Daytime was still devoted to clearing the Withering, and halfway through the sweep, Victor Wang ran into the situation he hated most.
All the enemies in this Withering zone were of the Ruin series—Ruin Cruiser, Ruin Destroyer, Ruin Scout, Ruin Defender, and Ruin Guard. Five hundred years ago, they broke through the earth alongside forbidden knowledge; five hundred years later, they once again fought at the forbidden knowledge's side.
They all possessed iron-brown "skin," which was actually an incredibly hard outer shell. Their bodies had been manufactured as weapons, incomparable to ordinary metal. Victor Wang had even tried striking them with the Wentian Sword—its sword aura could slice through stone, yet striking their surface produced only sparks, barely leaving a mark.
The weak point of these Ruin machines was the orange energy core. "Be good and hit that spot," Victor Wang told himself.
He lowered his sword, then raised it again. His left hand released electric light, threading through the steel shell and into the Ruin machine's body. His right hand activated the "Portable Elemental Particle Generator," blasting fire and wind toward the Ruin machine's core. The moment electro and pyro met, the Ruin machine exploded from within and collapsed.
Defeating them wasn't the issue—the issue was that this did nothing for practicing swordsmanship. He was so close to a breakthrough in spiritual power that he'd been dreaming of it lately. As long as he could fully grasp sword intent…
The final Ruin Guard suddenly twisted its body, its upper half and two long arms spinning wildly as it approached using its infamous spin attack.
Victor Wang's expression tightened and he pulled back to widen the distance.
But it wasn't the Ruin Guard making him tense. A stir sensed by [Thousand Winds]. Two people were rapidly approaching from behind, and one of them seemed to have long ears… Those ears twitched, sensing something unusual in the wind. A surge of Dendro wrapped around them, immediately cutting off the wind's touch.
Tighnari—and… who?
The newcomers soon revealed themselves. The long-eared one was indeed Tighnari. As for the other person—Victor Wang recognized him. It was unbelievable, but it was the very pirate he had encountered years ago when he and Chongyun fought the Geo Hypostasis—the rogue youth skilled with a bow.
There was no mistake. Even though nearly two years had passed, his appearance hadn't changed much. Only the metal longbow on the youth's back had been replaced by a menacing bone bow.
"It's you?"
Victor Wang called out, then warned Tighnari, "Be careful. Stay away from that guy."
The rogue youth recognized Victor Wang as well. He licked his lips and muttered, "Fox mask…"
"You two know each other?"
Tighnari was utterly confused. After observing the abnormal disappearance of the Withering for four consecutive days around Vimara Village, he had decided to stay nearby and investigate. He discovered that two people had been clearing the Withering—this man beside him, and the one before them.
Yet although these two both dealt with the Withering, and although they seemed to know each other… they clearly didn't get along?
Victor Wang shouted a warning: "The guy next to you might be a Battle Technique Hunter who specializes in killing Vision holders!"
"Heh, don't lump me in with those people. I don't have a Vision. I rely on myself."
The rogue youth grinned. His bare, muscular arm reached for the bone bow on his back. First, he aimed it at Victor Wang, then slightly shifted the bow toward the Ruin Guard that was spinning into the space between the three of them.
Victor Wang slashed out with a wind blade toward the Ruin Guard's core—but the rogue youth grinned, the bowstring quivered, and a simple feathered arrow pierced the Ruin Guard's core before the wind blade arrived. The Ruin Guard gave two unclear mechanical hums, then its head detonated with a thunderous blast.
The rogue youth aimed his bow at Victor Wang again, lifting his chin toward the Wentian Sword. "So, your sword was just a toy?"
["You're the toy! Your whole family is a toy!"]
"Who's calling me names?"
A new voice appeared—female—and the rogue youth was utterly bewildered.
Victor Wang, however, grew serious. The fact that the rogue could shoot down a Ruin Guard's core with an arrow meant he had already touched intent.
"Excuse me, you two?" Tighnari was still completely lost.
"Heh. The man in front of you is the one who blocked the Raiden Shogun's three strikes in Inazuma, making quite a name for himself. A few days ago, he even debated some scholar in front of the Akademiya and apparently won. Quite the silver tongue."
After briefly introducing Victor Wang, the rogue youth turned back to him. "We came to Sumeru to find you. You're rarely not hiding away in Liyue Harbor. Our boss wants revenge, and I want to see how strong you really are. I remember that last time, you and that other kid were scared off running!"
Ignoring the pointless provocation, Victor Wang seized a keyword. "Revenge?"
"Celestial Moon and Night Spring—those two names ring a bell?"
"You're…!"
"Seems we didn't find the wrong person."
The atmosphere tensed instantly. Tighnari stepped in to smooth things over. "Please don't do this, both of you. You're both clearing the Withering. In my eyes you're guests. If you fight here, I'll have no choice but to intervene."
"Well, since Little Tighnari says so… I probably can't beat both of you at once, so I won't start anything—yet." The rogue youth actually put away his bow.
Tighnari then introduced himself to Victor Wang. "My name is Tighnari. I'm a Forest Ranger active around Gandharva Ville and also responsible for Vimara Village. This is Kuiyuan. I suppose you two already know each other."
Facing Tighnari, Victor Wang remained polite. "My name is Victor."
"Victor, according to the Forest Rangers' reports from Vimara Village, someone has been quietly clearing the Withering these past few days. Kuiyuan only arrived today. So that person must have been you, correct?"
Victor Wang nodded.
Tighnari continued, "I want to know why you're fighting the Withering. Clearing it is an important duty for Forest Rangers, but there are too few Vision holders. If you're willing… would you consider joining us?"
"I'm practicing my sword. These guys are perfect for striking without restraint—and it's helping the people too. Sorry, but I don't intend to become a Forest Ranger."
Victor Wang had barely finished speaking when Kuiyuan burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as he kept laughing nonstop. "Practicing sword? You mean firing off elemental power like you did earlier—whoosh whoosh whoosh? You call that practicing sword? Hahahaha… oh no, I'm going to die laughing—cough—no way, no way, I might be better with a sword than you!"
"Is it really that funny?"
"Hahahaha… I don't even know how to describe the way you so seriously declared you were 'practicing sword'… It was like… like… oh! Clear and stupid! Hahaha, that fits perfectly!"
Though annoyed, Victor Wang held himself back, hoping to extract more information. "And you? I doubt your group is kind enough to do good deeds."
"You're wrong about that. I don't have any special reason for dealing with the Withering. The boss says it's a blight upon the world and must be eliminated. Me? I just use it to 'practice archery.'"
Kuiyuan once again reached for his bone bow. He casually took a Dendro seed from the "Auspicious Branch," stepped outside the Withering, and with a single arrow, blew apart the Withering Tumor.
===BREAK===
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