"Ellin?" Hearing Su Yuan's theory, Aether grew even more puzzled…
"Ellin is just an ordinary girl, dreaming of joining the Knights and becoming a member of the Knights of Favonius…"
"Someone like her—how could she possibly possess such powerful strength, let alone imitate other people's moves and abilities?"
"Under normal circumstances, Ellin might not have that kind of ability. But what if Ellin has been tainted and controlled by the Eerie force, entering a Eerie state?" Su Yuan said.
"That still doesn't add up! Why would Ellin's Eerie state give her the ability to mimic other people's techniques and powers?" Paimon asked with a puzzled look.
Truth be told, even Su Yuan wasn't sure how to explain this theory to Aether and Paimon.
In his original world, in the game itself, players often joked around with the meme that Ellin was actually the strongest combat power in all of Mondstadt—perhaps even all of Teyvat…
After all, she supposedly knew every technique, mastered everything, gathered the strengths of many, and stood unmatched!
So, after thinking for a moment, Su Yuan continued:
"Aether, you should remember that time you took a commission from the Adventurers' Guild where you had to teach Ellin how to destroy all the wooden dummies in a short period of time, right?"
"Yes, of course I remember." Aether nodded.
"Back then, I used Anemo for a wide-range attack. I also tried striking the torches with Electro to trigger an Overloaded reaction, which caused an explosion that destroyed the dummies."
"Exactly. So maybe Ellin didn't just ask you. Maybe she also asked other skilled people to demonstrate different ways of destroying the dummies," Su Yuan suggested.
"Su Yuan, come on now—just watching a single demonstration and instantly mastering someone else's skills? That's a bit too unbelievable, don't you think? How could that be possible???" Aether still refused to believe it.
"Exactly. That's why I suspect Ellin has already been tainted and controlled by the Eerie force…" Su Yuan said gravely.
"With the mysterious power of the Eerie, combined with each person's unique Eerie rules, being able to perfectly recreate moves from memory—it doesn't seem so impossible anymore…"
Seeing Su Yuan's serious and earnest expression, Aether fell into deep thought once again.
He recalled the mysterious black-clothed figure, who had disguised themselves as both Diluc and Zhongli—both tall men…
But that black-clothed figure's build was rather petite, indeed looking quite similar to Ellin's…
And back when the impostor disguised themself as Zhongli, they had only summoned a few stone pillars and directly crushed the Eerie "Timmy" to death…
At the time, it had seemed like a lucky coincidence.
But now, if Ellin really had been tainted and controlled by the Eerie—gaining the ability to mimic and disguise herself as others—then the fact that her attacks carried the Eerie's power, allowing her to kill "Timmy," suddenly seemed much more reasonable…
But as Aether thought it through, he sensed something off…
Diluc… Zhongli… Zhongli???
At once, Aether asked:
"Su Yuan, I've got a question for you now…"
"If things are really as you said—Ellin, after being tainted by the Eerie, could perfectly mimic the abilities of the people who once demonstrated destroying the wooden dummies for her…"
"And I already told you before, didn't I? That mysterious black-clothed person had disguised themselves as Diluc and as Zhongli…"
"Disguising as Mondstadt's Diluc I can still understand. Even though he's a bit cold, at least both he and Ellin are in Mondstadt…"
"But what about Zhongli? How do you explain that? Zhongli hardly ever comes to Mondstadt, much less to demonstrate destroying wooden dummies for Ellin, right?"
Faced with Aether's question, Su Yuan froze for a moment, unsure how to explain…
"Ah, that's not the main point, Aether, Paimon! Just trust my judgment, okay?" Su Yuan said.
"There's no time to waste—we need to hurry and find Ellin, and see what's really going on with her!"
So, the group quickly headed to the training ground where Ellin often practiced swordsmanship and destroying dummies.
But they found no trace of her there…
"That's strange. Ellin's not here? Normally, around this time, she should definitely be practicing here…" Aether muttered, his doubt growing—but at the same time, it also made Su Yuan's suspicions seem more likely…
Just as the group was puzzled, a middle-aged man with stubble walked up.
With some surprise, he said:
"Huh? Isn't this the Traveler and Paimon? It's been such a long time—I didn't expect to see you two here!"
"You are… Uncle Herman?"
Aether looked at the man and quickly remembered his name—it was Ellin's father, Herman.
He even recalled having accepted Herman's commission once, helping to retrieve the training dummies for Ellin from a hilichurl camp…
"Traveler, it's good I ran into you here. That saves me the trouble of going to the Adventurers' Guild to post a commission…"
Right now, Herman's expression was filled with anxiety and worry:
"Have you seen my daughter, Ellin? She's been missing for several days now…"
"There were times before when this happened—she would go off alone into the forest to build her courage. But usually she'd be back within a day or two at most…"
"And every time she went, I secretly followed behind to make sure nothing happened to her…"
"But a few days ago, didn't the Adventurers' Guild organize that large-scale expedition to Dragonspine? Even though I've been retired for many years, Cyrus still invited me to go along…"
"But when I came back, I found Ellin was gone…"
"So I want to ask you, Traveler, please help me search for Ellin's whereabouts…"
After hearing Herman's account, Su Yuan and Aether felt that their suspicions were all but confirmed…
Ellin really was showing signs of something Eerie!
"Don't worry, Uncle Herman. We'll definitely find Ellin!" Aether patted his chest and reassured him.
"That's wonderful. With a promise like that from you, Traveler, I can finally breathe a little easier!" Herman sighed in relief.
"After all, your abilities are known and respected by everyone."
After parting with Herman, Su Yuan and Aether immediately began their search for Ellin.
But very quickly, both of them realized a glaring problem…
Uncle Herman had said that Ellin had already been missing for several days.
But Liben had told them that he saw Ellin just this morning—she even bought a Fillet Blade at his stall…
Wasn't there a contradiction between the two?
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