"AJAX, you've improved."
The moment Koji arrived on the snowy plains of Snezhnaya, he saw Chang Wei beating up Lai Fu—no, wait, it wasn't Chang Wei beating up Lai Fu. It was Skirk beating up Childe.
The result was, as expected: Skirk won, and Tartaglia was sprawled on the ground.
"Master, you're still that strong."
Tartaglia didn't feel discouraged. The gap between him and Skirk was still huge.
"Ajax, your rate of improvement is acceptable, but it's still not enough," Skirk said calmly.
The power she had now came from who-knew-how-many life-and-death battles. Even her limbs weren't "factory original" anymore.
Teyvat was peaceful on the surface, but that also meant it lacked the dangerous tempering one could get in the Abyss.
"Master, how old am I, anyway?" Tartaglia complained.
Skirk's expression immediately turned dangerous. "What, are you saying I'm old?"
She didn't care about that sort of thing… but that didn't mean she didn't have a "prescription" for people who ran their mouths.
And since she wouldn't be leaving Teyvat for a while, how should she train Tartaglia next?
Obviously, she had to make him suffer blissfully to the point of death, so he'd remember it for the rest of his life.
"..."
Tartaglia fell silent. He could feel an extremely dangerous aura. It seemed he'd said the wrong thing.
Guys, this is bad. I think I'm about to die.
"Haha, Childe, you crashed again?" Koji strolled over with interest. After all, it looked like Tartaglia still hadn't beaten his master even once—three tries and three losses.
"Partner, it's you… I've embarrassed myself," Tartaglia said with a bitter smile. Koji had witnessed his most humiliating side.
Skirk gave Koji a small nod.
This was just routine sparring. Ever since Tartaglia had been tossed into Teyvat by her, they hadn't sparred for a long time. This time was the perfect chance to check whether he'd been slacking off.
He had improved, but the improvement was… a bit slow.
"Long time no see. Why are you here?" Skirk asked softly.
"Just wandering around. I sensed the aura of your fight and came to take a look. Didn't expect to find a master beating up her disciple," Koji said with a grin.
"Just checking Ajax's growth during this period," Skirk replied.
She put away the sword in her hand. With other people, they might not necessarily agree to fight you—but if it was Tartaglia, he would definitely agree.
"Partner… you know my master?" Tartaglia blurted out in shock.
From the way they talked, it was obvious they'd been companions long ago.
Koji nodded, then asked, "Skirk, have you fought the Captain?"
"No. That Captain seems to know my master. But compared with my master—who betrayed the spirit of chivalry and did many unrighteous things—the Captain is an upright and decisive person."
Skirk once again looked down on her own master's character. The Captain's integrity left her master in the dust—so far behind it wasn't even funny.
"Master, you should be a bit stronger than the Captain, right?" Tartaglia asked.
He sat there, not even having the strength to stand up.
He'd seen the Captain on the battlefield—terrifyingly strong. Even now, he knew perfectly well that if he fought the Captain, there was only one outcome: defeat.
The Captain was the First Seat of the Fatui Harbingers. Tartaglia accepted that completely, without the slightest objection.
Besides, the man's personal charisma spoke for itself.
"I don't know. But the Captain can make me fight seriously," Skirk said, shaking her head.
Tartaglia was enough to make her respond with both hands. The Captain's strength didn't even need explaining.
"However, I've seen him. His condition…" Skirk paused.
Skirk was special—she could sense certain things about the Captain. That man's state was deteriorating every moment, because of his body.
"Childe, do you want to challenge the Pyro Archon?" Koji asked with a smile.
The Captain's body carried many souls, along with a curse from the Ruler of Death. It had long since been overwhelmed—yet that only proved how astonishing his willpower was.
Tartaglia thought about it. The Pyro Archon? No need to think. He definitely couldn't win.
"If there's a chance, I'll challenge her," he said.
He knew he'd lose, but running away without fighting wasn't his style.
"These years, your fighting spirit hasn't been worn down," Skirk said flatly, with a trace of approval mixed in.
"Of course. I've challenged a lot of people, won a lot of fights… but I've lost too."
Tartaglia gave a wry smile. Aside from losing to his master, the worst loss was when he challenged Rex Lapis.
He looked retired, as if he hadn't used force in years, but Zhongli's strength still wasn't something Tartaglia could contend with.
As the God of War, Zhongli's martial skill went without saying—perfected to the peak. Tartaglia might have mastered many weapons, but Zhongli was even more proficient. From start to finish, Tartaglia got completely dominated. That suffocating feeling of powerlessness…
And Zhongli didn't even display divine power. He used the purest martial skill, letting Tartaglia hack away without ever being forced to yield.
"Partner, you were over in Natlan before?" Tartaglia asked.
Among the Harbingers, Koji and "An" were even stranger than him, the battle maniac. They didn't attend meetings, yet nobody said anything—because several Gnoses had been obtained thanks to them.
The Captain was responsible for the final Gnosis in Natlan, while the other Harbingers had other missions.
"I stayed there for a while. Natlan's situation isn't very good," Koji nodded.
"The Jester did mention it. The Abyss's influence in Natlan is deep—it's on the edge of collapse at any moment."
"Conventional methods can't obtain the Gnosis. That's why the Captain volunteered to go to Natlan and take the last one."
As for Natlan's intelligence, the Fatui had gathered plenty. Some Fatui squads were also in Natlan, helping them resist the Abyss.
The Fatui's reputation wasn't great, but Teyvat was their shared homeland.
"Skirk, want to take a walk?" Koji asked.
"Sure."
At Koji's invitation, Skirk agreed without hesitation—and then left Tartaglia right there.
Tartaglia: "..."
Watching Koji and Skirk disappear, he fell into deep thought.
His master looked very familiar with Koji. Soon, an absurd thought popped into his head.
I'm not going to end up with an extra "grandmaster" in the future, am I?
The moment he imagined himself respectfully calling Koji "Grandmaster," his gums started aching.
Forget it. His master's matters were Skirk's own decision.
If Skirk really liked Koji, then that was fate. Skirk's past hadn't been good—she deserved someone to spend her life with.
Tartaglia got up and patted the dirt off his butt. The melting snowwater had left his pants damp. With the cold wind blowing, it felt like they were about to freeze stiff.
"Sigh..."
Childe sighed. He'd followed Skirk through an Abyss rift to get here, and now he could only walk back on his own.
She'd never taught him that kind of convenient skill.
...
(End of Chapter)
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