The next morning's training session stretched on until noon. According to Lumine, Victor Wang's performance could now be considered passable.
"So, this is enough to dodge the Cryo Regisvine's attacks? It doesn't feel like it."
"That just means you're still lacking a sense of danger! How about this—we raise the Mora penalty for getting hit to a hundred thousand? That'll definitely help you realize just how close you're brushing past death!"
They'd only collected fifty thousand Mora all morning, and Paimon was clearly displeased.
"One hundred thousand Mora?" Victor Wang scratched his head. Even with eight digits in savings, a poor performance could bankrupt him on the spot.
Lumine quickly intervened. "Alright, alright. You've practiced enough for the Cryo Regisvine. Please don't start resenting Paimon. Your Mora's all here, returned safe and sound now that training's over."
She conjured a pouch of coins and pushed it in front of Victor Wang.
"Huh? It's really over? Wasn't my acting super convincing?" Paimon floated about, fishing for praise.
"Mm, couldn't have been more convincing." Lumine patted Paimon's head.
"You guys… I'm getting emotional over here!"
"If you knew from the start that you'd get your Mora back, it wouldn't have worked, right? That whole idea was mine!" Paimon placed her hands on her hips and closed her eyes proudly, chin practically pointed at the sky.
"If I'd known, I should've just handed over the full hundred thousand from the beginning. I probably would've improved even faster."
Paimon's eyes widened. "You really have that much Mora? If there's a next time, I'm really not giving it back, you know?"
Victor Wang turned his head away, muttering, "Then… maybe let's not do that."
"Stare~!"
"Alright, alright, let's get to the final part of the training," Lumine cut off Paimon's death glare.
"Wait, I thought it was over?"
"My part is over. Next, it's up to Teacher Cryo Regisvine. You're good with that, right?"
"A mock exam? If Teacher Lumine says I'm ready, then I must be! Let's go!"
When the three arrived, it was precisely 1PM—when the sun was at its brightest.
Yet the Cryo Regisvine's domain felt like an entirely different world.
At its outer edge, the terrain was lined with dark blue, crystal-like ice that resembled magical ore, with pale blue frozen grass inexplicably surviving in this frigid environment.
Further in was a field patterned like ancient coins—round on the outside, square in the center. The ground bore blotchy traces of ice and snow that resembled salt stains, impossible to scrub clean. A faint mist hung suspended in the air, unbothered by the blazing sunlight overhead.
The mist was thin, offering no visual obstruction. It certainly didn't hide the central figure of the domain—the Cryo Regisvine itself.
While not as deeply linked to ley lines as the Elemental Hypostases, its massive size—nurtured from a Cryo Whopperflower or Mist Flower—meant the location itself was undoubtedly a unique leyline node.
That didn't need much explaining. One glance was enough to see it: frostlike Cryo elemental veins stretching not just across the surrounding stones and dead trees bearing bird nests, but even to the twisted branches protruding near Victor Wang's current perch, over twenty meters above the arena.
Even the chill that crept up from below, defying the midday sun, was enough to almost trigger Victor Wang's chronic cold knee.
"This place feels colder than Dragonspine."
"Pretty much."
The three descended, watching as the Cryo Regisvine, once seemingly man-sized from above, now expanded into a five-meter tall frost-laden blossom.
"You two stay here. I'll demonstrate how to dodge its attacks."
Lumine positioned Victor Wang and Paimon behind a large boulder, then approached the Regisvine alone.
Sensing a living presence, the Cryo Regisvine instantly bloomed, expanding to a full ten meters in height. Four snowflake-shaped petals swayed gently, while two vine-like filaments tipped with crystalline thorns extended like arms.
Against Lumine, its first move was to spray ice beams from both arms, drawing an 'X' over where she had stood.
Homing icicles, faceplants, spins, blizzards—it cycled through its entire attack pattern, yet failed to even graze Lumine's coat. It kept attacking tirelessly, not the brightest creature, clearly.
Lumine finally withdrew behind a stone outcrop.
Once it could no longer see its target, the Regisvine calmed down and retracted.
"Victor, you're up."
Gulp.
Victor Wang swallowed hard. Compared to the Cryo Regisvine, he was like Don Quixote facing a windmill—except the windmill didn't wish him any harm, while the Regisvine earnestly wanted to kill him.
Why was this thing so huge?
In-game, from a third-person view, it never seemed intimidating. But standing before it now… it was three stories tall!
Three stories! Even the massive Snowboar King they fought with a party of four was only half as tall!
Even its thinnest "neck" was broader than his shoulders, and those four outstretched petals measured 6 by 6 meters—getting hit by one would surely be fatal.
Damn it! If I can't even muster this much courage, how am I supposed to defy fate?
Under Lumine and Paimon's gaze, Victor Wang stepped out from behind the boulder, face steeled.
Tap.
Tap.
The only sound in the world was the tread of his adventurer boots on frozen ground. He exhaled sharply, a cloud of mist forming in the frigid air.
Thank the Archons this place dispersed heat well—otherwise his internal power core might've overheated…
'Don Quixote' drew his sword against the 'windmill', though the blade muttered, 'You're shaking…'
Shing!
Remembering this was just a dodging drill, Victor Wang sheathed the Wentian Sword again.
"You fiend, I'll spare your life today!"
The fiend, however, remained asleep.
Fear of colossal creatures was instinctual—size often signified absolute strength in nature.
Great white sharks, tyrannosaurs, blue whales, titans… no one's afraid watching them on a screen, but facing them in person? Who wouldn't fear?
Victor Wang may have gained extraordinary power, but like how he still struggled with killing Treasure Hoarders or Fatui, his heart didn't grow up among monsters in Teyvat. He hadn't crossed the stars like Lumine either.
To build a warrior's heart, one must keep pushing forward—whether by force or by choice.
Fortunately, fear and courage aren't always opposites. Even trembling, if you pick up a blade and strike back, that is courage.
Victor Wang finally stepped into the Regisvine's activation range.
"Its real attack range is limited! Stick to training and you'll be fine!" Lumine shouted from afar.
"You got this!" Paimon cheered.
Victor Wang raised his right elbow level with his shoulder, clenched his fist, forearm pointing up.
Calm resolve.
"Here I go!"
The Cryo Regisvine lunged with a headbutt, followed by three jagged ice blades racing across the ground, each two meters wide.
Dodging had no invincibility frames. You either started in a safe zone or predicted the attack's blind spots—those gaps between the blades.
Victor Wang pushed off with his left foot, raised his right leg, and sidestepped—successfully avoiding the first blade.
But the onslaught continued—three-hit combo!
"Muda muda muda!" Victor Wang sidestepped left and right, dodging all three in quick succession.
Next, sweeping ice beams—crossed beams meant sidestep, parallel beams meant moving forward or back. If you read the wind-up, it was the simplest attack to dodge.
"Pattern reading is my specialty!"
Dodge patterns weren't fixed, but the Regisvine's attacks were.
Homing icicles veered sharply just before impact—outrunning them was easy, but don't let yourself get cornered by the next wave.
Blizzards covered wide areas, and left behind Cryo zones that would slow movement.
"I paid a lot of Mora to learn this one!"
He leapt high to avoid the blast. Unlike Lumine, the sluggish Regisvine never adapted—just repeated its sweeping motion.
"All that aerial dodge training's going to waste."
At four meters in the air, Victor Wang suddenly felt—the Regisvine wasn't so intimidating after all.
"I need to close in on the core to strike. I can't just keep dodging."
Upon landing, he seized the moment—while the Regisvine was still repositioning its head—and unleashed Gale Blade at its spherical root core. Wind blades sheared into the ice, slightly dimming its energy.
At last, the Regisvine had him in reach. Its stem coiled, petals adjusted to his height, and shards of frost whirled furiously in a deadly spin.
But Victor Wang had already kicked off the ground, propelling himself out of range.
Flexing his limbs, the tension from facing a giant enemy faded.
Because now he knew—its attacks might cover a wide area, but he could dodge all of them.
All those flashy moves you only saw in movies? With elemental power, they were possible. He just never needed such dramatic motions against humanoid foes.
Still, with caution, he ran through the Regisvine's attack cycle twice more, then flipped backward several times to exit its domain.
"So, does that count as passing the mock exam?"
"You did even better than during training. You've got real combat talent."
"Really?"
"Mm." Lumine nodded without hesitation.
He now had the means to inflict damage and evade danger—all that remained was the will to act.