"Lighter! Be lighter!!!"
"Bang bang bang!"
"Slower, be slower!"
"Ya!"
"Charlotte, move it, get Frozen!"
"Clap clap clap!"
By the small river, two or three Hilichurls lay scattered on the ground, their fates unknown.
Alex relentlessly attacked the last Torch Hilichurl.
Just now, his only summon, the little orb, was burned away by its torch.
That's just ridiculous, okay!
"Rules are meant to be broken!"
"Stop!" Furina, active after the battle, quickly snatched the weapon from Alex's hand, who was about to deliver the final blow to the Torch Hilichurl.
"I lent you my weapon, why are you using my Sword like a stick!"
"Huh? This stick works pretty well." Alex finished, glanced at his phone, and indeed, his normal attack had turned into a 'Bang Bang Invincible Sword', but after Furina took the Sword, it reverted to a fist.
"It's a stick... no, it's a Sword! It's called the splendor of tranquil waters. This is a scepter imbued with the purest water! A long, long time ago, it symbolized supreme authority." Furina carefully examined her signature weapon, worried if it was damaged anywhere.
"Oh, it's a scepter! No wonder it doesn't look like a Sword at all, it has no sharp edge."
"It's a Sword! I'm not letting you use it anymore, hmph! You can fight monsters with your bare hands!"
"My mistake, my mistake! My dear Master, I won't use it as a stick next time. Please let me borrow your signature weapon, at least it boosts my Crit DMG!" Alex immediately pleaded, grabbing Furina's left hand, which held the weapon, and refused to let go.
With Furina's signature weapon, fighting monsters was indeed much easier. He couldn't do without her weapon.
"Hey! What are you doing, there's an outsider here." Furina saw Charlotte slowly turn around and then run off to catch butterflies. She yanked Alex's arm hard.
"Didn't you say before..."
Before, being called that in front of himself didn't feel like much, but with someone else suddenly present, hearing someone call him Master really felt embarrassing. Furina even felt shy: "Oh, I regret it. Don't call me Master anymore! Just call me Lady Furina!"
"Then it's still Fu Fu!" Alex nodded, feeling indifferent himself.
"No Fu Fu!" Furina put her hands on her hips, her tone becoming more serious.
"Understood, understood!" Alex gave an OK sign.
Next was time to collect the spoils.
Obtained Hilichurl's Wooden Club, obtained Hilichurl's Torch, obtained Hilichurl's Mask...
Alex grabbed a Hilichurl's face mask and tried to pull it off for a long time but couldn't, it was a bit difficult.
Furina was speechless watching Alex's actions: "Why are you collecting these things! And stop pulling, no taking Hilichurl masks! Why are you just like those people from the Adventurers' Guild, so fond of scavenging spoils! Besides, no one would want these spoils you're taking, they're not worth anything."
"Huh? Is that so? Then I'll farm materials when I'm short on them later." Alex dropped the wooden club and torch in his hand, clapping his hands.
Alex extended his hand towards Furina.
"What are you doing?" Furina looked puzzled, then placed her right hand on Alex's hand.
To hold hands?
But Furina didn't expect Alex to instantly flick her hand away, snatching the signature weapon she was holding in her left hand: "Let me use it for just a little longer. I'll help you fight monsters, you just clap casually from behind."
"You're really not polite at all!" Furina said, hands on hips, but she didn't try to snatch her weapon back. Anyway, she hadn't used it in a long time, so she'd let him use it for now.
"But you have to use it gently! Not like before!" Furina said, crossing her arms and instructing.
"Got it, got it!" Alex replied, then looked at his level, which had become 2. The path to max level was long and arduous.
"Charge, charge, charge! Our goal is to grind to Level 20 today!" Alex took a few quick steps, patted Charlotte, who was wandering off-field and starting to take pictures of the scenery with her camera.
"Look there!" Charlotte pointed to the sky.
??? Alex was puzzled.
"It's already noon! We need to figure out lunch!" Charlotte replied.
"Hmm, I also want to eat some small cakes." With Charlotte saying that, Furina also became hungry.
Alex's passion instantly halved: "Alright, I'll treat you to a big meal, and then after we eat, we continue???"
"No, no, I have important matters to attend to at the newspaper office later." Charlotte quickly shook her head and waved her hands. As she spoke, Charlotte thought for a moment, took out paper and pen from her bag, and began to write rapidly.
"Here, this is my contact information. You, when you're free, don't forget, to ask me out, alone. You just promised me an exclusive interview, don't forget it!" Charlotte looked at Furina, then at Alex, saying that with Furina nearby, there was no chance to interview some special questions, so she could only secretly ask him out.
"Alright, alright." Alex nodded and took the note.
Seeing Alex put away the note, Charlotte nodded: "Then this time I really won't bother you, I'm leaving!"
With that, she didn't give the two a chance and vanished in a flash.
"Charlotte, she's a pretty good girl ~ quite cute." Furina suddenly said out of nowhere.
Alex subconsciously nodded: "Indeed, but her combat power is really weak. I saw her ultimate move, that one Wen Henting filmed, it's pretty fast, the DMG is really ticklish, but it can heal. She's purely an ice-applying utility character."
Furina was speechless; this person's mind was still on that. He was talking bad about her right after she left.
Alex sighed: "Now this is great, Frozen is gone. How are we going to farm monsters? The monsters here move quite fast, I can't even keep up."
The monsters that had turned into reality were smarter and stronger than each other. Their positioning, their maneuvers.
It wasn't like fighting training dummies in the game anymore, Alex said he was still a bit unaccustomed.
"Alright! Then let's continue leveling up! Once our level is up, who can't be cut down with a single stroke of nine-nine-nine-nine-nine!"
Furina patted Alex's arm twice: "Hmm? Isn't it lunchtime? You're treating me to a big meal, you just said so! You can't go back on your word, or else you'll face the judgment of justice!"
"Don't you carry small cakes with you? Eat a couple to tide you over, and come with me to farm monsters!" Alex knew that Furina could conjure small cakes at any time.
"No, no, I want a big meal! I want a big meal!!!" Furina actually started to sit on the nearby lawn, seemingly pouting.
Can't resist.
"But, the situation in the city right now is a bit unfavorable, isn't it?" Alex stroked his chin.
Furina thought for a moment. If she went into the city, she would again hear about the archon truly falling in love, and that the male lead was him, and so on. She would also have to face a crowd of onlookers.
Far more than in many previous years; she even had to walk through a path cleared by a crowd when going down the street.
Just thinking about it made Furina's head ache. This wasn't just a matter of high popularity and attention anymore.
The strange stares from the audience made Furina very uncomfortable, so after experiencing it once this morning, Furina brought Alex to escape here, precisely to avoid prying eyes.
She thought that after a few days, when the buzz died down, it should be fine.
"Alright, you're right!" Furina drooped her head.
Alex folded his arms and smirked triumphantly: "However, I can cook! Let's go fight monsters and gather ingredients!"
"Okay! I want dessert!"
"No dessert, how can dessert be a meal!"
"Then... I want sweets!"
"No! Eat so many sweets and desserts and you'll turn into a big fat person!"
"Ugh..."
"But I can make you sweet and sour... Uh, have you ever eaten Liyue cuisine?"
"Never eaten it."
"Alright! I've got it, let's go eat pasta!"
"Wait, normally shouldn't you make Liyue cuisine for me to eat?"
"I'm afraid you won't be used to it."
"That's true, what you said." Furina nodded, and then added: "However, I suddenly want to try Liyue cuisine."
When it came to the best Liyue cuisine, Alex naturally thought of one person: "Then I can't do it. The first time you eat it, of course, it should be the best. I'll take you to Xiangling then. Her dishes are heavenly delicious, but whatever you do, don't eat her creative new dishes."
"Eek! I hate creative dishes the most! Most of them have left me with psychological trauma! Don't look for this person you mentioned, I can try what you make."
"Okay, so. Where do we get the noodles?"
"Buy them in the city..." Furina paused.