Chapter 410: Exploration (2-in-1 Chapter)
"Inazuma's naginata and sword techniques originally stemmed from this body's teachings. The other schools of swordsmanship merely evolved from these basics, depending on the practitioners' varying aptitudes," Raiden Shogun stated calmly.
"Eh? Really?!" Paimon exclaimed in surprise.
"I think I've heard before that Inazuma's martial arts originated from the Raiden Shogun," Lumine said thoughtfully.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be Teyvat's best guide? How come you didn't know that?" Nolan teased, glancing at Paimon.
"Well, being a good guide doesn't necessarily mean knowing every technical detail! The most important thing is caring for your companions!" Paimon retorted with her hands on her hips, visibly annoyed.
"Alright, fair point," Nolan admitted, conceding that Paimon wasn't entirely wrong.
"Enough chatter," Raiden Shogun interrupted, halting their conversation. She continued with a straightforward explanation:
"Source-Flow Swordsmanship, my own style, is divided into three stages: Shoden (Initial Transmission), Chūden (Intermediate Transmission), and Okuden (Complete Transmission).
"Only after mastering these stages will you be able to grasp the ultimate secret technique: the unparalleled Musou no Hitotachi."
"Oh, that sounds very systematic. So, are we starting with the Shoden level now?" Paimon asked, nodding as if she understood.
"Indeed," Raiden Shogun replied. Crossing her left arm and raising her right slightly, she explained, "My style encompasses both tachi (long sword) techniques and naginata (polearm) techniques. Since you both use one-handed swords, I will begin by teaching you tachi techniques."
As she spoke, she reached out with her hand above her pristine white chest, and with a flash of lightning, drew Muso Isshin once again.
"In the Shoden stage, you will learn the foundational 'Nine Directions of Sword Stance.' In the Chūden stage, you will study various forms and transformations, and in the Okuden stage, you will master elemental-infused secret techniques.
"For now, what you will be learning is the 'Nine Directions of Sword Stance.' Draw your swords!"
Raiden Shogun pointed the tip of Muso Isshin at Nolan and Lumine.
"Why does this suddenly feel like another fight is about to break out?!" Paimon said exasperatedly, throwing up her hands.
They had just finished sparring not long ago—how troublesome!
"Every sword art must be tested in practice. Combat is the most effective method of teaching," Raiden Shogun explained in an offhanded tone, her striking purple eyes glancing at Paimon before she continued:
"Come, I will guide you through the 'Nine Directions of Sword Stance' in battle."
Nolan and Lumine exchanged a glance. Well… neither had any objections to this.
For the rest of the morning, Nolan and Lumine studied the techniques through sparring with the Shogun.
Since this was just the Shoden stage of Source-Flow Swordsmanship, Raiden Shogun explained that its principles were similar to those of other Inazuma sword styles.
After all, most of those styles had evolved from her own teachings.
With their already exceptional swordsmanship skills, Nolan and Lumine quickly picked up the "Nine Directions of Sword Stance," mastering it in just one morning.
Thus, they had officially entered the realm of Source-Flow Swordsmanship.
However, since they had only learned the Shoden stage, Nolan's character interface displayed the skill as a basic-level ability:
[Source-Flow Swordsmanship · Shoden Lv.1 (1/100)]
Raiden Shogun mentioned that once they had sufficiently mastered the Shoden techniques, they could come to her to learn the Chūden stage.
For Nolan, leveling it up instantly with Adventure EXP was an option, but Lumine would likely need a few days of practice to catch up.
Thus, he decided not to max out the skill immediately and instead train alongside Lumine for a few days.
That being said, if the Shoden stage was considered basic, then the Chūden stage must be advanced, and the Okuden stage undoubtedly legendary.
So, could it be that the ultimate arcane level technique, the Musou no Hitotachi, which surpasses even the Okuden stage, might be a technique beyond legendary level?
Nolan pondered excitedly at the thought.
...
In the following days, Nolan primarily spent his time practicing swordsmanship with Lumine under Raiden Shogun's tutelage, while also working with Ei to study the power of time manipulation.
This time, with his already exceptional swordsmanship and Raiden Shogun's hands-on instruction, he reached the mastery level of "Source-Flow Swordsmanship: Shoden" entirely through his own efforts, without using any Adventure EXP. However, compared to Lumine, his innate talent was slightly inferior.
After all, Nolan was originally just an ordinary person from Earth. In terms of natural aptitude, he couldn't compare to Lumine, who had once been a powerful warrior.
Once both of them reached a satisfactory level in the Shoden stage, Raiden Shogun began teaching them the Chūden, which introduced various "forms" and transformations.
The "Source-Flow Swordsmanship: Chūden" took Nolan and Lumine an entire day to begin learning. Since it was an advanced extension of the same skill, it directly replaced the Shoden level on their character interfaces:
[Source-Flow Swordsmanship: Chūden Lv.1 (1/1000)]
With a starting experience cost of 1,000 points, it was indeed classified as a secret-level skill. Nolan realized that while it was possible to master it through practice, doing so would take significantly more time compared to spending Adventure EXP.
After considering for a moment, he decided to train alongside Lumine first. If she maxed out her mastery before him, he could then use Adventure EXP to catch up, saving some resources in the process.
After all, leveling up ahead of time wouldn't earn him any special attention from the Shogun since she was teaching both of them together.
Thus, a few more days passed. Nolan's swordsmanship reached around level 5, while Lumine was slightly ahead at level 6. Both still needed a few more days to achieve mastery.
However, today's swordsmanship practice with the Shogun—and the ongoing research with Ei—had to be postponed.
That was because Jean planned to launch an attack on the Beast Realm's Shadow Bear Tribe early in the morning, officially kicking off their exploration of the Beast Realm!
To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, Nolan needed to reserve his time-manipulation abilities.
Earlier at Tenshukaku, when Raiden Ei heard Nolan's reason for requesting leave, she was slightly surprised.
The Abyss had always been the one invading Teyvat in the past, and now, the new gen were turning the tables and venturing into their territory. Ei thought it was impressive and even promised to assist if they encountered something they couldn't handle.
The dark creatures of the Beast Realm, after all, were among the perpetrators of the Cataclysm that devastated the Seven Nations hundreds of years ago.
If given the chance to cut them down herself, Raiden Ei certainly wouldn't mind. However, she made it clear that they shouldn't call on her for small fry—only for truly formidable foes.
Nolan pondered her words carefully. The game provided very little information about the Beast Realm, with only minor details found in the lore of Rift Hounds.
Creatures at the level of a Golden King Beast shouldn't pose much of a threat to him.
But Ei's words… could it mean there were creatures in the Beast Realm stronger than the Golden King Beast? Perhaps even comparable to Archons?
Nolan found the idea puzzling.
It didn't seem likely. After all, the creatures of the Beast Realm were supposedly creations of Gold, Albedo's master, Rheindottir.
If she could create beings on par with Archons, wouldn't that be terrifying?
Her strongest known creation, the black dragon Durin, was only on the level of Teyvat's Archon Minions, comparable to Dvalin. It was still far from the power of an Archon who wielded divine authority.
That said, it wasn't impossible for the Beast Realm creatures to grow stronger over time for various reasons, eventually reaching Archon-level power.
Or perhaps the threat Ei mentioned wasn't a Beast Realm creature at all.
In any case, Nolan decided to exercise caution during their exploration of the Beast Realm. After securing the Shadow Bear Camp, he would ask Ei for more details.
---
The Abyss: Shadow Bear Territory
In a secluded corner concealed by a barren mountain peak, a dozen or so "Shadow Bear" creatures huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.
These were, of course, Acting Grand Master Jean and her team in disguise.
Due to a limited number of Shadow Bear suits, only a small, elite team could infiltrate the Beast Realm this time. Jean brought along high-ranking members of the Knights of Favonius, including herself, Eula, Albedo, Kaeya, and a few skilled knights just below captain level.
Joining them were Nolan, Lumine, and Paimon, who used Interstellar Travel to teleport directly into the Beast Realm. The team, numbering a little over ten, was prepared to launch their assault on the Shadow Bear Camp.
As for Lisa, another powerful ally, she had to remain in Mondstadt to hold the fort.
If everyone left, it would leave Mondstadt vulnerable to attacks from the Fatui or the Abyss Order, which would be disastrous.
According to Albedo's preliminary investigation, the Shadow Bear Camp was guarded by a King-Beast-level creature. While the Knights of Favonius could theoretically take it down, it would come at a heavy cost.
Thus, reinforcements were necessary. Specifically, the powerful Honorary Knights, Nolan and Lumine.
With Nolan's strength, they could easily handle a King-Beast-level creature, making the mission significantly easier.
In fact, Nolan alone was capable of wiping out all the creatures in the camp.
However, the Knights' goal was to domesticate the creatures, ensuring a steady supply of materials from the Beast Realm. They couldn't afford to eliminate all of them.
Their plan was to take down the powerful and uncontrollable Shadow Bears while capturing and domesticating the rest.
The specific action plan had already been discussed before their arrival, so Jean didn't waste any time explaining further.
She shot Nolan a look, signaling that he could begin.
Nolan nodded in understanding. Using his spiritual energy, he ascended into the air to carefully survey the situation.
A massive golden behemoth of a bear—classified as a Golden King Beast and standing as tall as a two-story building with a staggering level of 93—was feasting on the carcass of an enormous creature, something resembling an elephant but far larger.
What caught Nolan by surprise was that this elephant-like creature wasn't shrouded in darkness. Its entire body was a pale gray, making it seem more like an ordinary animal rather than a beast from the Abyss.
This confirmed that the Abyss wasn't solely inhabited by abyssal beasts—there were likely other forms of life here.
The thought crossed his mind: could there be intelligent, humanoid inhabitants in this realm? Judging from the environment of the Abyss, which seemed perfectly livable to humans from Teyvat, it was highly plausible that intelligent life forms could exist here.
This possibility would likely have occurred to Jean and Albedo as well, so there was no need for him to remind them to keep an eye out for any traces of intelligent life during the exploration.
After confirming the location of the King Beast, Nolan began strategizing while unleashing his "Land of Dandelion" to weaken the beast and boost his own team.
The Golden King Beast immediately sensed something amiss. Its first reaction was to lift its massive head and let out an earth-shaking roar, its deafening sound waves tearing through the clouds and sending chunks of rock cascading down the nearby cliffs.
The other abyssal bears in the area turned to their king, seemingly confused as to why it was so enraged.
Hovering in midair without the camouflage of an abyssal bear disguise, Nolan was quickly noticed by the Golden King Beast.
Naturally, it attributed its sudden weakness to the human floating in the sky.
Without hesitation, the enraged bear opened its colossal maw, fangs glinting, and began gathering invisible energy within.
Nolan, unfazed, continued to channel "Land of Dandelion", further weakening all the shadow bears in the area with levels above 70, while simultaneously empowering Jean and the rest of the team.
At that moment, the Golden King Beast's invisible energy sphere had fully formed in its mouth, ready to be unleashed.
But before it could attack, a sudden strike of [Thoughtless Thunder] descended, hitting the bear squarely on the head.
Although the bear's thick hide prevented the lightning strike from causing serious damage, it did manage to leave the beast momentarily stunned.
In that fleeting instant, the invisible energy sphere it had been charging lost control and exploded within its own mouth!
The resulting shockwave shattered the bear's teeth, tore through its lips, and left its mouth grotesquely split open like a tattered horn, unable to close properly.
Nolan watched in surprise at the effectiveness of [Thoughtless Thunder]. For skills requiring a charge-up period, this technique was a natural counter!
An opponent leisurely gathering energy for an attack could be interrupted in an instant by a bolt of lightning, wasting all their preparation. And if they were careless, they might even end up hurting themselves—just like this King Beast.
The King Beast's rage was now beyond words. Enraged by its own blunder, it charged forward with a tremendous leap, attempting to crush Nolan with its immense strength.
But Nolan wasn't foolish enough to engage a beast of such a high level in a contest of brute strength.
A sly grin spread across his face as he summoned a spectral purple hourglass. Flipping it upside down, he allowed a single grain of sand to fall. The moment it touched the bottom, his time-manipulation ability activated.
For the next second, the flow of time around the King Beast became chaotic and disordered. Both its perception and instincts were fed false information, causing it to make critical errors.
In reality, the King Beast was still dozens of meters away from Nolan, and with its jumping ability, it could have reached him in less than half a second.
But within the chaotic temporal distortion, it was tricked into believing that 0.5 seconds had already elapsed the moment it leaped. Thinking it had already reached its target, it prematurely lashed out at empty air, grabbing nothing.
The King Beast's expression was one of bewilderment.
Nolan wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by.
He summoned the towering figure of the "Sword God of Lumine," a massive golden sword imbued with devastating energy.
Without hesitation, the Sword God unleashed its ultimate attack, thrusting downward with immense force at the stunned King Beast.
The air trembled as the massive blade descended, tearing through the atmosphere and striking the ground with a deafening boom!
The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the terrain, leaving a massive crater in its wake.
[Defeated a Powerful Enemy. Obtained 131,025 Adventure EXP.]
(End of Chapter)
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