ʜᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʙɪᴛᴇ (ʜᴇ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛꜱ ʜɪʟᴀʀɪᴏᴜꜱ)
Mahino tak update na karke... लेखक ne apni aukat dikha di.
"Good morning Diluc" comes your greeting as you settle on the dinette, a few chairs away from him. Not necessarily out of choice, but oh well, this one is nearer. He replies with 'morning' himself, but you are far too deep in your thoughts to pay attention.
Ah yes, seven or eight in the morning, the perfect time to introspect things through... not that what you were doing was overthinking in any shape or form. But you are still trying to wrap your mind around the fact that you've lost all your relevant progress. While simultaneously trying to figure out a way to explain the unfathomable amount of Mora you have at your disposal now... should anyone ask.
You don't actually have to tell anyone, right?
Yeah, that seems unnecessary...not to mention asshole-ish, because lo-and-behold, poverty did exist here. Just one night ago you were broke yourself but right now you do feel like you've cheated a bit. Was any of it fair? No. Were you justified in it? Absolutely. Did it really change anything? Mayhaps. It's not like you had stolen or deprived anyone of anything.
In fact, you were more or less the same. You were just... rich now.
But you are unable to sink deeper into your thoughts as a loud enough call of your name jerks you back to reality. The source of said call being the one and only Diluc Ragnvindr himself.
"What's up?" you ask, putting on a casual enough demeanor. And the man gives you a look that can be described as inquisitive... or very subtly as what the fuck is up with you?
Again, subtly
"Your breakfast... it's getting cold." he reamarked flatly enough
But for you the sentence not only works as enlightenment but also as a command as immediately you look down at the table and find in front of you an exquisite plate of pancakes.
Part of you wants to be annoying and act all shocked and bewildered just to get a reaction out of him, but you refrain. You do, however, try and act nonchalant about it as you grab the fork and begin eating.
He watches you eat for several seconds before turning back to his own serving.
Despite the seemingly impossible escapade that he went on with you, it would be a lie to say that Diluc knew how to interact with you. You went from being a strange traveler with an odd ability to someone with quite possibly abyssal links. The latter, however, remains only a speculative possibility on his part as his mind scrambles for an explanation, for anything at all that could give a hint as to who or what you were.
You said you were from a place far far away, just how far off now he wonders. You also mentioned that you were just 'discovering things' for yourself. Perhaps not quite openly though, but the point still stands.
You were not some random traveler who just so happens to have the ability to empower vision-wielders.
"Have you had a chance to use it?" you ask out of the blue, breaking him off from his thoughts. Elbows resting on the table surface, your chin resting upon one of your palms, as you gave him an inquisitive look.
"The sword you mean?" he confirms
"What else?" comes your cheeky response, to which he gives a flat stare. You merely hold your hands up in surrender as a reply.
He sighs.
"No"
A one-syllable simple response, but you frown regardless.
"Come on... really? Not even once? No slime or hillichurl has been unfortunate to come across you?"
"I've had it for just one day" he reminds you
And unknownst to both of you, Kaeya's remonstrate from the dock incident had also put the knights on the edge.
Mondstadt was up for some delightfully uneventful days.
"That's fair..." you trail off.
A comfortable silence lapses between the two of you until finally, you decide it is time to break it again.
"It matches your color scheme, you know?"
Diluc doesn't even look at you as he replies, focusing on his plate of pancakes.
"And I certainly hope that this wasn't the reason that you insisted upon this claymore in particular."
"Well...it may have influenced my selection... by at least 20%," you say honestly
"But don't worry... it's a legendary weapon... it would do you good," you add in quick succession. Brushing off his questioning look with a grin and a thumbs up.
Beneath the table you subtly open your system screen as well, making sure to not make any noticeable hand gestures as you access it.
[ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ]>>ᴡᴇᴀᴘᴏɴꜱ,
And there you see it, a visual of Diluc holding Wolves Gravestone.
Wolf's Gravestone
Ascension 0✦
Level 1/20
Base ATK 46
ATK 10.8%
Well...that would have to change.
You quickly checked to see if you had the ascension materials.
Mora...check
Chaos core....558...shit ton of those
Divining scroll...1468...yup more than enough
Fetters of the Dandelion Gladiator....3
Fucking hell
You needed 5 of those green fetters for weapon ascension... and because these were the lowest rarity type...alchemy wouldn't do anything good either.
And without the access to teleport waypoints... you'd have to walk to the domain. You groan internally.
[ᴄᴇᴄɪʟɪᴀ ɢᴀʀᴅᴇɴ...ꜱᴇᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʀꜱᴇ?]
'Resin? Fight? How is any of it going to work now?' you ask internally.
[ʀᴇᴅᴜɴᴅᴀɴᴄʏ ᴅᴇᴛᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ]
[..↺..]
[ʀᴇ-ᴇꜱᴛᴀʙʟɪꜱʜ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴀɪɴ ᴘᴇʀᴍᴀɴᴇɴᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴇꜱꜱ]
And the map window opens up, pulling up the location of Cecilia garden. The domain icon were rendered grey, of course.
[ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ]
The words glowed enticingly in front of you. And you dismiss the screen and system.
At least some things were going your way.
Sigh
You take the last bite of the pancake, finishing it off, before standing from the chair. The furniture is pushed back into place as you ready yourself to leave.
The raise of his brow is the only indicator you get of his interest and curiosity. And you appreciate the absence of questions thrown your way.
"Catch you later Red"
You voice out with a friendly wave, making your way towards the main door.
[ᴄᴇᴄɪʟɪᴀ ɢᴀʀᴅᴇɴ...ɴᴀᴠɪɢᴀᴛᴇ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛᴇᴅ]
—-------------------------
It wasn't bad, per se.
Walking through the grassy fields was a tranquil stimulus for your walnut that was prone to overthinking. The air was cool and crisp, a soft breeze rustled the blades of grass as they whispered to each other. Puffs of white scattered across the cerulean canvas that all-encompassed you in this wilderness.
Damn
You couldn't even whine about the inconvenience anymore, because right now it seemed worth it. Explore as much as you did from behind the screen. Nothing could come close to the feel of clothes and hair being gently rustled by the wind, or the touch of grass on skin.
This nature walk might have been imposed on you, but it would be a lie to say that it wasn't an experience in itself. Especially for one such as you, in any open-world game you played, you would aimlessly walk around the map for hours. Soaking in the surroundings the main character was in, or just add more pictures to your wallpaper collection.
You took a deep breath and kept walking, articulate and light steps as you made your way across. You passed right by some hillichurls too, and nearly froze up but then got back to your senses when they ignored you and kept walking their way. It was a surreal experience, especially because you knew the truth. Up so close and without the concern of being attacked you watched these creatures walk by, their humanlike stride carrying them further away with every step.
You were hit with a strange pang of grief as you watched them trudge by. The curse of wilderness inlaid upon them. For what? The sin of existence? There was no end or respite from this punishment either, to age to the point of perpetual agony, and then still be denied the reprieve of death. To be forced to exist, grow older and older, and never die and have to deal with the pain, misery, suffering, and endless days and nights.
You wonder what the floating island on the sky thought when it derived and imposed such a cruel retribution.
The trek continued, you taking the longer route as opposed to the one on your map. Logical enough you wanted to get as much as you can and as soon as you could, so the detour of collecting the waypoints in Wolvendom was an easy yes.
You reached the second waypoint and viola! Your destination was... almost there. The path was inlaid and it led straight up to the domain.
The jagged ruins were visible now, broken stairways, hollowed structures, and some pillars that somehow stood the test of time. The anemo elemental monument was up and running and so were the four seelie courts that surrounded it.
Aether had been thought here.
Or maybe it was some other vision holder, you had no idea who and this domain wasn't exactly a conspicuous one...so who knows...and who cares.
You stood right at the end of the stairs as the stony door loomed over you.
Here goes nothing
Immediately at your touch the door activated and furled open, revealing its galaxy-looking interior...but you weren't pulled in... you didn't have to be pulled in.
[ᴄɪᴛʏ ᴏꜰ ʀᴇꜰʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ / ꜱᴜʙᴍᴇʀɢᴇᴅ ᴠᴀʟʟᴇʏ / ʀᴜɪɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪʀꜱᴛɪɴɢ ᴄᴀᴘɪᴛᴀʟꜱ]
[..↺..]
[ᴀᴛᴛᴀɪɴᴇᴅ]
[ᴘᴇʀᴍᴀɴᴇɴᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴇꜱꜱ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ]
Right after that the inventory on the character development items and the Monstand weapon ascension items... no longer had a number underneath them.
You instinctually let out a whistle at that.
"Huh isn't that nice"
You took a step back, and the domain closed itself with a thud. You had gotten what you came here for, a grin grew upon your lips as you thought about ascending the weapon right now... it was bound to change its appearance with ascension and you could surprise Diluc with it.
But then again, you much rather see his reaction live. You closed the screen with a wave.
And immediately in front of you were two hollow golden eyes, you shrieked back as the snout was thrust right in front of your face.
"Son of a bitc- maadercho-" wheeze
You almost fell ass-first on the ground, but then caught yourself with your feet, adjusting a wider stance, the center of gravity going haywire for a second or two, but then eventually stabilized.
You muttered out curses as the rifthound in front of you hovered still, ignorant to the heart attack it just caused. Golden eyes peered at you curiously before giving in again and leaning further into your space as if to sniff you still.
"Ah ah"
You pulled out and pointed your index finger at it, which immediately caught the creature's attention as it backed away once again.
"You scared me to death you little shit"
It shook its head, seeming to contemplate your words for a moment before tilting its head back down at you again. It made a low growling noise in its throat as if questioning why you would even say that. Then it opened its mouth again, this time showing its teeth, or lack there of but it did have sharp fangs protruding out - it appeared to look at you with a mix of amusement and annoyance.
You raised your eyebrows skeptically, "What are you even doing here? This area is far off your usual grounds."
The creature cocked its head again, seemingly considering your question. It seemed like it had nothing but pure curiosity about the whole ordeal.
"Well?" You questioned, feeling more than just slightly ridiculous because you were questioning a damn abyssal hound like it could talk.
Then this fucker had the audacity to scoff, or at least it looked like a scoff the way it puffed away, let out a little sound and took a sharp breath.
"Did you... follow me here or something?" you question incredulously, out of the blue
It looked at you expectantly as it huffed again, looking almost proud of itself for a while there. Then it looked back over at its surroundings, obviously bored, and then turned back around to stare intently at you again, moving its snout towards your hand.
You did a double take over there, moving your gaze back and forth between your palm and the hound.
"What this?" -you raised your hand a bit- "you want my hand?"
It seemed like it agreed somehow because after you held up your left hand, it moved, your palm now touching its forehead. As the hellish beast leaned into your fingers, you watched in confusion and admiration as it closed its hollow golden eyes, rubbing against your fingers.
You could feel the cold contact, the grooves of the marking on its forehead, this cold beast seemed to like the touch of your warm human hand.
This weird ass dog had apparently found you interesting enough to come all the way out here and try to make some weird ass friend.
"You remember me from our previous encounter don't you?"
You said and began to run your fingers through its fur, making it sigh contentedly and lean more onto your hand. It let out a low growling sound and you knew that it was an affirmation.
You sighed
"You are trouble and you should know that."
The Rifthound did not acknowledge that. It had what it wanted and like a damn demanding brat, it continued relishing your pets without a care in the world.
And you took this time to study the creature properly. Its body was bony and sturdy, the only semblance of fur being the mane on its head, which ran from a lighter to a darker shade of medallion, and was strangely soft to touch as your fingers glided through it. Its limbs and tail hovering in tandem with the beast's body as if connected with invisible joints.
Your other hand came to scratch behind its ears... or what you thought were ears. You couldn't tell, but it was pretty cute in a weird sort of way, so you decided to go with it anyway. You reached back and gave it another little scratch behind its ear.
It let out that growling noise again, it seemed to enjoy the gesture,
and when you went back to petting its head, it nuzzled your fingers with its nose.
"Okay, okay, you're kinda cute. I'll give you that"
You said with a little smile and it opened its eyes and looked up at you with a mixture of curiosity and smugness.
That was the end of the interaction between the two of you, however, because it was then interrupted by a loud, urgent shouting followed by a sudden gust of winds.
The two of you whipped around at the noise.
Well not around but rather up because something was gliding down towards you?? You squinted your eyes to make out what it was.
No
Your eyes widened, and you could make out the slight features of a human silhouette. You stood frozen like that for a good few seconds. Then you blinked rapidly a couple of times, and the figure became much clearer and it was indeed a person
Someone was falling, propelled head-first in your direction.
"WATCH OUT"
They yelled out, and you barely reacted to their warning, throwing yourself forward to catch them. The force of the fall knocked the wind out of you but you didn't have the time to dwell on it, instead you quickly caught the person as they landed on you. But as soon as you grabbed them, the force of the fall knocked both of you over and sent you crashing to the ground.
Your eyes closed shut tightly, and you clutched the one who crashed into you tighter. The fall with the added weight plus the additional momentum from the fall velocity, it all came crashing down upon you and you groaned in pain, still clutching onto them.
"Oh shit, oh shit.. I'm sorry! Are you alright?!"
You heard the voice shout out frantically.
You cracked open your eyes, your body sprawled on the ground, turning your head to look up as well as the stranger on top of you.
You recognized him
Bennett
"I should be asking you that, I wasn't the one being hauled around by the winds. Are you alright?" you asked in concern as the boy quickly got up and extended a hand out to help you up.
He was strangely nimble and quick on his feet for someone who fell from god knows how high.
Your side still hurts, but you'll live... you took his hand and got up to your feet.
[ɴᴏ ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀ ɪɴᴊᴜʀɪᴇꜱ ꜱᴜꜱᴛᴀɪɴᴇᴅ]
[ʀᴇᴍɪɴᴅᴇʀ: ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ɪɴꜰʟɪᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ]
[ᴇxᴇʀᴄɪꜱᴇ ᴄᴀᴜᴛɪᴏɴ]
The words flash in front of you and you wave them away in annoyance and sigh, turning towards the boy who stood worried in front of you. His big green eyes were full of guilt as he looked over your form for any damage his fall on you may have caused. He was obviously more worried about you than he was for himself.
"Kid... relax, I'm fine"
You said in a reassuring tone, forcing yourself to not wince and groan in pain anymore.
He looked doubtful but eventually took your word for it, and immediately joined his hands and started apologizing.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me for the crash, I didn't intend to do that, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen..!" he was droning on and on and you put a hand on his shoulder to snap him out of his stupor
"It's okay, I dashed up to catch you anyway," you said in a soft tone.
Bennett's eyes brighten up at that. Words of profuse gratitude are about to leave his mouth but then he spots your previous abyssal companion just hovering behind you, watching the scene with interest.
His eyes widen with both fear and determination as his adventurer's instincts kick in. Guilt ran heavily through his mind and thoughts. You were a stranger and yet you had already cushioned his fall and he was damn sure that it was his unfortunate luck that had lured this creature right here at this very moment.
You had saved him and how was he going to pay you back? By putting you in danger?
He shook his head and fizzled out those negative thoughts, this wasn't the time for self-deprecation. He wasn't about to let someone get hurt because of his bad luck. The boy steeled himself and drew out his sword, vision pulsating with power and the temperature went a few degrees up.
"Listen... I'll distract it and you make a run for it."
Bennett assured out and swiftly dashed past you to be in direct line of sight of the beast.
You stood dumbfounded, your brain lagging for a second or two.
"What?" the expression escaped you.
Bennett could feel the atmosphere become tense and heated, he made sure to stay right in front of you, adamant to take the hound's attention away from you. The creature gave him an empty glance... his hands around the hilt of his sword tightened, his stance was anticipatory and defensive, adrenaline-infused and body tense.
"'I'll be fine, just get far as soon as you can."
You turned around to see him facing your previous canine companion. The creature loomed over him, sizing him up but the white-haired boy stood resolute.
"Wait, hold up no"
You immediately walked over to stand between the two of them, your back towards the Rifthound as you faced Bennett
"Don't... be alarmed by it" you reaffirm "he won't cause trouble...or attack us...right?" you tilted your head to the side to look at the hound as it loomed over your shoulder.
The beast just huffed and snickered, nudging your shoulder, and then sauntered away to the sides, eyeing the boar in the vicinity as it stalked it.
"I'll take that as a yes..." you didn't pay too much mind towards its behavior and turned towards the unlucky adventurer.
"See, it's alright, I appreciate the sentiment though," you say and offer your hand and name with a smile.
To say that Bennett was awestruck would be an understatement. The boy had stars in his eyes, he had never met a Rifthound that was docile...but this one seemed borderline friendly with you! He had so many questions to ask. How did you find it? Was it your pet? How did you do it? But he held those back when he saw your outstretched hand as you gave him your name.
He shook your hand with enthusiasm
"I am Bennett, leader of Mondstadt's up-and-coming Benny's adventure team"
You couldn't help but smile at the enthusiastic introduction, the boy truly was a ray of sunshine.
"Adventure and all is good, but what were you doing flailing around the sky, anyway? While I admit that it looked adventurous, the lack of safety restraints has me a little worried." You didn't even see the wind glider open up on his form as he fell.
Your inquisitive look and question had the boy all flustered, as he scratched his neck to formulate a way to explain his predicament and what circumstances led to all of those.
"I was on my usual commissions...but then ran into an eye of the storm...while I did end up defeating it, its final counter swept me off my feet, and well..." he trailed off, and you didn't need more context. No wonder you felt the currents pick up when you sensed him falling.
But before you could even ask him more, another projectile came flying towards you much like how Bennet did before. A box picked up and thrown by the wind and it fell near your feet. Its contents made a splattering sound as the box cracked open, revealing a gooey mix...that smelt like food?
Before your confused self could even speculate out in wonder, your adventure companion kneeled down near the box with a sigh, his shoulders slacked...he looked crestfallen.
Gingerly, you crouched down beside him.
"Was this yours?" you ask gently, just to confirm.
"No..." he sighed "This was my commission, delivering the package to Ms Vind at Stormbearer Point"
You listen intently. The location was further northwest of Mondstadt, quite a few distance away.
Bennett looked at the mix of scattered food and bowed down his head in dejection. He had failed this commission. There was no way around it now. Even still, he shook his head and tried keeping his head and spirits high.
"Ive failed this commission, that's okay, I'll just let Kathryne know...there is always next time"
Sure he tried brushing it off,but you saw right through it. Underneath that accepting demeanor, he truly was sad and disappointed. You couldn't bare to see him like this, your heart clenched at the sight.
"Did you know what items were in there? We can get them replaced...I'll get them replaced."
You offered with a determined voice.
"I mean, no one has to know and its not like anyone would notice or care,"
You were going to get him to agree, that infinite mora was finally going to get some use.
"It's alright, it all was supposed to be delivered by 12:00 anyway. A replacement would take longer than that... i couldn't possibly let you do that, anyway. Thank you for offering, i appreciate it"
He stood up, and you followed soon after
"It's just my bad luck," he brushed with off with a dazzling smile despite his disappointment "Things like this are common, I'm used to it, anyway."
Your fists clenched at his words, you didn't have waypoints unlocked at Mondstadt City or Stormbearer Point. And the time was 11:42 already.
[ɪɴɢʀᴇᴅɪᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏᴏᴅ ɪɴᴠᴇɴᴛᴏʀʏ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ]
[ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ᴘᴏꜱꜱɪʙʟᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀᴅᴇᴘᴛɪ ꜱᴇᴇᴋᴇʀ'ꜱ ꜱᴛᴏᴠᴇ]
The system came in clutch and as a bearer of light in these dark times.
"No no no no no, its not over yet just tell me, do you know what food items were in there."
Bennett looked at you confused but before he could point out the futility, you just urged him on with a determined look.
"Just tell me..."
"Crispy potato shrimp platter, Fruity mint tea, and moon pie" he answered, not understanding what you would do with the information
"Perfect, just hold up and let me see...."
You accessed your system screen to check... you had enough food items for several lifetimes, you were bound to have those too.
Moonpie: 16
Fruity mint tea: 20
Crispy Potatoes shrimp platter: 151
Perfect
"HAHA, I've got all of those dishes on me already!" you exclaimed in excitement and Bennett's ears stood up at your proclamation too, a tiny flicker of hope, reignited at your words.
But then reality dawned on both of you,
The time...
11:44
16 minutes
Stormbearer's point was quite literally at the opposite of your current location. No way you'd reach there on foot on time.
So close... those grey waypoints never felt more tortuous, your jaw clenched in frustration, you were thinking of every possible thing that you could do...one or just any solution.
That is until the solution came over your shoulder again, observed the spoiled food on the ground and then leaned down to sniff it.
Your hand automatically reached out to pet its mane and you looked Bennett in the eye with an excited or perhaps unhinged look.
"Tell me Bennett... have you ever ridden a rift hound before?"
---------------------------------------------------------
So....fontaine was good....I liked it a lot
..archon quests I mean....my exploration is 10%....and ive done no quests whatsoever ....but now that it's over.
I don't think you understand
The next region.....we are getting is Nathan....and neuvi talked about the captain... Il Capitano
And I don't think I can explain to you....how badly I want him.
I desire those pixles...I desire this man...
I want him to pick me up... from the scruff...yk like mom cats pick up their kittens
And I will hang out on his shoulders like a damn pikachu...laughing at all you peasants
The fact that he's not crushing me...that I'm not in his arms right fucking now...is a criminal OFFENCE
also
This is a toxic relationship isn't it?
Just when you thought that I had abandoned you...I come back with 4k+ words....and I came with a dog
Can't belive it took me this long to write this ...I just had to sit my ass down...and write
Forgive me dears
I was too busy
Making gainzzzzz 👏💪 (anabolic steroids here I come)