Nolan leaned against the outside of the tent, devouring a piece of densely compressed thick bread.
Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten much today. His stomach had been growling for a while, but thankfully, Lisa had brought some food—these were the compressed thick bread made by the knights' order she was part of.
The bread tasted surprisingly good, filling, and was very satisfying to chew.
Nolan looked at the character panel and saw his Adventure EXP displayed prominently:
[Adventure EXP: 2650]
These Adventure EXP points are just enough to level up to level 27. After a brief consideration, he didn't hesitate to use them, and with a thought, the Adventure EXP quickly decreased, and threw it to the character level.
Adventure EXP -2650
It felt like being embraced by a girl, the warmth of her body and her breath speeding up his heartbeat, while the flowing blood brought warmth and energy to every cell.
Nolan pushed the generally accepted physiological limits of humans a bit further.
He had theorized before that without breakthroughs, the species limit for an ordinary human was level 20.
This limit referred to the bodily functions and physical strength that could be achieved without any external enhancements, the peak state a normal human could reach solely through training.
After all, the principles of biology were universally applicable, even in the land of Teyvat.
Like with humans on Earth, where running speeds can reach under ten seconds for a hundred meters, any further training improvements become nearly imperceptible.
In Teyvat, it seemed that due to the pervasive presence of elemental powers, the limits of every species were raised a bit.
And Nolan had managed to push this limit forward by seven levels without any breakthroughs!
With this going on, he might well stand shoulder to shoulder with Archons purely on the merit of his human physical prowess!
While Nolan was thinking wildly, the evening breeze slightly opened the flap of the purple tent.
Bathed in the light of the campfire, he could see Lisa sleeping on her side inside.
A thin blanket covered her from shoulders to hips, with her legs, clad in over-knee black lace socks, crossed and slightly bent out of the blanket.
Her fair cheeks, eyes closed, and her soft lips parted slightly, breathing out warm air.
Beside her lay her neatly stacked robe and hat, with a pair of anklets hanging down, adorned with deep purple gems, placed atop the pointed toes of her black high heels with golden butterfly patterns.
Don't look at Lisa sleeping like she's defenseless, if she encounters any danger, the cause of peril might instantly be annihilated by a lightning spell set up somewhere unknown!
Nolan couldn't help but think so as he ate the last bite of thick bread.
Time passed little by little, and the first half of the night passed quickly.
But Lisa didn't have the slightest tendency to wake up, it was obvious that she had overslept, and Nolan couldn't do anything to wake up the sleeping lady.
He could only continue to lean on the outside of the tent and rest his eyes slightly.
Mondstadt, Windrise Hillside Slopes.
Early in the morning, the warm sunlight shone on Nolan's face through the tent's raised curtains. He furrowed his brows, feeling a shadow loom over him, an itch on his cheek prompting him to open his eyes with difficulty.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Hi~ Good morning little adventurer!"
Lisa squatted down, her black stockings slightly wrinkled at the knees. Her wide, pointed witch hat blocked the sunlight from Nolan's face. Leaning forward slightly, she brushed her chestnut hair against his cheek and smiled.
"Eh, Miss Lisa, how come I..."
Nolan sat up, looking around at the purple drapes inside the tent and the thin blanket on him, puzzled.
"Perhaps you felt too secure by your sister's side. Last night, you fell asleep outside the tent without any guard up. Hmph~ That won't do."
A smile appeared on Lisa's fair face as she spoke.
"Ha, so that's what happened."
Nolan shifted his gaze outside, realizing he might have been dragged into the tent by her, which was somewhat embarrassing.
"However, we agreed to take turns watching through the night. You didn't wake me up, little adventurer. Hmm, I've received your feelings for your sister. As a reward, I'll give this to you ahead of time!"
Wearing her pointed witch hat, Lisa raised her fair arm, and with a flicker of light, a somewhat dim object resembling a red glass bead, adorned with a fire element symbol, appeared in her palm.
[Lisa Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 120 Affection Points, Current Affection Level Lv.4 (290/400)]
As she presented the item, her affection for Nolan also increased slightly.
"Is this the Debt Collector's Delusion?!"
Nolan was slightly surprised in his heart. It hadn't been that long, had it? Had it already been improved?
"That's right. How could such mass-produced Delusions ever pose a challenge to me? I've slightly modified the way it channels elemental power, and now it's barely usable!"
Lisa's pink tongue slightly extended to wet her soft lips as she spoke.
"Does that mean it no longer has side effects?" Nolan took the Delusion and stepped outside, allowing the sunlight to reflect off the Delusion, creating tiny specks of light.
"Well, although that's the case, in order to eliminate its side effects, we had to compromise on its performance."
Lisa packed up the tent, her face showing a hint of regret as she spoke.
This was a standard Delusion; the materials used in its creation were not too precious, making it difficult to break through its inherent limitations despite improvements.
"A compromise? So, the Delusion has been weakened then."
Nolan also had a limited understanding of the Delusion, and didn't feel anything special when he heard Lisa's words.
"Previously it did say that it could be an external magical device that could freely channel elemental forces, although the process required the user's life force to be consumed.
"And Now, it acts more like a storage device for elemental power, it can automatically absorb external elemental power from its surroundings without needing the user's life force. However, the amount of elemental power it can store is limited, and once depleted, it requires a long wait to recharge."
Lisa approached, her ankles adorned with purple anklets, outlined distinctly by her black stockings, and she spoke in her high heels.
"I see, that sounds quite good, actually."
Nolan was in love with the Delusion and didn't mind for being weakened.
"Uh-huh~" Lisa's fair arms crossed over her abdomen, slightly lifting her bosom wrapped in white fabric, giving off a sense of soft volume. She pursed her lips into a smile and said, "As long as the little adventurer likes it, that's good. Here, let me teach you how to release the elemental power within. It's quite simple."
Under Lisa's guidance, Nolan quickly learned how to use the "Pyro Elemental Delusion - Lisa's Improved Version".
Wearing it like a Vision, he could control its activation with his willpower, now barely managing to imbue his weapon with fire elemental power.
If he wanted to use more complicated moves, according to Lisa, he would need to have a deeper understanding of the elemental forces.
However, since he fundamentally couldn't channel elemental power and was merely using a device that could, still being an ordinary person, he couldn't sense elemental power, making it difficult to gain any deep understanding.
So Nolan'sability to imbue fire elements and release simple fireballs was about the extent of his capability. Complex elemental magic, like Lisa's Static Electric Field or Elemental Markings or something, was out of his reach.
This limitation was indeed a bit disappointing, but there was a surprising benefit.
Originally, the Delusion lacked the Vision's ability to store items, but after Lisa's magical modification into a device for storing elemental power, it gained the capacity to hold items as well.
Although it had a fixed carrying capacity of ten kilograms, it greatly facilitated Nolan's adventures.
It must be said, Lisa is truly remarkable!
(End of Chapter)
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