Chapter 414: The Great Astrologer (2-in-1 Chapter)

"I saw you using astrology for all your research before, so I thought you didn't need this… Alright, I was wrong."

Nolan awkwardly averted his gaze.

In truth, he was just used to being a hands-off guy. He hadn't thought much about it and assumed leaving everything to Mona meant he didn't have to worry.

Looks like he'd have to pay more attention from now on.

"Hmph! As an apology, hurry up and write down all that knowledge you mentioned, in detail!"

Mona stepped off Nolan, her golden high heels clicking as she moved to the nearby bookshelf. She grabbed a fresh notebook, slapped it down in front of him, and urged him impatiently.

"Alright, alright." Nolan nodded helplessly.

He picked up the pen and scooted his chair forward, ready to start writing, but suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, as if all his motivation had evaporated.

Glancing at Mona standing beside him, he put on an exaggerated act and said,

"Oh no, my arms feel so heavy. I don't think I can move unless someone gives my shoulders and arms a good massage. What should I do~?"

"You jerk!"

Mona clenched her fists but had no choice. She walked behind Nolan and reluctantly began massaging his shoulders.

Feeling the soft, smooth touch of the young girl's delicate fingers kneading his shoulders, Nolan suddenly felt like he'd been powered by a nuclear fusion engine. His entire body buzzed with energy as he scribbled away furiously.

After about half an hour, Nolan had written down everything he knew about astronomy, physics, and mathematics.

These bits of knowledge might've been insignificant back on Earth—any well-educated adult could probably recite them.

But for Teyvat, where the level of science wasn't that advanced, this was nothing short of priceless.

If Nolan announced these findings as his own, he could easily become a respected and renowned scholar.

And with more people knowing about him, he could gather even more Spiritual Energy.

Over the past ten days, his Spiritual Core had been consistently filling up with Spiritual Energy every day at noon, allowing him to grant new attributes.

He didn't let it go to waste. Starting with the girls living in the Wonderland Space, he granted traits to each of them.

For example, Lisa received the trait Elemental Scholar.

Originally, Nolan wanted to get her a more specialized trait like Lumine's.

But even with Yae Miko's blessings and a bit of Klee's luck, he couldn't manage to get one after three days of trying.

Specialized traits were just too rare.

Still, Lisa was very satisfied with Elemental Scholar, as it greatly benefited her work.

Jean, the Acting Grand Master, received the trait Born Leader. While not a specialized trait, it significantly boosted her ability to govern.

It even came with a bonus of public favor—the more prosperous and satisfied the citizens, the stronger Jean would grow, even without training.

And the best part? This growth wouldn't disappear even if the trait was replaced later.

Fischl and Sucrose also received traits from the Spiritual Core. The former was incredibly lucky and obtained the specialized trait Prinzessin der Verurteilung, which had excellent effects.

Sucrose's trait was similar to Lisa's and called Alchemical Scholar. The effects were comparable, and since specialized traits were hard to come by, this would suffice for now.

As for Mona, the fool, her trait was The Great Astrologer. Despite the impressive name, its effects weren't as practical as one might think:

Spiritual Core Attribute - The Great Astrologer: This trait only appears for astrologers. The bearer has a very slight chance of making new discoveries while studying astrology.]

The trait had only one effect, wasn't specialized, and the activation chance was ridiculously low. Nolan hadn't even heard Mona mention it triggering once.

Nolan wanted to help her get a better trait, but Mona stubbornly refused. She loved the name The Great Astrologer and thought it suited her perfectly. No matter what, she didn't want to change it.

Since Mona was so fond of it, Nolan let her be. After all, if it did lead to some significant discovery, it would be worth it.

With this, Nolan had essentially granted traits to everyone living in the Wonderland Space, using the Spiritual Core more than ten times.

The rate at which it collected Spiritual Energy seemed to have slowed down, probably because his previously accumulated Spiritual Energy was starting to run low.

But there still seemed to be plenty left.

For now, there was no need to resort to claiming the achievements of Earth's great minds to gather more Spiritual Energy.

Nolan, having received a decent education, still had a functioning moral compass.

Unless absolutely necessary.

He wouldn't publish others' achievements under his own name. His conscience just wouldn't allow it.

Even when sharing this knowledge with others, he'd make sure to clarify that these weren't his own discoveries. After all, that's just the kind of upright person he was.

As Nolan reviewed the notebook for any mistakes, he felt quite satisfied with himself.

"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and let me see!"

Seeing that Nolan had finished, Mona quickly let go of his shoulders and reached forward, her upper body leaning in and bumping into the back of his head.

Her purple, hooded bodysuit was soft and elastic, and the pressure helped Nolan relax his mind after the intense focus.

"Hmph, you scoundrel!"

A faint blush appeared on Mona's fair face.

She grabbed her notebook swiftly and walked to a desk pressed against the wall, covered with calculation diagrams, where she sat down to read.

Looking at the snow-white skin on Mona's back, Nolan's mischievous thoughts began to stir. He walked behind the girl, leaned down, and wrapped his arms around her neck, his mouth coming close to her ear as he said:

"My dear Mona, don't be in such a rush to study them. Lumine is preparing dinner now. How about we eat first?"

Feeling the warm breath on her neck, Mona turned her cheek uncomfortably.

She thought about it for a moment and realized it made sense; she shouldn't keep everyone waiting too long. So, she moved her chair back, ready to go and have dinner first.

"Alright, let's go." She put down her notebook, turned to face Nolan, stretched lazily, and yawned.

Just as she was about to walk forward, she found that the person in front of her had no intention of moving.

"Before dinner, I think I need a taste of some dessert."

Nolan chuckled softly, stepped forward, holding the girl's waist and supporting her bottom, lifting Mona onto the tabletop.

"Hey! You bastard, what are you doing?"

Mona's legs, wrapped in long black stockings, were lifted and placed on Nolan's shoulders, feeling the soft touch of her slender calves.

Her feet slightly wobbled as her golden high heels slipped off and hit the ground with a dull thud.

Mona's back was gently pressed against the wall. Though it didn't hurt, the sudden coldness made her instinctively frown her elegant brow.

Before she could regain her composure, Nolan locked her hands with his fingers, pressing her hands against the wall, and finally leaned down to seal her lips with his.

Finally understanding what Nolan meant by "dessert" before dinner, Mona's eyes widened.

Time passed.

Nolan sat on the backrest wooden chair, with Mona on his lap.

Her slightly sweaty, fair chin rested on his shoulder, her eyes dreamy and unfocused.

Having been together with Nolan for so long, he finally got his way.

What a scoundrel!

Mona bit into Nolan's neck, annoyed and embarrassed.

Unfortunately, her feeble attempts only left a few saliva marks on his neck, unable to do much else.

Like a kitten poking and licking, she finally relaxed into his neck, defeated.

"You dreadful bastard, there's no way I can leave you now. You must take responsibility and support me in the future!"

"No matter what I ask, you can't refuse. Even if it costs you all the Mora, you have to pay up, or I'll... I'll hold on to you forever!"

Mona, though sounding weak, was surprisingly resolute.

It was as if not promising meant she would truly cling to him indefinitely.

"Of course. From now on, I'll officially take care of you, dear Mona, my love!"

Nolan caressed her soft, white back and lightly kissed her cheek.

"Hmph!"

Mona was a bit dissatisfied with the word "take care." After all, she did have her own income, but she didn't bother to argue at the moment.

[Mona Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.10 (Max)]

Nolan continued holding Mona, resting for a moment, when he noticed a prompt appearing on the character panel.

Mona's affection for him had finally maxed out!

[With genuine intentions and persistent effort, your destinies, which were initially independent, have become deeply intertwined, and the star of the girl's destiny will henceforth shine with yours, giving you the ability: The Magus of Mocking Fate.]

The character panel continued to slowly pop up with notifications.

Uh, mocking fate? Judging by the name, it seems like a pretty powerful ability!

As for "Magus," Nolan knew that it referred to Mona, whose full name was Astrologist Mona Megistus.

"Magus" was what Mona's master called her.

Nolan curiously opened the details of this Fate Constellation's affection ability:

[The Magus of Mocking Fate: Summons a fate illusion named "Magus." Any attempt to use causality or fate-related methods to influence or attack the user, or those intertwined with the user's fate, will be absorbed by the "Magus." Once absorption reaches the limit, it explodes, returning equal damage to the enemy. Summoning post-explosion requires a day to replenish (absorption limit is the sum of Nolan and Mona's levels of attack).]

Well, skills involving "fate" are naturally strong, but it's slightly unfortunate that it can't be used for active attacks.

Ahem. Okay, maybe I'm a bit greedy.

Mona studied astrology and occasionally received kisses from Nolan that strengthened her with "harmony energy," now reaching level seventy-five.

Ninety plus seventy-five makes one hundred sixty-five, meaning only those with attack power at this level could break the fate illusion with a destiny attack in one shot.

Fate attacks failing to defeat the "Magus Illusion" would be stored until they reached the explosion limit.

One of Teyvat's top gods, Raiden Shogun, is only level one hundred twenty. No one knows what level one hundred sixty-five even looks like.

So, essentially, no one in this world can threaten Nolan and his close ones by influencing "destiny."

Overall, he was quite satisfied with this affection ability.

The following morning.

Nolan tried to snuggle with Mona again, but the tired Mona simply kicked him off the bed.

Reluctantly, he got up.

He habitually went to check on the "Divine Salt."

The white salt crystals were brighter, but he still couldn't sense any awareness. It seemed more time was needed for recovery.

After checking the salt crystals, Nolan enjoyed the breakfast prepared by Lumine, then set off again with her and Paimon for Tenshukaku.

They cooperated with Ei to research the power of time, emerged from the "Plane of Euthymia," and practiced swordsmanship with the Shogun.

After a while, he showed significant improvement, surprising the Shogun, who didn't expect him to learn so quickly.

His talent was somewhat unexpected, progressing much faster than during early and mid-training.

Raiden Shogun thought about it but didn't mind, leaving him to practice on his own for now. She focused on bringing Lumine's progress up to speed to eventually teach the "Musou no Hitotachi."

Nolan assured her it was no problem, then prepared to return to Liyue Harbor to discuss sword techniques with Keqing.

With the activation of "Interstellar Travel," he smoothly teleported to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, beside Hu Tao, the Parlor Master.

"You always teleport to me. Am I your 'teleport anchor' now?"

Hu Tao lay on the rooftop, basking in the sun, speaking without opening her eyes.

"Aren't you the most carefree?" Nolan chuckled.

"Isn't leisure nice? By the way, who are you off to see this time?"

Hu Tao sat up, curious.

Knowing Nolan well, he usually sought out Ningguang, her, Yun Jin, or Shenhe when visiting Liyue.

"Haha, today I intend to meet Keqing, to discuss sword techniques. Not sure if she's free."

Nolan sat beside Hu Tao, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and kissed her fair cheek.

"Oh, you hopeless guy!" Hu Tao wiped his kiss off with his shirt, a bit disgusted. "Keqing, I thought I saw her heading to the docks earlier, so she might be busy."

"Really? Well, you seem bored. Want to come with me to check out the docks?"

Nolan suggested with a smile.

"What's so interesting about the docks? But since you asked, I can't refuse. Let's take a little trip."

Hu Tao stood, dusted herself off, and calling a warning to passersby below, hopped lightly from the rooftop to the ground.

The distance was simple for a Vision Holder. Nolan followed her down, and together they headed to the docks.

(End of Chapter)

❇❇❇

Support me on Patreon - Read Up to 25+ Advanced Chapters There!

patreon.com/RedX43

❇❇❇