[Adventure EXP: 19,252,811]
After advancing to level 135, he now had just over nineteen million Adventure EXP left. As long as his cultivation progress rose past twenty million, and he invested those points as well, he could continue leveling up again!
With Nolan's current strength, he was already far stronger than ordinary Emanators. Even if he encountered an existence at level 170 or 180, he might well be able to fight them head-on.
As for survivability—well, whether before or after leveling up, it was equally outrageous. Even an Aeon wouldn't be able to keep him.
With nothing pressing to handle at the space station for the moment, Nolan returned to the Wonderland Space.
Over in Teyvat, it was still the early hours of the morning. He went back to rest as well—returning to Focalors' room. She was already asleep.
She wore only a thin nightdress, her snow-white arms and soft legs exposed.
Nolan climbed onto the bed, gently stroking and kneading her pale, soft feet, then her even softer calves, before his hand continued upward to her thighs.
He lifted the hem of Focalors' dress, lowered his head, and prepared to lightly tug down the white lace, triangular underwear she wore beneath.
The material of those white lace panties was similar to stockings, like sheer gauze. With just a slight pull, a tear opened in them.
Seeing that his attempt to secretly pull them off had failed, Nolan simply stopped, turning instead to kiss Focalors.
A few minutes passed.
Focalors' snow-white, supple legs instinctively drew together, clamping around his head. Only then did Nolan lift himself up, pressing down on her and holding her tightly in his arms.
Time flew by, night turning into day.
When she woke in the morning, Focalors found that at some point she had once again ended up asleep sprawled on top of Nolan, held in his arms. She couldn't help rolling her eyes.
Such an improper, shameless fellow…
Her cheeks slightly flushed, Focalors looked at Nolan. Seeing that he hadn't woken up yet, and that she couldn't get up while being held by him, she simply started moving on her own.
She gently lifted her snow-white, tender hips, then slowly lowered herself again, repeating the motion over and over.
By the time Nolan woke up, he saw Focalors collapsed atop him, exhausted. He kissed her slightly sweaty forehead, then rolled over and pressed her beneath him, continuing their cultivation.
Half an hour later—
Seeing that his cultivation progress had increased by quite a bit, and that Focalors had reached level 114, the two of them got out of bed.
They washed up, had breakfast, and that morning Nolan planned to continue raising the girls' affection.
Later on, he would head back into the Sea of Quanta to continue searching for world bubbles.
Court of Fontaine, Palais Mermonia.
Nolan teleported to the Palais Mermonia and greeted Furina and Clorinde. Both of their affection levels toward him were already quite high; with one or two more boosts, they would probably be maxed out.
However, since Focalors was currently guiding Furina in handling official duties, it was better not to disturb them.
He planned to go outside and call Skirk over. Using the excuse of learning "Star Abyss Power," he would see if there was a chance to raise her affection while spending time together.
Arriving at the bustling streets of the District, one of the more prosperous commercial areas of the Court of Fontaine, Nolan planned to find a high-end restaurant and then call Skirk over.
She had agreed to teach him Star Abyss Power as compensation for losing their fight. Normally, he could just call her over anywhere.
But Nolan's real goal was to gain her affection, so naturally he needed to host her properly and put on a good front.
That would make it easier to raise affection.
As Nolan walked along the street toward a nearby famous restaurant, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure at the intersection.
Dressed in blue-green clothing adorned with cherry blossom decorations, two cat tails crossed and lightly swayed behind her.
Her untransformed cat paws stepped soundlessly on the ground. Without a doubt, the familiar figure was Kirara.
However, she was currently holding a package, walking with her head lowered and a dispirited look on her face, as if she had run into some trouble.
Nolan sensed an opportunity to gain affection.
"Kirara, long time no see," he walked over and greeted her with a smile.
"Oh, what a coincidence, Mr. Adventurer…" Kirara glanced at Nolan, still looking dejected.
"Did you run into some trouble?" Nolan asked curiously.
"You can see it, right? The delivery package got wet. If I hand it over to Chiori like this, it'll affect Komaniya's reputation."
Kirara helplessly lifted the package in her hands.
"Komaniya" was an international delivery company, and this time the shipment was a cross-border delivery—from Inazuma to Fontaine.
Just a short while earlier, she had run into a group of hilichurls outside the city.
Perhaps seeing her alone and easy to bully, they had tried to snatch her package.
That was just how cross-border delivery work went—running into monsters or Treasure Hoarders was common. With her strength as a great youkai, she could usually handle it easily.
But this time, during the fight with the hilichurls, she had accidentally dropped the package into the water. If she handed such a soaking-wet package to Chiori…
Ugh, she'd definitely get scolded…
Nolan looked at the package in her hands. It seemed to be made of a durable fabric, but it was now completely soaked through.
"That's easy. I'll just remove the water from the package," he said with a smile.
As someone who wielded the Hydro element, controlling water to leave the package was child's play.
"Ah, can you really do such fine control?" Kirara looked at Nolan in surprise. But then she remembered that he was a very powerful legendary adventurer—it made sense that he could do something like this.
"Then please—please help me, Mr. Adventurer."
Kirara happily handed the delivery package to Nolan. She had delivered many packages to Chiori before; they usually contained specialty fabrics from Inazuma.
Fabrics were used to make clothes, and clothes were washed anyway, so getting soaked wasn't usually a big issue.
Moreover, this method wouldn't require opening the package, avoiding prying into a customer's privacy and harming Komaniya's reputation.
[Kirara Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You, Obtained 720 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (650/700)]
"Just a small favor," Nolan said with a smile as he looked at Kirara, who had indeed developed affection toward him.
He then began manipulating the water-element particles, guiding them out of the package. In order to remove the moisture inside as well, he inevitably had to sense the contents.
He discovered that inside was a roll of silk threads as thin as cicada wings. They looked quite high-end, and after absorbing water, they had become crystal-clear, as if they were made entirely of water.
Sensing more carefully, Nolan realized that these threads indeed contained a large amount of water within their core.
He felt that Teyvat likely didn't have the technology to produce this kind of thread. It was very likely something spun by a creature—
like spider silk, or silkworm silk.
If that were the case, he needed to be careful not to remove the water contained within the threads themselves. Otherwise, the threads would be ruined.
For ordinary Vision holders, such delicate manipulation would be extremely difficult. But for Nolan, it was naturally very simple.
Wisps of water-element energy were guided out of the package, slowly gathering at his fingertips into a sphere of water. When the water sphere grew to roughly the size of his palm…
The entire package became dry and fresh again, completely free of the soggy feeling it had earlier.
"That should do it," Nolan said as he handed the package back to Kirara.
"Mm-hm, mm-hm, I'm saved! Now Chiori won't scold me," Kirara hugged the package and rubbed against it, saying excitedly.
"Oh? I heard you mention the name 'Chiori' earlier—it sounds like an Inazuman name. Is she your friend?" Nolan asked curiously as he looked at Kirara.
"Yes! Chiori is a well-known Inazuman fashion designer. She's developing her career here in Fontaine now. The outfit I'm wearing was designed by her!"
Kirara nodded lightly as she spoke.
Nolan took a closer look at Kirara and realized that the clothes she was wearing did indeed give off an exceptionally harmonious feeling.
Aside from being tailor-made in size, the overall style suited her perfectly as well.
"It really is an excellent design," Nolan said honestly.
"Right? Right?" Kirara felt that Nolan had good taste too and smiled as she said,
"Mr. Adventurer, would you like me to take you to meet her? If you ever want to have clothes custom-made in the future, just look for Chiori—she definitely won't disappoint you!"
"Of course, no problem at all!"
Nolan nodded and agreed without hesitation. How could he refuse an invitation from a cute girl?
Refusing would only disappoint Kirara and wouldn't be good for raising affection.
Since he was building affection anyway, delaying Skirk for a little while longer wasn't a big deal. Wherever was suitable, he'd go there first.
Nolan followed Kirara for a short distance, soon arriving in front of a metal-and-glass composite building with strong Fontaine characteristics.
Outside the door were several display racks showcasing beautiful clothes, hats, and the like. Passing gentlemen and ladies would occasionally stop to admire them.
"This is Chiori's fashion shop—'Chiori's Boutique'!"
Kirara introduced proudly.
"Small but refined, very distinctive. It really feels like how a clothing shop ought to be,"
Nolan remarked.
He felt that the store's interior and exterior design was probably also done by the yet-unmet Miss Chiori herself.
"Let's go inside."
Kirara walked into the shop with light, cheerful steps, and Nolan followed closely behind.
Once inside, they could see different types of clothing displays on both sides, while farther in seemed to be a tailoring area.
At that moment, a young woman was standing behind a mannequin rack, holding scissors and cutting fabric.
"Chiori—your mail's here!"
Kirara called out loudly.
A silent sigh seemed to linger in the air. The girl behind the mannequin rack stopped what she was doing, looked at Kirara, and said calmly,
"I've told you not to shout. If you do it again, I'll throw you outside like a little stray cat."
Her long black hair was pinned up with a hairpin, leaving a curled single ponytail. Her complexion was fair, and her expression rather cool.
She was wearing a mid-sleeved orange-yellow kimono with strong Inazuman flair. Her hands, clad in black gloves, extended from the sleeves.
Between the gloves and the cuffs, a section of her pale arms was exposed.
Below the pleated skirt were legs clad in black pantyhose—though these stockings were somewhat special.
They split at mid-thigh: above that was a light purple shade, faintly revealing snow-white skin beneath, while below, down to the feet, they were entirely black.
It looked as though a pair of semi-transparent light-purple tights were worn beneath opaque black stockings.
An extremely unique design—truly befitting a fashion designer, showing her distinctiveness even in her own attire.
Her feet, wrapped in black stockings, were set in a pair of black heelless shoes with the center of gravity toward the front, equally distinctive.
As expected of a fashion designer, Nolan couldn't help but marvel again.
"No—Chiori! I-I was just excited because I haven't seen you in a while!"
Kirara immediately protested, sounding aggrieved.
Seeing that Chiori's cool expression hadn't softened, Kirara glanced at Nolan and hurriedly tried to change the subject:
"Oh, right—this is Nolan, a really amazing legendary adventurer. Thanks to him just now, the package didn't—uh…"
Halfway through, Kirara suddenly realized she was about to blurt out something she shouldn't.
Although she stopped herself in time, she couldn't think of what to say next, leaving her momentarily stuck.
Chiori immediately sensed something amiss. She took two steps closer to Kirara, looked at her calmly, and asked,
"What happened to the package?"
"N-Nothing! Everything's perfectly normal. If you don't believe me, you can open it yourself,"
Kirara said, instinctively averting her gaze as she handed the package over.
Chiori folded her arms slightly beneath her chest and simply looked at Kirara without taking the package.
Kirara, meanwhile, maintained the posture of offering it. The two of them ended up in a brief stalemate.
Just as Nolan was about to speak to smooth things over, a piercing glance swept over him, forcing all his words back. He could only subconsciously rub his cheek.
He sucked in a quiet breath, secretly marveling at how strong Miss Chiori's presence was.
In the end, Kirara was the first to give in, stumbling through an explanation:
"I-I accidentally dropped it into the water. But don't worry—Mr. Nolan already helped separate out the moisture, so there won't be any problems!"
"Mhm."
Chiori nodded calmly, took the package, and casually placed it on a nearby workbench before speaking,
"The package isn't important. But I don't want you hiding things from me when something goes wrong."
She knew Kirara was highly capable, and that problems rarely occurred when she delivered mail. If something like this happened, she must have run into trouble.
As her friend, Chiori naturally didn't want Kirara to hide things from her just to put her at ease.
"…Mm, I know I was wrong, Chiori."
Kirara hugged Chiori's arm and admitted her mistake in a spoiled, childlike manner.
Nolan watched this with mixed feelings—no matter how you looked at it, Kirara was a great youkai. Even if she wasn't several hundred years old, she was at least decades old, right?
Seeing her act cute toward a human who was younger than her felt… a bit strange.
Chiori patted Kirara's head to comfort her briefly, then looked toward Nolan:
"I roughly understand what happened. Thank you for your help, Mr. Nolan."
[Chiori Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You, Obtained 720 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.4 (120/400)]
(End of Chapter)
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