Taking over the Abyss

70- The Fitness Gram Pacer Test

Albedo called you into the Knights of Favonius headquarters not too long after giving you the Dodocommunication device. Unsure what to expect, you had brought Leiptr along with you at his own insistence. After learning about the whole Durin thing, and wary of you potentially visiting Dragonspine again, he'd made it clear to you that he didn't trust Albedo.

Given that you had no reason to distrust either man, you brought Leiptr along and figured you'd insist your way through any potential troubles. Thankfully, Albedo had all but ignored Leiptr's presence in favor of focusing his attention on you. "... I would have preferred if the entirety of our force related to the Durin situation could've met together, but it simply isn't worth any humans Durin has affected becoming suspicious."

"Did you find something interesting?" You asked him, nothing several glass vials on his desk that weren't there a week ago.

Although he noticed you glance at the vials, Albedo didn't make any mention of them in favor of explaining what had happened, "Yes. While investigating the areas around Durin's remains, I discovered the unconscious bodies of the Fatui soldiers stationed nearby. The Knights were able to recover them, but none of them have woken up. Strangely, none of them suffered any frostbite."

"At least they're all alive." You felt a twinge of sympathy for the stationed soldiers. They'd been kind enough to you when you were discovered by them. "I'm guessing it's Durin's influence that kept from suffering frostbite."

"That's correct. They built their camp extremely close to Durin's heart, likely for some kind of experiment. All of them had fallen under Durin's influence once his activity began to pick up," Albedo said. He finally acknowledged the vials, bringing them closer to you so you could get a better look, "Sucrose and I took some blood samples from some of the soldiers in order to compare it to that of a person we could prove wasn't under the influence of Durin, as well as some of the samples that the Fatui had taken directly from the flesh around Durin's heart. If possible, I'd like to ask your permission to take a sample from you as well."

You tried to hide the brief discomfort at the idea. Gold had wanted the same thing. Though her intentions were much more unknown than Albedo's. Picking up on your shift in mood quickly, Leiptr stepped in, glaring down at Albedo, "Remember your place in front of Her Majesty, worm. I won't allow you to use her goodwill to conduct experiments."

"Leiptr, it's alright," you smiled at your butler, who promptly calmed down. Though open to considering Albedo's request, you had some questions of your own, "may I ask what you need it for?"

"I wanted to test if your blood had any special properties relating to Durin." He answered you honestly, taking your concerns seriously. "More specifically, the samples we took from the soldiers all had an unknown toxin that an ordinary human doesn't. I want to see if your blood can neutralize that toxin, given Durin's method of saving your life. If you do have such properties, we could synthesize something similar as a possible treatment for people who are affected by Durin's power. But do tell me if the idea makes you uncomfortable. I don't mean to pressure you."

"That makes sense," you felt comforted by the fact that Albedo, despite his interest and personal stake in this whole thing, wouldn't do anything without your explicit permission. Considering his request, you found yourself open to the idea, "if it would help them, then I don't mind. I'm actually curious about it myself."

A small smile crossed Albedo's face, "Thank you. I appreciate your willingness to work with me."

While Albedo quickly moved to set things up to take a sample of your blood, you waited patiently. Helping the people of Mondstadt who were affected by Durin was as much a priority as helping the dragon himself. As for saving his own life, the answer seemed pretty simple to you, "Albedo. Would it be possible to create a body for Durin?"