Although that level of falling didn't really affect Tian An, it was still inevitably a bit embarrassing.
Ascalon, one of the famous heads of the 'Aiter' fan club, once said, "Her Highness is Her Highness, she too can trip on her skirt and fall."
If even Her Highness has tripped and fallen, then it's perfectly excusable for me.
"Are you okay?" Although Seele really wanted to retort, she still extended her hand.
"I'm fine." Taking Seele's hand, Tian An stood up again. She patted down her dress, only to find there wasn't any dust.
"Be more careful next time you walk. You were quite reliable during the fight," Seele had just been thinking about how appearances can be deceiving.
Tian An chuckled awkwardly and followed Seele out from inside. Coming towards them was Clara, who had been gazing in their direction the whole time.
Seeing the two, Clara's eyes brightened considerably.
"Clara, is everyone alright?" Seele walked over and began chatting with Clara.
Tian An, meanwhile, went over to the rows of injured, starting to carefully examine their wounds for any strange phenomena.
After all, she didn't dare gamble that Originium wouldn't have some "chemical reaction" with other races.
Fortunately, after checking everyone, there was nothing abnormal.
"Natasha," Tian An found Natasha, who was busy bandaging someone.
"What is it?" Natasha wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied.
"If the wounds of these injured people show any abnormalities, please be sure to tell me." Tian An originally wanted to use her abilities directly, but considering Teacher Te was still silent, she could only inform Natasha.
Natasha had some questions, but due to the pressing matters at hand, she simply nodded.
Originium Slugs, products of the legendary Catastrophe continent, suddenly appearing in the mines of Belobog's Underworld... no matter how you think about it, it feels outrageous.
Hopefully, things like 'paperweights' won't start showing up when we get to the Xianzhou.
Tian An felt her perception abilities growing stronger. Now, she could even sense the panicked emotions of some people nearby.
Though she couldn't reach deeper levels, like why they were panicked.
"Mm.... this one is nervousness..."
This one is sadness.
This one is anger.
This one is.... release?
A tide of diverse emotions rushed towards her. Tian An quickly shut down her perception.
Too scary, emotions are.
"Hey, your name is Theresia, right?" Seele walked up from behind her.
"Hm? Yes."
This one is curiosity.
"Are you really not from the Overworld?" Seele asked, somewhat shaken. Her gaze kept drifting towards Clara over there.
"Of course, I wouldn't lie. I'm an extraterrestrial visitor. Soon, others like me should arrive here too." Tian An calculated the time. If her sudden disappearance hadn't affected the Express crew's itinerary, they should be "packaged" and brought back by Sampo soon enough.
Seele was half-convinced, half-skeptical, but she did recall seeing that azure sky during her visit as a child.
"Forget it. Seeing as you haven't done anything bad and even helped us, I'll tentatively believe you for now," Seele said, tilting her head.
"However!" Big Sis, can't you just say everything at once....
"You still haven't told us your purpose."
"Purpose? The purpose is the Stellaron," Tian An replied.
"Stellaron? What the heck is that?" Seele had only heard of apple cores, what the heck was a star core?
Stab the Stellaron Spirit and it becomes a Stellaron (not really).
"It's something that brings disaster. It destroys civilizations, invites calamities," Tian An explained.
"So you came down from the sky for it?"
"Not me."
"I was forcibly teleported here."
"....."
"Big Sister Theresia..." Clara tugged at Tian An's white skirt, looking exactly like an aggrieved little girl wanting a hug from her parent.
"What is it, Clara?" Tian An crouched down and asked softly.
"That big brother over there, at the edge of the crowd, seems a bit off," Clara pointed to a figure trembling slightly at the back.
"I'll go check. You two stay here," Seele, knowing the situation with the mine workers, took the task upon herself.
Seeing this, Tian An didn't say anything further.
"Clara, what's wrong?" Tian An noticed Clara kept looking at her.
"Mm? Nothing, nothing," she said, but Clara's eyes started darting around everywhere, not looking like "nothing" at all.
"Hey, aren't you Clara's mom?" A woman walking over from afar spotted them instantly and shouted loudly.
In an instant, all eyes turned towards Tian An and Clara.
"Huh?" Tian An looked over and saw it was the woman who had been scolding her own child earlier.
"Clara's mom?...." People in the surroundings began to murmur, seemingly very interested in this topic.
"Ah?" Clara was completely stunned by the sudden topic, her little face flushing red.
Before Tian An could refute them one by one, the mini Originium Slug in her pocket started acting up. It tried to climb out, but its body was too small, making its efforts futile.
Tian An took the restless little thing out and noticed it kept bouncing towards a specific spot.
"What are you trying to tell me?" Tian An looked in the direction the simple lines were pointing, only seeing some falling snowflakes.
"Could it be...." Tian An couldn't care about being a mom or not anymore. She quickly dashed off in pursuit, disappearing from everyone's sight in moments.
"She ran away?" People in the crowd started questioning. Just as they were about to get rowdy again, Seele shouted, silencing the discussions.
"Alright! Where do they even look alike? Stop spreading rumors here," Seele glanced in the direction Tian An had left. Although she faintly felt something watching her, she figured it probably wasn't her business.
"Does anyone know why these bugs attacked you?" Seele shouted loudly.
Under Seele's call, soon someone raised their hand.
"Me! I know!" It was the 'released' fellow. Seele felt he looked familiar, and upon closer inspection, realized it was the one she had bumped into earlier.
"We saw those bugs at the lowest level of the mine. We saw them moving towards the ore veins, so we wanted to get a closer look. Then some troublemaker came up and stomped the smallest bug to death."
"That's not right, weren't you going to the toilet?" someone questioned.
"My friend told me. That biggest bug saw the smallest one get stomped, so it just ate all the smaller ones itself, became huge, and started attacking us."
Seele glanced at Natasha. After getting her approval, she addressed the workers.
"We need to temporarily seal off parts of the mining area. You should all go back and rest first."
"S-seal it off? No way! I-I-I need to fight!" A man rushed forward excitedly.
"You need to fight? Why?"
"His wallet is still inside."
"What's that? My wife is still inside...."
"Wait, my wife! My wife is still inside!"