"This is my first time here," Ann looked around, seeing nothing but ruins.
He wondered what kind of disaster this place had experienced; the broken edges of many pillars clearly showed that it was definitely not the result of corrosion over time.
Could this place have suffered from war?
"It's truly magnificent…" Ann said from the bottom of his heart.
Upon arriving here, one could feel an overwhelming sense of history, something that couldn't be felt anywhere else in Mondstadt.
"This is the Temple of the Thousand Winds, it should be one of the larger Ruins within Mondstadt," Acting Grand Master Jean walked ahead of Ann. There were no lights in this place, and the darkness caused significant visibility obstruction for both of them.
"Ann, be careful. I previously received reports of a Ruins Guard appearing in the Temple of the Thousand Winds, and we haven't had time to send people to defeat it yet."
"Ruins Guard?" Ann heard this name for the first time.
"Yes, they are ancient humanoid combat machines. Scholars believe that the purpose of developing these machines was not for combat, but for guarding ancient Ruins, which is why they were given such a name," Acting Grand Master Jean explained to Ann.
"Legend has it that these combat machines were developed by a fallen nation. Currently, these types of combat machines are distributed throughout Teyvat, and you might encounter them in the future."
"In any case, remember to be careful; these things are much stronger than Hilichurls."
Of course, Ann could deal with a Cryo Hilichurl Armor King on his own, so defeating a Ruins Guard shouldn't be a problem either, but it's always better to be cautious.
"I understand," Ann nodded.
Combat machines… He had thought that the civilization in this world was still relatively underdeveloped; he didn't expect even combat robots to have been developed.
Had the tech tree gone awry?
The two continued to grope their way forward in the dark. This Ruin was very large. Although Venti had marked the location on the map, the dragon tear was such a small thing, and they still needed to search carefully for its exact location.
"We should have brought that guy along; he can sense Dvalin's tears, and we still have to search slowly," Ann pouted unhappily.
"Heh… It's alright. As a Knight, I'm quite confident in my searching abilities," Acting Grand Master Jean chuckled softly, then turned to Ann and said.
"Oh?"
"The key to this technique is to suddenly, inadvertently discover what you're looking for."
"Huh?"
"For example, not thinking about finding it at all, just casually looking around, and then suddenly discovering it's right under the table corner… Of course, you also need to be careful not to look too intently, because the harder you try, the less likely you are to find it."
"You need to find it inadvertently, using your peripheral Vision."
"Uh…" Ann scratched his head, momentarily unable to tell if Acting Grand Master Jean was serious or joking.
"What's wrong?" Acting Grand Master Jean looked at Ann puzzledly.
"No, nothing," Ann smiled awkwardly.
In short, it was metaphysics; he had thought Acting Grand Master Jean really had some method.
"You don't believe me? This method works every time," Acting Grand Master Jean asked with a smile, quite confident in her seemingly metaphysical method.
"To be honest, it's really hard to imagine… Eh?" Ann didn't finish his sentence. He keenly noticed something behind Acting Grand Master Jean.
A crimson crystal was floating in the center of a large open space in the distance.
"It actually worked?" Ann's eyes widened.
Acting Grand Master Jean also turned her head, noticing the crimson Crystalize.
"So this is Dvalin's tear…" Acting Grand Master Jean frowned slightly. Tears of such a color, radiating an ominous aura.
It was hard to imagine what kind of pain East Wind Dragon was currently suffering.
"We actually found it this easily. Let's grab it and head back to call it a day," Ann said, stepping forward.
However, at that instant, she seemed to suddenly sense something, and her forward stride abruptly halted.
Strange 'drip drip drip' sounds seemed to come from her ears, followed by two 'bang bang' sounds.
"Watch out!" Acting Grand Master Jean also reacted, quickly pulling Ann into her arms, then leaping to the side.
The next second, two projectiles landed exactly where they had been, instantly creating a huge explosion.
The night sky was illuminated by it, and Ann, using the light, finally saw what had made the sound.
"Are you alright?" Acting Grand Master Jean asked the person in her arms.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Ann shook her head, pulling away from Acting Grand Master Jean's embrace.
She had actually noticed something was wrong even earlier than Acting Grand Master Jean, but she had been thinking of using her baseball bat for a home run, to knock away whatever was coming at them.
Unfortunately, Acting Grand Master Jean hadn't given her the chance.
"Hmm, so this is a Ruins Guard?"
"Yes." Acting Grand Master Jean nodded, drawing her sword.
This sword was different from the swords of other Knights of Favonius members Ann had seen; its appearance instinctively made one think it was a ceremonial sword.
But the aura it emitted was enough to prove that this sword was no mere furnishing.
"Let's take it down together."
"Okay." Ann also took out her baseball bat, looking at the giant robot in the distance.
The material of this thing didn't seem very sturdy; the few projectiles it had just fired seemed to have already made it tremble.
Although Acting Grand Master Jean said this thing was dangerous, Ann always felt it couldn't even withstand two hits from her.
"Hmm… Acting Grand Master Jean, why don't you leave it to me?" Ann temporarily lowered her guard and walked in front of Acting Grand Master Jean.
"Huh? But…" Acting Grand Master Jean quickly reached out, wanting to pull Ann back. Ruins Guard were very dangerous machines, and even if Ann was powerful, it would be safer for both of them to deal with it together.
However, Acting Grand Master Jean didn't have time to pull Ann back.
In the brief moment she spoke, Ann had already charged out.
From within the Ruins Guard's body came a sound that was either language or some mechanical noise. Looking at Ann charging towards it, it placed its hands in front of its body, adopting a clapping posture.
"Bang!" The Ruins Guard's two palms clapped heavily together, but there was no sign of Ann between its palms.
Looking closer, Ann had already slid between the Ruins Guard's legs, then stood up and swung her lightning-infused baseball bat fiercely backward.
The Ruins Guard's body instantly stiffened, and a sound similar to a circuit malfunction came from its massive body.
This combat-ready humanoid machine was simply no match for Ann.
"Done!" Ann retracted her baseball bat and clapped her hands.
Perhaps this thing was dangerous to ordinary people, but to her, its slow and clumsy attack methods and its fragile body structure posed no threat whatsoever.
Perhaps it was due to years of disrepair?
However, for its job of guarding ruins, it should still be sufficient.
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