After the spar ended, the training grounds—usually half-empty except for a few recruits—became strangely lively.
Something about watching three high-level claymore users clash had lit a fire under the Knights of Favonius. The "carefree Mondstadt rhythm" that outsiders sometimes called laziness vanished for once. Knights who normally drifted through drills with casual smiles were now actually sweating, correcting stances, and pushing themselves.
Some even approached Elios—bold enough to request a spar of their own.
To everyone's surprise, he agreed.
One match became two. Two became five. Soon the training grounds turned into a rotating line of eager challengers—some hoping to learn, some hoping to impress, and some just wanting to brag later that they'd crossed blades with a Legendary Adventurer.
By the time the sun climbed toward midday and stomachs started protesting, Elios finally stopped.
He took Klee by the hand and headed toward Good Hunter for lunch.
They hadn't gone far when a familiar voice rang out behind them.
"Teacher! Wait up!"
Elios glanced back.
Eula came half running toward them, still damp with sweat from training. She was clearly tired—but even so, she carried herself with practiced noble grace. Her cheeks were flushed from exertion, and the faint scent of fragrant perfume emanated despite her state.
For a brief moment, Elios paused.
'She really has grown into a stunning woman,' he admitted to himself, surprised at how naturally the thought surfaced.
But his face betrayed no emotions. He simply raised a brow, letting confusion replace anything else.
"Young Eula? Shouldn't you be resting?" he asked. "I thought Jean said you had to return to Dragonspine today."
Eula flinched—just slightly—then looked away, as if gathering courage.
"Actually… I requested a short leave this morning," she said quickly. "I had my subordinates cover for me."
She hesitated, then forced the words out.
"I… I wanted to accompany you these days before you leave Mondstadt again. Who knows when we'll meet after that."
Her ears were almost red by the time she finished.
Then, as if afraid she'd said too much, she hurried to tack on something safer—something that didn't sound like confession.
"B-by the way… you're going to lunch with little Klee, right?" She swallowed. "C-can I join too?"
Eula felt like she could hear her own heartbeat.
Elios blinked once… then nodded like it was the most normal request in the world.
"Hm? Of course. You don't have to ask so formally. You're always welcome to join us."
"Neeh~! Papa, Sister Eula—let's go eat already!" Klee cut in, rubbing her stomach dramatically. "My tummy is rumbling~!"
Elios gave a faint smile. "You heard the princess. Let's go, Young Eula."
Eula fell into step beside them. For a while she managed to act normal—until her eyes drifted to Elios' profile.
His sharp jawline, his relaxed confidence, the way his presence naturally drew attention even when he wasn't trying…
Eula's blush deepened and she snapped her gaze away.
'Pull yourself together, Eula,' she scolded herself. 'It's just a dinner invitation. Just dinner. Nothing more. I just have to gather my courage and invite him'
As if sensing her spiral, Elios spoke again, casual—almost too casual.
"By the way… you really can drop the 'Teacher'," he said. "Just call me Elios."
Eula froze mid-step. "What?"
"A teacher guides someone to their destination," Elios continued. "I can't do that for you. The most I can do is to spar with you whenever I pass through Mondstadt."
Eula turned, pouting instantly.
"No. Teacher is Teacher." She pointed accusingly—somehow both dignified and childish at the same time. "You're the one who keeps calling me 'Young Eula,' like I'm a kid. If you won't stop that, I won't stop either."
Elios paused, amused.
"…So if I call you 'Eula,' you'll stop calling me Teacher?"
Eula's pout wavered.
"Yes," she said quietly.
Elios raised a hand and—without thinking—patted her head.
"Then you can call me Elios," he said gently. "Eula."
'She must've really hated being treated as a kid..'
Eula blinked.
He… actually said it. No "young." No distance. Just her name.
Her cheeks warmed in a way that had nothing to do with training.
'He's still headpatting me like a child though!!' she protested inwardly, but she didn't move away, enjoying it despite her internal dilemma.
Instead, she clenched her fists lightly and made herself a promise.
'By the end of today, I'll make him see me as a woman.'
Outwardly though, she only managed a soft, almost obedient response.
"…Mm. I'll be in your care… E-Elios."
Even saying his name felt strangely difficult.
Elios gave her a brief, puzzled look at the awkward delivery… then shrugged it off.
They continued toward Good Hunter.
______________
Good Hunter
The restaurant was crowded—lunch hour in Mondstadt was always lively. Sara was busy darting between tables, taking orders and delivering plates with practiced speed.
Luckily, a table had just been cleared.
They sat down immediately.
Klee ordered her favorite fish dishes without hesitation, but Elios added vegetables to the order with the quiet authority of a parent who had fought this battle a thousand times.
Eula, meanwhile, ordered the same dishes as Elios—then proceeded to inquire, in the most casual voice she could manage, about his favorite foods.
She listened carefully, storing every answer like it was tactical intelligence.
The three of them ate in a harmony so warm that a stranger could easily mistake them for family.
For several minutes, everything was peaceful.
Then suddenly, the world shifted.
The clear sky outside darkened unnaturally fast. Clouds rolled in as if dragged by invisible hands, gathering into a thick, stormy ceiling above Mondstadt.
The air grew heavy.
Then—
ROAR.
A massive roar tore through the city, rattling windows and making plates tremble.
Every heart in Mondstadt seemed to recognize that sound instantly.
Stormterror.
Elios' eyes narrowed slightly.
'So they chose to move this fast,' he noted. 'Well. Fine by me. The sooner, the better.'
He stayed absorbed in his thoughts for a bit, thinking about how to take Dvalin down in the most painless way, then when he tried to stand, he felt a small tug at his sleeve.
Klee looked up at him, worry obvious in her eyes.
That tiny expression stabbed him harder than any blade.
'Damn it. I hesitated' he cursed himself. 'I now worried her.'
He crouched to her level and wrapped her into a firm, warm hug.
"Don't worry, little Klee," he said softly. "Papa is the strongest. I'll handle the big baddie and come right back. Okay?"
Klee's worry wavered… then she nodded hard.
"Yes~! I know Papa's the strongest~!"
Elios rose and turned to Eula.
"Eula. Please take care of Klee."
Eula straightened immediately. "Okay. Be careful…Tea- Elios."
He nodded once.
Then he walked away from their table.
And in the next instant..
He bent his knees, muscles bulged noticeably.
The floor cracked faintly beneath the pressure of the motion alone. Heat shimmered at his feet—Pyro energy condensed at the soles like an invisible engine.
Then—
He jumped.
Not a normal leap.
He launched upward like a cannon shot, vanishing from the streets so fast that most people only saw a blur and a gust of heated air.
One moment he was in Mondstadt.
The next, he was in the sky—level with the dragon.
Stormterror's enormous form cut through the storm clouds, wings beating with violent wind. Dvalin barely had time to register the intrusion before Elios was already moving again.
A burst of Pyro at his back—another mid-air propulsion—and Elios shot straight toward the dragon's back.
He landed with a heavy thud that would've shattered a normal creature's spine.
Then his hand closed around the dragon's tail.
Elios' grip tightened.
His muscles flexed.
And with pure physical force—no elemental flourish, no dramatic technique—he yanked.
Dvalin's body lurched sideways mid-flight.
The dragon's wings flailed, trying to correct.
Elios didn't allow it.
He pivoted in mid-air, twisted his core like an executioner swinging a chain, and hurled the dragon downward.
Dvalin slammed into the land outside the city with a thunderous impact.
BOOM.
The shockwave rolled outward, rattling Mondstadt's walls and making birds explode out of trees in panicked swarms.
But the storm did not recede.
If anything, it thickened—wrath gathering in the clouds like a living thing.
Dvalin stirred, furious, struggling to rise and reclaim the sky as his domain.
Then—
A second impact landed beside him.
Elios dropped like a meteor, striking the ground hard enough to crater it.
Dust and wind blasted outward.
He stood as the air settled, his expression calm—almost merciful.
"Stay still," Elios said quietly, voice carrying like a blade. "I'll make it as painless as possible. You'll return to your senses soon enough."
His hand opened.
A greatsword appeared as if pulled from sunlight itself—materializing into his grip with a weighty presence.
Elios moved.
One heartbeat.
He was in front of the dragon.
The next heartbeat—
His sword was already swinging.
The blade ignited with a strange flame—golden and white, like the Sun condensed into a weapon. It looked like Pyro… but more refined. More potent. A heat that didn't simply burn—it judged.
His target wasn't Dvalin's flesh.
It was the jagged spikes embedded in the dragon's body—corrupted clots of Abyssal filth.
The sword cut through them like butter.
The golden flame followed the cut, hunting down Abyssal energy like a starving predator.
And yet—
Not a single strand of Dvalin's true body was harmed.
The flame devoured only the corruption, ignoring everything else as if it did not exist.
Dvalin convulsed once, wings trembling.
Then… something strange happened.
Warmth spread through his body.
Not pain.
Not agony.
Warmth—like slipping into a hot bath after years of freezing.
Like returning to the earth's embrace.
For a brief, hazy moment, Dvalin thought:
'..is this death?'
But the flame passed.
It vanished as swiftly as it came.
And in its wake—
The heaviness in his mind lifted.
The fog peeled away.
The screaming, gnawing corruption… loosened.
Dvalin's connection to the wind strengthened again—deeper, cleaner, like a bond restored rather than newly formed.
His thoughts sharpened.
The world snapped into focus.
And finally—
Dvalin regained awareness.
______________
Author's Note:
Hi there, I hope today's chapter was to your liking, I know some may think it's anticlimactic, but I can't really write a more exciting scene with the difference in power between MC and Dvalin, Dvalin may be a dragon but he's still a kid in their terms, and he's not even a Sovereign, So it's reasonable for MC with his current strength to overwhelm it.
Another reason it may seem rushed is because I don't really want to keep the story in Mond for too long, nothing much is interesting aside from ambushing Lumine and her goons which is going to happen in the upcoming chapters.
There's also the initial contact between MC and Aether.
And then lastly in Mond volume, the progression in the relationship between MC and Eula. Yeah, only Eula, mainly because, she's more courageous than Jean in that regard, and Jean always prioritizes her work before her private life so it's impossible for the current her to take initiative.
Now that we're on that topic I have to explain something about MC. Some of you may think he's some Beta male like Aether (lol, I know it's cause genshin is +12), for not taking initiative on Eula and Jean despite them showing obvious interest in him. But that's only because he knew them since they were children and witnessed their growth, he holds more of familial affection to them like they're children to him, that's why transition to seeing them as female would take time and effort on their part, which Eula would prove soon, not in Jean's case anytime soon unfortunately.
Now if it was another woman that showed obvious interest in him and dropped hints (like they do all time), and if he also likes that woman, then he won't hesitate to claim her.
Yeah, you read that right, MC isn't some monogamous male, he doesn't hesitate to keep those he likes closer to him, and well it's not like Alice and Nicole would stop him from that either.
RIP Aether.. Sorry but this time not all females would be willing to wait for you to man up.. If you don't then even Mizuki and Ayaka.. Oops.. Anyway..
All in all, I hope this ff was a fun read for you until now, I'll keep my efforts to cook better, so .. stay tuned and drop those power stones to support me hehe.