Open

I arrived at the agreed upon meeting place and saw that I was the first one to arrive. I suppose they were still getting ready. I didn't really have anything to do so I just kept on making anything that comes to mind with my elements.

It can't get any more boring for me because I am already bored beyond comprehension. I continued to wait for a couple more minutes and just when I was about to complain, they arrived.

"Aether!" called out Jean. I sighed in both relief and frustration. Next time, maybe I'll arrive a little bit late so that I don't experience this again.

"Hey, Jean. I suppose she's the friend you were talking about?" I said as I eyed the woman beside her.

She was a woman that was about the same height as Jean. She had unevenly cut light blue hair that was longer on the left side. Her hair had some white streaks. She had a pale complexion and her eyes were kinda similar to Ganyu's. Dazzling and it always seems to pull you in. She wore a black headband and a four-pointed silver, white, and blue hairpin to her left. Based on the elegance she's emitting, I guess she's related to nobility.

"Greetings, my name is Aether." I said as I reached out my hand.

She reached out her hand and shook mine. "Greetings, I'm Eula Lawrence."

Oh? So she's part of the Lawrence clan huh. Well, not that I care at all really. I read in a history book that the Lawrence clan were oppressive back then. They were overthrown by Vanessa and she established the Knights of Favonious. Her clan may have had a horrible past, but from what I can tell, she doesn't have any of that.

"So? When are we going to investigate the rift?" asked Jean.

"Hm… let's check if it's open yet." I was just about to snap my fingers when Jean suddenly stopped me.

"Please, let us get ready first. We just finished eating before coming here…" Jean said as her face paled at the thought of puking in front of me. Ah, I guess that would be embarrassing. "Not to mention Eula here hasn't even experienced teleporting yet."

"I'm quite intrigued on how this teleportation works actually. Even for someone like Jean who has complete control over her Vision, she couldn't do anything like teleportation."

"Ahaha, it's actually because the rules of this world don't apply to me. I mean, I control multiple elements while not having a Vision nor Delusion. The only thing that I needed to do was touch the Statue of The Seven of each Archon. Anyways, are you both ready?"

They both nodded so I snapped my fingers and in an instant, we were inside my Domain. In front of us was the rift. It was larger than before and more importantly, it was open. Which means we can begin investigating.

"Hm… I wonder what kind of reality is behind this rift…" I said as I couldn't really see what was behind it. It was just pure white.

I walked closer to the rift and stretched out my hand. My hand went through the rift and nothing really happened. My hand just safely went through the rift. I sighed in relief.

"Looks like it's safe to enter."

I walked back to where Eula and Jean were standing. I told them that it was open and it was already okay for us to enter, but I said that we weren't holding the investigation today. They asked me why and I just told them that we all needed to get ready. Well, mostly me because in truth, I haven't prepared shit. Not to mention the possibility that I might need to bring Havria with me. Why? Well, in the previous worlds I've been through, I've heard say that women would be rather clingy during pregnancy.

You might think it's dumb bringing a pregnant woman to an investigation to an unknown reality, that's because it is. However, I would rather have that than leaving her alone where I'm sure as hell she'll cry her eyes out calling for me.

"Well, now that we've seen it's open, anything else you girls wanna do?"

"Hm, how about we have a sparring match? I want to see how capable the Honorary Knight truly is."

"Ehh… Are you sure about this?"

I was worried of course. I was confident in my control, but accidents can still happen.

"Why of course."

"Don't worry Aether, I'll just heal her up in case something happens."

"That's reassuring."

I wanted to test out the combat version of my realm, but I figure this Domain would just do. I wanted to have one last match here before I finally let it go. We both walked to the opposite ends of the Domain and readied our weapons. I was using my halberd while she was using a claymore. Haah, this might be a challenge.

"Are you both ready?" Jean said as she stood in the middle. We both nodded and she signalled for the fight to start.

---

Eula was the first to move, dashing straight at Aether. Seeing just how fast she was, Aether smirked at the idea that this might be an interesting fight. He dashed at her, matching her pace. When she was near him, Eula swung her claymore that was infused with Cryo.

'Fast!' Aether thought.

He quickly summoned a flower to block the blade, causing Eula to stagger from the knockback. Spinning his halberd so that the blunt end was facing Eula, he used it to push her back. Eula was able to react quick enough and block the blunt strike, but she was still sent flying back.

"What?!"

'Oops,' Aether thought. 'I used a bit more than I meant to.'

Eula looked at Aether, her eyes wide. She knows that the Honorary Knight was strong, but she didn't expect him to just send her flying with a move that he didn't even seem to put a lot of strength into. She got into position again, putting more effort in all aspects to make sure he doesn't catch her off guard.

Aether moved, looking like he was about to dash. Eula saw this and started to brace herself. However, the next second, Aether was gone. All that was left were the black flames of Gluttony. Then, she heard a step behind her. She quickly turned back and swung her blade, only for it to go through Aether completely.

"What?!"

"Sorry for this."

His halberd was gone, only leaving him barehanded. He punched at her side, sending her flying to a nearby wall. However, he quickly appeared behind her and caught her way before she hit the wall.

---

"Wasn't that a bit too much?" asked Jean as she healed the unconscious Eula.

"Ahaha, I think so too. I might have gotten just a bit into it."

"What do you mean got into it? You just made quick work of her!" Jean huffed as she looked away.

I just laughed nervously as I scratched the back of my head. I don't have any excuses anymore. I'll just accept it. After a bit, Jean finished healing Eula and I just rested her head on my lap. I hope Eula doesn't mind this.

"Still though, for you to be this strong already."

"I know, right? It's kind of a burden though…"

Being too strong can be a huge problem sometimes. My strength grows as I kill, and since I'm an adventurer, that means I grow in strength most of the time. Haah, each time I get stronger, I need to train so that I can master it. Not to mention the pain I feel since I'm constantly in full power.

"Well, you're pretty good at keeping your power in check."

"Thanks."

We just sat there for a while until Eula woke up. She slowly opened her eyes and asked where she was.

"In my Domain, laying your head on my lap."

"Wha-"

She quickly stood up and huffed. I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"Don't mind it, Eula. It was his fault that you were knocked out after all." Jean tried to calm her down, but she just put her hands on her hips and said something that worried me.

"Mark my words, vengeance will be mine!"

I hope she didn't mean that in a bad way...