4 A week in

"Why are we still here. Just to suffer....." Aether said. He had recharged his magic core by sitting and resting for a while. He started again with the same trick, which he now calls the flow and push maneuver. He went back to start the fire with his magic but he hasn't had any success yet.

But after his magic core had run out again. He felt exhausted and is now munching on berries.

"I imagine that this maneuver is not the best way to push magic out of your body. But it's the only thing I know and can do. If I have to chant cringey magic chants I'm sticking with my way. I know! I should memorize where the magic flowed in my body. That way I know where to flow it next time and it won't take to long. I also need to have a constant connection with my core. That'll be the next step. " Aether mapped out his idea and decided that that was his next move.

" But I'll save that for tomorrow. It's nearly night time and I need to cook dinner and sleep. " Aether said and went to cook dinner. Which was the exact same meal. Fish meat. He cooked it and surprisingly it tasted better than this morning's fish.

" Do I have godly cooking skills or something? Because that's in the game as well. I swear if there are chests I can die happy. " Aether muttered. He finished his meal and headed to sleep.

(One week later)

A week in his journey in Teyvat. Aether has mastered his first finger. He can now light a small flame on it. It can only last for thirty seconds before he loses control. But at least he's getting somewhere. He's now mastering the second finger and making it last two minutes.

Aether can also proudly say that he has mastered the fish meat dish. He's now switched into a different meal, the berry meal as he calls it. The meal has slices of Sunsettia, apples, and yellow berries in it. How did he cut it? Well, apparently chests do exist in this world.

Flashback to four days in. Aether was strolling around a new area in the forest. He considered it to be a stupid idea as he doesn't know what's in the forest. But with nothing to do, he decided to Yolo it.

When Aether was strolling around picking berries and collecting sticks. He saw something in the distance.

"No fucking way it exists." Aether ran to something. He looked over it. It was a chest.

" It's a common one but I don't care. This is a godsend. Just what I needed. " Aether said and opened the chest. Things popped out.

" Just like in the game. " Aether said reminiscing about his gaming adventure. He didn't know why the old him liked Genshin. He just saw the trailer and was hooked." He looked down to see what the chest dropped. On the ground was a dull blade, 2 common crystals and a small pouch.

Aether picked up the pouch. He shook it. It jiggled. It sounded like there was coins in there.

"Mora. Finally. " Aether was happy. He doesn't feel like a broke person now. Now, he feels like he's almost broke.

"500 Mora. How much can I get with this amount? Maybe one grilled chicken with mushrooms. " Aether sighed. That was another thing to worry about. He'd have to find a lot more chests so he won't worry about spending Mora on food.

"Now where's the way back. I hope I don't encounter slimes or hilichurls on my way back." Aether said and he slowly went back to his campsite.

Back to the present. Aether has added "sword swinging exercises" into his training regime. Which makes it even more tiring with the exercises, magic training and now the sword training.

"But it's all going to be worth it." Aether always thinks when he's about to give up. He imagined himself defeating gods, dragons and many more foes. This imagination may seem impossible. But don't forget what he is, he's not human, a normal human would've died and decomposed when they're trapped in magic cubes.

"I may need to get some experience. These exercises don't do shit if I don't fight some slimes. Plus I need to get some slime secretions and all that to sell them when I get to Monstadt. I don't know if they'll accept it. But the Adventurers Guild might. " Aether said getting up. He decided to venture into deeper parts of the forest. There might be enemies in there. Maybe he'll find more chests. Who knows.

But Aether knows that he can't complete shit if he just sits here. So he went in in the middle of the day.

"So many trees. Sure hope there's some slimes. Hey is that another chest?" Aether wanted to run to it and open it but he saw red seals circling around it.

"So it might spawn some enemies. Better be ready. " Aether readied his dull sword. Might not be the best weapon to fight slimes but it's what he has right now so he can't complain.

Aether went near the seal. Smoke erupted. Aether got into his loose battle stance on instinct.

"Wait. Doesn't the original Aether retained his sword fighting memories after coming out of the cube? I bet if I fight more I'll regain the experience in sword fighting." Aether thought.

*Boing boing boing*

Three small slimes came out of the smoke.

"They look like Hydro Slimes. Good thing I have my temporary shitty fire element. " Aether thought. One of the slimes jumped at him. He barely manage to dodge it. Aether did what he did best, he went in for the kill.

Aether ran up towards the slime. He slashed down his sword.

*Piak!*

"It hit! But it seems that the slime isn't dead. I'll strike it even more!" Aether sword slashed upwards again and it hit the slime.

*Piak!*

Aether swung his hand in a circle. The sword then was coming from downtown. He slashed upwards and it hit again.

*Piak!*

Aether followed up with a horizontal strike from the left. It hit again.

*Piak!*

"The slime looks like it was about to die. Time for the final strike!" Aether's hand moved back. He seems like he was charging up something. His hand then moved fast. The sword stabbed into the slime.

*Piak!*

The slime flew a little bit before disappearing. "Yes! There's two more left. But why aren't they attacking me?" Aether turned back to see both of them bouncing towards him.

"Oh shit!" Aether barely rolled out of the way. He looked back at the slimes and smirked.

" I feel.... so excited for some reason. Maybe it's the adrenaline. " Aether said smirking and got into his loose battle stance again.

"Come and fight!"

To be continued