Collei had suffered from the withering sickness when she was very young.
Her parents took her everywhere seeking treatment for her illness, so Collei naturally never had the chance to learn to read.
Later, Collei became an experimental subject for the Fatui.
After the Fatui laboratory she was in was accidentally destroyed, Collei embarked on a journey of wandering and revenge.
In the process of Collei's growth, she never had the opportunity to acquire knowledge.
So it was understandable that Collei currently couldn't read a single character.
However, it wasn't a big issue. Collei was diligent in her studies and serious in her attitude. Most importantly, she had a group of enthusiastic and sincere friends here to help her. Collei would definitely catch up with her peers.
Seeing Collei's ashamed expression, Amber quickly comforted her:
"It's okay, Collei."
"Everyone here and I will help you."
"Mm!"
Collei wasn't as dejected as one might have imagined and could calmly admit her illiteracy.
Due to the withering sickness, Collei was covered in bandages. Because of this, during her travels, she was often mistaken for having a contagious disease and subjected to all sorts of scorn.
If Collei's spirit wasn't strong enough, she wouldn't have managed to endure until now.
To Collei, it didn't matter how those passersby viewed her.
Instead, being able to use the opportunity to learn the common script of the Teyvat continent to spend more time with Amber and the others made Collei very happy.
Seeing that Collei truly didn't mind, Amber breathed a sigh of relief.
She quickly changed the topic.
"Right, this document here is a disciplinary notice."
Collei: "A disciplinary notice?"
Amber looked at Collei's confused expression and nodded with a smile.
"That's right. Because of yesterday's battle, the terrain at Starsnatch Cliff was damaged, so the Knights of Favonius have ordered us to restore the terrain of Starsnatch Cliff."
Collei instantly remembered that during the fight with the Missionary, she had used an elemental potion, which cost her all her savings, to set up a trap at the top of Starsnatch Cliff.
Although the trap ultimately didn't activate, it had blasted a huge pit into Starsnatch Cliff.
Seeing Collei's look of sudden realization, Amber explained with a smile:
"When I received this disciplinary notice this morning, I was also very surprised."
"After all, when clearing out the Hilichurl camps before, I used my bow to detonate explosive barrels, causing quite a bit of destruction, but the Knights of Favonius didn't make me restore the damaged environment."
Saying this, Amber playfully stuck out her tongue.
This made Collei momentarily stunned.
"However, according to Acting Grand Master Jean, Starsnatch Cliff is an important tourist attraction in Mondstadt."
"Many locals and tourists from outside Mondstadt visit there every day."
"The Knights of Favonius even specifically dispatched knights to guard the area and protect the safety of Starsnatch Cliff."
"So, the disciplinary notice issued by the Knights of Favonius doesn't seem that surprising."
Hearing Amber's explanation, Collei also nodded in agreement and accepted the punishment.
It was just like fighting within Mondstadt City: not only did one have to repair the damage caused, but they also faced fines and confinement.
Collei felt the punishment from the Knights of Favonius was very fair.
Collei took the disciplinary notice, smiled at Amber, and said:
"I understand, brave Outrider. I accept the punishment!"
Amber thumped her chest:
"This punishment isn't just for you."
"Star, you can't escape it either."
Star, who had been clinging affectionately to Eula, suddenly froze. Eula took the opportunity to let go of Star.
Star pointed at himself, shocked: "Ah? Me!"
Amber put her hands on her hips, tilting her head proudly:
"That's right. I and Eula will be responsible for supervising the entire process of your and Collei's punishment!"
"Star, don't even think about slacking off!"
Star immediately stood straight and saluted:
"Yes!"
"Outrider!"
"I, the galaxy bat hero, guarantee mission completion."
...
...
The group soon arrived at the summit of Starsnatch Cliff.
Among the four—Star, Amber, Eula, and Collei—Collei was the weakest in strength, but with the help of the demon god remnant, Collei's travel speed wasn't slow.
"This must be where the battle took place, right?"
Eula exclaimed as she looked at the deep pit, tens of meters wide, before them.
"No wonder the Knights of Favonius take this place so seriously; there's so much residual element energy here."
Inside the deep pit created by the explosion of the elemental potion, mists of different kinds of elements gathered and drifted with the wind, occasionally colliding to trigger violent elemental reactions.
On the Teyvat continent, Elemental Power is toxic to ordinary people.
Given the concentration of residual Elemental Power in this pit, ordinary people without a Vision couldn't approach within at least tens of meters, or they might get hurt.
Star stared wide-eyed at the Elemental Power at the bottom of the pit.
The Elemental Power was so dense that it could be observed with the naked eye, even without using Elemental Sight.
Star exclaimed:
"Collei, just how many elemental potions did you use yesterday?"
Collei smiled faintly, very calmly:
"Not many, just a few dozen, that's all."
Although she appeared calm on the surface, Collei felt a pang of heartache thinking that the trap she set up using all her savings of elemental potions hadn't even been used.
That was Mora she had painstakingly saved up for a long time.
"Dozens!!!"
"Rich girl, I'm hungry, feed me!"
Star immediately hugged Collei's leg and started begging to be kept.
In reality, elemental potions were very expensive on the Teyvat continent.
But there was a reason why they were so popular despite their high price.
Firstly, elemental potions had immense power and could be used by anyone, serving as a trump card in critical moments.
Secondly, the materials required to make elemental potions were indeed precious.
An elemental potion was essentially a simple, highly concentrated form of Elemental Power.
To create an elemental potion, one had to extract Elemental Power from materials rich in it and then condense it. These materials, whether they were the corpses of monsters or Elemental Power voluntarily provided by Vision holders, were not cheap.
Finally, the process of making elemental potions was very dangerous.
Different types of Elemental Power had different temperaments, much like how the Pyro Element and Electro Element were both volatile.
Regardless of the element, the process of extracting and condensing Elemental Power was perilous, and both steps required technical skill, which was not something ordinary people could learn.
Therefore, it wasn't hard to understand why elemental potions were so costly.
In fact, many Vision holders would attempt to make elemental potions when they were short on Mora.
Furthermore, most of the elemental potions circulating on the black market were made by alchemists from the Treasure Hoarders. While these low-quality elemental potions were much cheaper than genuine ones,
their quality and stability were significantly compromised, and even sudden explosions were not impossible.
Looking at Star clinging to her leg, Collei explained helplessly:
"Of those dozens of elemental potions, more than half were snatched from the Treasure Hoarders."
"And I used all my Mora to buy elemental potions, so I don't have a single Mora left."
"Oh!"
Hearing Collei say this, Star decisively let go, stood up, dusted off her clothes, and pretended to be unconcerned.
In reality, she was secretly delighted:
"Hehe, Collei's leg is also very nice to hold."
"I hit the jackpot~~"
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