The next morning, Lovia woke up to a faint headache and a lingering sense of weakness.
The early morning sunlight spilled through the cracks in the window. It was soft, but to her, it felt a bit piercing. She curled up under the covers, carefully assessing her physical condition. As for the "friend" craving she felt at her most vulnerable last night, she had temporarily put it out of her mind.
Hmm... her body seemed a little better than at its worst last night?
At least the chill that felt like it would freeze her soul had weakened slightly, but she was still burning up while feeling cold. Her limbs were sore and weak, yet she seemed to have regained a sliver of strength, enough so that she wouldn't be completely limp when getting out of bed.
"Is it thanks to the ores?" Lovia muttered softly, reaching for the small cloth bag by her pillow. She pinched another small piece of ore and put it in her mouth, sucking on it slowly like a piece of candy.
Only then did it occur to her—last night, she didn't seem to have given Xingqiu any money?!
Had she made Xingqiu spend money on her again? And she had just been making up stories about him not long ago... she felt more than a little embarrassed. While her mind wandered, Lovia gnawed on the ore. Wisps of weak elemental energy merged into her body, bringing a slight soothing effect, but it seemed... to only treat the symptoms, not the cause. The speed of energy replenishment was far slower than the mysterious rate of "loss."
Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, she began to strain her "knowledge reserves" regarding Melusines.
Most of it came from the vague lore of the game, while a small portion came from the residual instinctive memories (instinctive cravings) of this body.
Melusines... a strange race of the sea... the children of Elynas... the sea? hydro element?
Lovia's eyes lit up slightly.
Right! The hydro element! Melusines should be more attuned to Hydro! Yesterday, she was only thinking about eating, neglecting the most fundamental environment of her own race.
She sat up abruptly (though the movement caused another bout of dizziness), and a bold hypothesis emerged.
Could it be... that this wasn't an illness, but something akin to dehydration or elemental environmental maladaptation?
The more Lovia thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Staying on land and living in a small shack all the time—even if she was used to it—long-term isolation from a Hydro-rich environment had caused this "unfamiliar climate" type of weakness!
This thought instantly excited her. Having found the cause and the solution, the next step was treatment.
"So, soak in seawater! Go for a dip in the ocean!" Lovia almost wanted to applaud her own cleverness. "Seawater is rich in Hydro; it's bound to be more direct and effective than eating ores to replenish energy!"
A vision immediately appeared in her mind: she was swimming happily in the sea, surrounded by dense Hydro energy that nourished every inch of her skin like a warm embrace, while all her weakness and discomfort were washed away by the cool seawater... "Exactly! That's it!" Lovia suddenly felt energized and struggled to climb out of bed.
Although her body was still very uncomfortable, having a clear goal and hope brought back much of her drive. She changed into her swimsuit (silently praying she wouldn't run into anyone she knew), took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.
When her feet stepped into the cool seawater not far from the small shack, an indescribable sense of comfort instantly spread up from the soles of her feet!
"It's working!" Lovia was overjoyed.
She impatiently took a few more steps, letting the seawater submerge her knees, then her waist. The icy seawater enveloped her burning skin; it wasn't a shock, but a gentle soaking, as if parched land had finally received a sweet rain.
She walked a few more steps and then slowly submerged to the seabed. Though she still lacked strength, being in the water was far less taxing than being on land. She swam until she reached a fairly deep spot before closing her eyes, trying to relax her body and feel the comfort brought by the sea.
Gradually, perhaps as her body's instincts were awakened, she vaguely felt wisps of cool energy beginning to permeate through her skin and slowly seep into her body.
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