Genshin Impact: I Can Obtain Adventure EXP

The weather today was rather good.

The desert sun shone brightly, the wind was gentle—just enough to make the girls’ hair and skirts flutter lightly.

By now, Nolan and his companions had already left Caravan Ribat and formally entered the desert.

Although the skies were clear and there was no sandstorm, the temperature was far from pleasant. Especially in the afternoon, the heat grew even harsher.

"Better put on your cloaks. Staying under the sun too long will give you heatstroke."

Stepping across the loose sand and leaving footprints behind, Dehya pulled a cloak from the storage space of her Vision and draped it over herself.

"Before coming here, I already used the ’Akasha’ to learn all sorts of things one needs to keep in mind when traveling in the desert. Naturally, I brought along a cloak early on!"

Nilou also took out a cloak that shielded against wind, sand, and sun, wrapping it around her delicate figure.

"Good." Dehya nodded approvingly. Then she looked at Nolan—who hadn’t moved at all—and asked in surprise, "Hm? Don’t tell me you didn’t prepare anything?"

"...Cough, I don’t need to trouble myself with such things." Nolan cleared his throat to cover his awkwardness.

Then he lifted a hand and condensed a dense mist above their heads with Hydro, blocking out the harsh sunlight. Thin streams of water vapor fell like veils, cooling the air and refreshing them.

"Uh, even for you, isn’t that too much of a waste of elemental power? Forget it, pretend I didn’t say anything."

Dehya looked up at the misty veil, initially wanting to warn him not to squander energy—otherwise it could be troublesome in emergencies. But then she remembered he was someone who could stand toe-to-toe with gods. For him, such a trick must be trivial. So she let it go.

"Don’t worry. This barely affects me."

In fact, the consumption was smaller than his recovery speed. Especially under the blazing sun, the falling energy particles were already being absorbed by his body.

"By the way, Dehya, on the way to Aaru Village, are there any places like an oasis, or other unusual sights? If there are, let’s stop by and take a look.

"After all, the desert only feels fresh the first time you see it. Look long enough, and it’s just monotonous sand. The inspiration Nilou can draw from it will be limited."

Nolan asked.

"Mhm. It’s rare to come to the desert. I’d like to see as many oases as possible too." Nilou nodded.

"True. I recall there’s a sand dune ahead. If we climb it, we should be able to see the full view of Caravan Ribat."

Dehya felt that might also help with Nilou’s dance inspiration.

"As for oases... During my years wandering the desert, I learned the locations of several. But the closest ones are all past Aaru Village.

"So once we reach Aaru, I’ll mark them on your map. You can go find them yourselves."

The lion-maned mercenary with black-and-gold hair continued.

"Thanks, Dehya!" Nilou said happily.

Having a guide was far more convenient than stumbling around on their own.

With that settled, the group slightly changed direction, veering off the road toward the dune that lay a bit to the left.

It didn’t take long before they spotted it from afar. Though called a sand dune, it was actually more of a hill.

The only reason Dehya referred to it as a dune was because its surface was stripped of vegetation, covered entirely in sand. Beneath, it was solid earth and rock.

"My team is called the ’Blazing Beasts.’ After finishing missions, when we returned to Caravan Ribat, we’d sometimes climb this hill to gaze at the settlement. It gives you the feeling of standing in boundless heaven and earth, your spirit soaring."

Dehya crossed her arms and smiled.

"Perhaps, Nilou, you might create a dance full of both elegance and grandeur here."

"Sounds pretty challenging." Nilou twirled a strand of red hair by her cheek and asked curiously:

"By the way, Dehya, what about your teammates? Why didn’t they come with you?"

Nolan also looked her way.

"They’re in Sumeru City, taking on missions. Some time ago I was hired as Lady’s bodyguard, so I couldn’t spare time to work with them.

"To keep from starving, of course they have to take jobs on their own."

Dehya explained simply.

"Oh, and the two of you should watch your step on the sand. Don’t fall into hidden sinkholes." She suddenly remembered and warned.

"Got it!" Nolan nodded.

"Sinkholes? Dehya, do you mean like this?" Nilou frowned, feeling her boots sink into something sticky—not like sand at all.

Looking down, she saw herself sinking further.

"Get out, quick! That’s not a normal pitfall!"

Dehya’s eyes widened. Nilou’s legs were sinking, but far slower than quicksand should be. Looking closer, faint reflections gleamed among the sand.

Nolan’s brow furrowed. He sensed something moving beneath the ground, and fast—heading straight for them.

"Dehya, back up!" he warned, then grabbed Nilou’s arm to pull her free.

"Ah! My boots are stuck!" Nilou exclaimed.

She tried to lift her foot, but the boot was glued in place, utterly immovable, and still sinking.

Even so, with Nolan’s strength, there was no way he couldn’t pull her out.

But if he did, Nilou’s feet might get scraped raw by the boots forcing off. Meanwhile, the thing underground was nearly upon them.

Without thinking, Nolan quickly crouched, unfastened the laces of her boots, then wrapped his arms around her legs and lifted her entirely off the ground.

He leapt back with her in his arms, retreating to Dehya’s side.

Their eyes fixed on the spot where Nilou had been trapped. Before long, her durable sand-walking boots were completely swallowed.

The next instant, the sunken ground suddenly bulged. A massive worm, its body the same color as the sand, burst out from beneath.

Its enormous, razor-sharp teeth shredded the sunken boots into scraps in an instant!

"What is this?" Nolan had never seen such a creature.

Instinctively, he activated Yae Miko’s affection ability:

[Wind-Eroded Worm: A monster dwelling beneath desert sands. It possesses near-perfect camouflage, blending with the sand so seamlessly that even lying exposed on the surface, it’s hard to tell apart. It spits extremely adhesive mucus that mixes with sand to form traps, while it waits patiently at a distance for prey to stumble in.]

Wind-Eroded Worm? Nolan frowned. Since such monsters never appeared in the game, he had no prior knowledge of them.

"As I thought—it’s these disgusting things. They love to lie in ambush under the sand. If anyone steps into their trap, the only way to survive is to abandon your shoes and run. Delay any longer, and you’ll be ripped to shreds!"

As Dehya spoke, she drew her greatsword.

This type of monster would never simply let its prey go if an ambush failed. The Wind-Eroded Worm had already turned its head toward Nolan and the others.

But Nolan noticed no organ resembling eyes on its head, so he couldn’t be sure whether it was really looking at them.

"Protect Nilou. I’ll deal with it!"

No sooner had she spoken than Dehya charged forward, greatsword in hand. Flames flared along the blade as she swung it horizontally toward the worm’s neck.

Perhaps sensing danger, the worm’s maw—lined with countless sharp teeth—gathered a swirling gale and spat the wind vortex straight at Dehya.

"Hmph!"

The flaming blade met the vortex head-on.

The wind was shattered, though the fire along her blade also scattered slightly. Just as Dehya prepared to press the attack, she realized—the worm had vanished.

"It burrowed back underground!"

Still holding Nilou, Nolan locked onto its position with his spiritual sense. In only a second or two, it had already fled two to three hundred meters away, its speed astonishing.

Just as he was about to crush it with sheer spiritual force, Dehya called out:

"Fall back! These worms live in groups. When they can’t handle prey, they’ll run and summon their kin. Once they return, it’s always in packs of twenty or thirty—that’s a headache we don’t need. Let’s get out of here first!"

"Oh?" Nolan stopped, smiling faintly. "That’s even better. If it were only one, I’d almost feel it was a waste."

Moments earlier, he’d used the golden Eye of Judgment and seen that this worm had reached level sixty—a foe troublesome enough to trouble any adventuring party.

But for him, it was barely worth the effort. The experience it would give—maybe two or three thousand points—was hardly impressive.

But if it really brought its kin? Twenty or thirty of them? Now that would be worth his time.

"You’re not thinking of wiping them all out, are you?" Dehya frowned at him.

"That’s exactly what I’m thinking. With them this close to Caravan Ribat, they’re far too dangerous. So we’ll let them come—and finish them all in one stroke."

Nolan nodded confidently.

"Haa... Suit yourself. If too many show up, I won’t be able to handle them."

Dehya trusted his strength, of course. She put her sword away, ready to watch his performance.

"Um... Adventurer, thank you for pulling me out earlier. But could you put me down now? Otherwise I’ll only get in your way." Nilou’s face flushed as she spoke softly.

[Nilou Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (260/700)]

The notification on his status panel made Nolan smile.

"Alright."

But when he glanced at her legs, he noticed her feet in their white silk stockings peeking out beneath her skirt. Her boots had been shredded.

"Do you have any other shoes?"

He asked.

"Um... I thought one pair would be enough, so I didn’t bring spares. I didn’t expect to run into monsters the moment we entered the desert..." Nilou lowered her head in embarrassment.

In other words—those boots had been her only pair.

"I see. Well, that’s fine."

Still holding Nilou by her thighs with his right arm, Nolan placed his left hand against her calf.

Clear water surged from his palm, flowing over her stockings, wrapping around her feet and shaping into a pair of transparent short boots.

"There. The desert’s hot anyway, so these cool water-boots will be perfect. They’ll keep the sand off your socks too."

He set Nilou down.

The boots of pure Hydro wrapped her feet snugly, but her stockings felt perfectly dry—none of the clammy discomfort water should have caused. Such precise elemental control was astonishing!

Nilou’s pale face showed open surprise.

She, too, could shape Hydro into various forms. But not with this kind of delicacy.

As expected of this adventurer... After hesitating, she said:

"Um... Won’t it cost a lot of energy to maintain this? Even though I only brought one pair of boots, I do have spare stockings. Even if they wear out, it’s fine..."

It was obvious. Maintaining such refined elemental shaping consumed far more concentration and power than the mist-cloud he’d conjured earlier.

Nilou didn’t want him wasting so much effort on her sake.

Before Nolan could respond, Dehya chuckled:

"Nilou, standing barefoot on scorching sand, you’ll get blisters in no time. Stay too long, and the skin itself might necrotize."

"Eh?!" Nilou had only been worrying about troubling Nolan, and hadn’t thought of that. The girl fell into hesitation.

"Haha, don’t worry. This level of consumption is nothing to me. Nilou, don’t give it another thought."

Nolan smiled warmly.

"Th-then... alright..." Nilou finally relaxed, her favor for him rising once again.

[Nilou Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 340 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (600/700)]

"Careful—they’re coming!"

Dehya’s expression, once calm, tensed again.

The vibrations in the sand traveled up through their feet. Normally, a Wind-Eroded Worm moving underground made very little noise.

Even twenty or thirty of them together wouldn’t shake the ground much, though skilled fighters could sense them in advance.

Ordinary people, however, would barely notice—even if surrounded.

But this time, the tremors were so obvious even a layman would sense them. Could it really be just twenty or thirty?

Or had they stumbled into an entire horde?

"Fifty-six. Not bad at all." Unlike Dehya, who couldn’t extend her senses, Nolan had already counted them with his spiritual perception.

At the same time, he lifted his hand and conjured a transparent Hydro barrier, shielding all three of them.

Seconds later—

The ground around them erupted.

Boom!

A storm of sand and dust blasted into the air, obscuring their vision.

When it finally settled, the scene came clear again.

Surrounding them in tight circles were dozens of Wind-Eroded Worms. Headless of eyes, their gaping maws—like giant washing drums lined with blades—opened wide, all aimed at the trio within the watery shield.

(End of Chapter)

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