliberately mentioned that the remote contact function could be freely turned off.
As for teleportation, it would also require her consent before he could teleport to her.
Moreover, this ability could supposedly be freely detached and would not pose any threat to her privacy.
As for the first two functions, before Nolan had assigned any modifiers to "Interstellar Travel," they were indeed exactly as he described.
But once the Modifier was added, those two functions naturally no longer applied to Nolan.
As for the last point—the claim that "Interstellar Travel" could be freely detached—that was actually impossible.
After merging with the "Waymark," only Nolan himself could actively retrieve it. Skirk was actually unable to separate it on her own, unless a being whose level surpassed the combined levels of Nolan and Lumine intervened to help.
Saying all this was simply to put her at ease.
After all, aside from extremely close individuals, who would want someone to place a mark on their body that allowed them to teleport to their side at any time?
That was practically equivalent to handing over one's life!
If the other party suddenly teleported over and struck with a single blade, your life would be gone just like that. So Nolan had to give Skirk enough autonomy for her to accept it.
As for what to do if Skirk wanted to test whether the "Waymark" could really be detached—handling that would actually be very simple.
The moment he sensed her attempting it, Nolan could simply take the "Waymark" back himself, making her think that she had successfully detached it.
With Level 5 affection as a foundation, Skirk naturally trusted Nolan. She felt that since he could easily defeat her, if he truly wanted to kill her, there was no need to go through such trouble.
Therefore, offering her an ability that allowed her to contact him at any time was likely genuinely meant to account for the fact that the learning process might last for quite a while.
And since both of them had their own matters to attend to, this suggestion was made purely for convenience.
Skirk thought it over and felt that there was no issue with it, so she agreed to the proposal. After all, she didn't want teaching Nolan to interfere with her own cultivation time.
"Alright, then I'll give this to you."
Nolan summoned a "Waymark" and handed it to Skirk.
She accepted it, sensed that there were indeed no problems, and then chose to merge with it. The feedback information allowed her to quickly understand how to use it.
After a few simple test runs, she once again expressed her thanks to Nolan.
[Skirk Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 720 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (80/700)]
Seeing the affection notification pop up on the character panel once again, Nolan smiled. In just half a day, he had easily raised a stranger girl's affection toward him to Level 7.
With decent progress made in his "walkthrough," and his objective basically achieved, Nolan still needed to go find Arlecchino, so he temporarily bid farewell to Skirk.
---
Court of Fontaine, the House of the Hearth.
When Nolan arrived nearby, he could see children playing in the area from afar. Like Lyney and the others, they were all orphans adopted by Arlecchino.
Since he had come here a few times before, the children had some impression of him.
Upon seeing Nolan, they obediently called out "Big brother, big brother" a few times. Fortunately, there was no shortage of candies and snacks in the Wonderland.
He took some out as a reward for their good manners.
At that moment, Lynette also came out after hearing the commotion outside. Her gray-gold hair was adorned with adorable cat ears, and she wore a deep-cut black short dress that revealed a hint of her snow-white chest.
Below the skirt hem were her legs clad in black pantyhose, and on her feet were black flat ankle boots, giving off a feeling that was gentle and elegant like a girl's, yet still carrying a sense of individuality and intelligence.
"We meet again, Lynette," Nolan greeted her with a wave.
"Mm. 'Father' is waiting for you inside."
Lynette nodded without much change in expression, making a polite "please" gesture to let him go first.
Nolan was quite familiar with Lynette's personality—she was relatively quiet and rarely showed her emotions on her face.
He found her extremely adorable.
He nodded lightly as well, then stepped forward and walked into the House of the Hearth.
As he entered the living room, he indeed saw that Arlecchino had already prepared tea and was waiting for him. When she saw Nolan come in, she stood up and took two steps forward.
"I thought you'd come earlier. It's already close to noon now."
Clearly, Arlecchino also knew that Nolan would understand her intent and come over at an appropriate time.
She knew him as someone who handled matters promptly once he had something to do, and felt that he would probably come within these two days.
She just hadn't expected him to choose a time so close to noon—when others would normally be preparing for a meal.
Could it be that he also had a habit of freeloading meals? Arlecchino couldn't help but think this oddly.
Nolan, of course, had no idea about Arlecchino's strange thoughts. Under Lynette's guidance, he sat down opposite Arlecchino. Looking at her as she took her seat again, he explained:
"I was planning to come in the morning, but when I was almost at the mansion, I ran into a bit of an accident and ended up fighting someone."
The matter of encountering Skirk wasn't really a secret that needed to be kept, and they would get to know each other sooner or later anyway, so he said it directly.
"Oh? So that Whale actually has an owner?"
Arlecchino took a sip of the tea Lynette had poured for her, then spoke, her expression clearly one of surprise.
She suddenly realized that her understanding of Teyvat was still far from complete.
The direct culprit that had nearly triggered a national catastrophe in Fontaine—the All-Devouring Narwhal, a being comparable to a top archon—was actually just someone's pet?!
"When Miss Skirk came looking for me, I was quite surprised as well. But don't worry—after I beat her up a bit, she already said she wouldn't pursue the matter any further.
"You also don't need to worry about her coming to cause trouble for Fontaine."
Watching Lynette pour tea for him, Nolan noticed that after hearing what he said, she paused slightly and seemed to become a bit tense, so he added this explanation.
"I see."
The trace of concern that had just risen in Arlecchino's heart was quickly extinguished. She had a certain understanding of Nolan's strength.
If he said that he had settled the matter by defeating the other party and obtaining her promise not to pursue it, then there was no need to worry.
[Arlecchino Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 700 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (250/700)]
Nolan looked at the notification that popped up on the character panel, feeling slightly surprised.
It seemed that Arlecchino truly valued Fontaine—just hearing that he had resolved a small trouble already caused her to develop goodwill.
At the same time, Nolan could clearly feel that after setting down the teapot, Lynette relaxed a great deal. She also developed a bit of goodwill toward him:
[Lynette Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 720 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (220/700)]
Generally speaking, even if someone saved the world, if others didn't witness it personally and only heard about it secondhand, the gratitude they felt would usually be much weaker.
The fact that Nolan so smoothly gained the favor of two girls at once was likely due to the already decent base level of goodwill, as well as the various talents and abilities he possessed that made it easier for others to like him.
As the notifications on the character panel gradually faded, he brought up the main topic:
"Although there was a reason for coming late, showing up at this time really is a disturbance. So, Arlecchino, what did you want to see me about?
"As long as it's something I can do, I'll do my best to help."
Arlecchino nodded lightly and spoke slowly:
"At the Palais Mermonia, that lady who looked exactly like Lady Furina—she should be the true Hydro Archon, right?
"You know the mission of our Fatui. I hope you can persuade her to trade the 'Gnosis' with me."
"So it really is that, huh…"
Nolan wasn't surprised that Arlecchino could see Focalors. That day, Focalors had been in a spiritual form, invisible to ordinary people.
But those with strong mental power were able to see her.
At the Palais Mermonia, aside from Clorinde, Arlecchino was the only one with that level of ability.
Of course, although Furina's level wasn't high, she had lived for five hundred years and endured all kinds of loneliness. Her mental strength had long been tempered to a very high degree.
As for Arlecchino asking him for help, Nolan had already expected it.
If this were in the past—before Focalors helped expand the coverage of the "Akasha" system using Indemnitium mixed energy—Nolan would certainly have refused.
But now, the "Gnosis" wasn't particularly important to either Focalors or himself, so agreeing to Arlecchino's request wasn't an issue.
Or rather, since he had already come here, he had intended to agree to help her anyway. His main goal was to raise the goodwill of both Arlecchino and Lynette.
If he agreed to help Arlecchino, then by normal logic she would naturally develop goodwill toward him.
And seeing him help her "Father" resolve a difficulty, Lynette—who dearly loved her family—would also develop goodwill toward him.
Perfect!
That said, since this involved helping to obtain a "Gnosis," an extremely precious item, agreeing too easily would instead make them feel suspicious.
Nolan thought for a few seconds before responding:
"You guessed right. That person is indeed the Hydro Archon, Focalors. She's currently in a soul state and can't govern the nation, so the 'Gnosis' really isn't that useful to her.
"However, it is still a 'Gnosis.' I imagine Focalors wouldn't just hand it over to you without reason. What are you offering in exchange?
"I can help you ask her later."
Focalors's "Gnosis" wasn't his to begin with. All Nolan could do was ask—whether she was willing or not would still depend on her.
"You agreed to help so readily? But that really is your style—if you can help, you help, no dragging things out."
The corners of Arlecchino's lips curved slightly upward. Clearly, hearing Nolan agree to help put her in a very good mood, and she once again developed a bit more goodwill toward him:
[Arlecchino Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 750 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (300/800)]
Since we're all family sooner or later, helping you is just helping myself…
As Nolan looked at the affection notification, just as a sense of delight rose in his heart, another notification popped up:
[Lynette Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 730 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (250/800)]
Lynette, who was standing nearby helping with pouring tea and water, unsurprisingly developed affection toward him once again.
"You flatter me, Miss Arlecchino." Nolan coughed lightly and added, "I'm only helping to ask the question. I can't guarantee that Focalors will definitely agree."
"She will agree. The conditions offered by Her Majesty the Tsaritsa are generous enough."
Arlecchino took out a set of documents she had prepared long ago and handed them to Nolan. The stack was thick—it was hard to tell what exactly was written inside.
"May I take a look?" Nolan asked.
"Of course."
For a nation, the contents were indeed quite confidential—but this was the legendary adventurer who had saved Fontaine.
Arlecchino felt there was nothing that needed to be kept secret from him.
Nolan then casually flipped through it and discovered that it was filled with details of the support Snezhnaya could provide to Fontaine across various fields—economics, politics, military affairs, and more.
(End of Chapter)
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