Three hilichurls with wooden shields.
Amber couldn't take them alone—no chance.
Luckily, she wasn't alone.
"We'll use Baron Bunny to grab their attention," Amber whispered, "then rush in and finish them from behind in one push!"
"Hold up," Kaito said quietly, catching her wrist mid-throw.
Amber blinked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Kaito replied. "I want Lumine to try first."
Lumine looked almost too relaxed—like she'd already decided the three hilichurls below were easy.
Kaito understood why.
She'd been fighting hilichurls around Mondstadt's outskirts—the weaker ones. It was natural to assume they were all like that.
But this place was different.
The temple was saturated with Stormterror's lingering influence, and the monsters here were stronger.
Only Kaito could see their levels clearly, so he didn't blame her for misjudging it.
"Me?" Lumine's eyes brightened.
She'd been itching to move.
The Favonius Sword flashed into her grip. She sprinted two steps and leapt off the ledge—
blade raised—
—and drove it down in a heavy plunge onto the nearest hilichurl.
"Ya-yaika!"
The hilichurls jolted into a frantic scramble.
The one she struck snapped its shield up over its head.
Clang!
Steel met wood—
and the shield didn't split.
The recoil shoved Lumine back. She slid a few steps, momentarily stunned.
This sword is sharper than my old one… and I had the full weight of a plunge behind it.
So why didn't it crack?
Even if the shield held, that impact should've numbed the arm—forced the guard to falter.
Lumine narrowed her eyes.
"…Are hilichurls different in strength too?"
Then she looked up toward the platform.
She understood instantly.
Kaito hadn't stopped Amber because the plan was bad—
he was making Lumine learn this lesson the safe way.
From above, Kaito spoke calmly, like a teacher who expected her to keep up.
"Teyvat's leylines affect everything living on its surface," he said. "The more leyline energy something absorbs, the stronger it becomes."
He nodded toward the ruins around them.
"And it's not just leylines. This temple is saturated with Stormterror's residual Anemo. Monsters can absorb that too."
"They get tougher."
"I understand," Lumine said, voice steady.
She lifted the sword across her chest as the three hilichurls closed in from different angles.
One at a time, she could handle.
Three with shields?
That was a problem.
"Lumine!" Amber called. "I'm throwing Baron Bunny—move the second you get an opening!"
The red plush rabbit dropped from above.
The hilichurls immediately swarmed it, hacking at the decoy and ignoring the real threat shifting behind them.
Now.
Lumine extended her hand.
"Gust Surge!"
Anemo condensed into a tearing vortex—like invisible blades twisting through the air.
With their backs exposed, the three hilichurls were shredded before they could even turn.
A heartbeat later—
BOOM!
Baron Bunny exploded.
Pyro and Anemo reacted instantly, blooming outward in a violent swirl.
Shields. Clubs. Hilichurl bodies—
all of it burned down into ash.
Lumine staggered, coughing once. The hem of her outfit was singed dark where the heat had licked it.
Kaito and Amber dropped down beside her.
Lumine lowered her head, voice small.
"…I'll be more careful next time."
If she'd been alone, that moment of overconfidence could've cost her.
Kaito hummed in approval and ruffled her hair once—more reassurance than praise.
Then he turned to Amber.
"From now on, use Baron Bunny less."
Amber stared. "Why?"
Baron Bunny was one of her best tools. It wasn't just damage—it saved her more times than she could count.
Kaito's answer was simple.
"Train your archery."
His tone sharpened—not cruel, just unyielding.
"Until your aim is reliable, don't depend on Baron Bunny to keep enemies busy while you stand still and shoot."
He continued, precise and demanding:
"Charged shots. And not just planted in place—moving shots too."
"Even if you can't hit weak points every time, you need at least a fifty percent hit rate while repositioning."
Amber's eyes widened. "Charged shots… while moving?!"
She was Pyro. Charged shots meant compressing flame into an arrow.
And when monsters rushed her, she panicked.
When she panicked, her hands shook.
And he was asking her to aim for weak points on top of that.
"If you're scared," Kaito said, "then partner with me."
"I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
People treated Amber like a "puzzle tool" too often.
But Kaito knew the truth.
Her talent was built for precision—sniping.
If she could consistently hit weak points, her value would spike hard.
So yes—
he was going to be strict.
Paimon floated closer and stage-whispered, "Kaito suddenly got scary…"
Amber clenched her fist.
"This is for our own good!" she declared.
It sounded hard—painfully hard—
but if it came from Kaito, then it was doable.
She had that kind of faith in him.
And honestly?
Being pushed like this made her happy.
She'd been trying so hard to perform well ever since entering the temple—because she wanted him to notice.
Now he had.
They were still talking when something strange happened.
From the ash where the hilichurls had fallen, faint motes of power drifted upward—shimmering, weightless—
—and split.
Some flowed into Lumine.
Some flowed into Amber.
Lumine flexed her hand, eyes widening slightly.
"This is…?"
She could feel it clearly.
Her strength had become denser—like an empty space inside her had been filled in.
Kaito nodded.
"This is what I meant—Stormterror's lingering power, and leyline energy."
"When enemies die, that energy returns to the environment."
He looked at them steadily.
"But you were the ones who killed them—so it flows to you first."
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