7 Vision 2/2

The next day…

'What are they doing right now?' Orochi asked, 'What is the traveler doing?'

<It seems that they're trying to help an old man recover from the effects of losing his vision…> Tomoki sighed, <How did this happen…? Why did the Shogun decide to issue the Vision Hunt Decree?>

'I don't know,' Orochi shrugged, 'But you're better off going to ask her yourself…'

'But judging from what you just said, I think we have about 2-3 days before that happens,' Orochi estimated, 'Guess I'll get going, time is limited.'

<Wait! What do you mean by "that"?> Tomoki asked.

"Alright! Time is money! And we're wasting it right now!" Orochi said, ignoring Tomoki and he swiftly maneuvers back to the training place, undetected.

"*Yawns* I need to sleep more to grow taller…" A certain someone stretched out, hidden away from plain view. "Who was it that just passed me?"

•••

'Yo, Tomoki. Did I go past anyone on my way here?' Orochi wondered, 'Or was it just my imagination?'

<Probably just your imagination!> Tomoki denied Orochi's suspicion, <Even the Kujou Sara can't detect. So unless they're the Raiden Shogun herself, there's no chance that they would detect you…>

'Then I should stop wasting time. What did you say I needed to do to make or summon a strong creature from my elemental energy again?' Orochi asked Tomoki as he focus on gathering elemental energy around his wrist and manipulating it.

<A good understanding and connection between the summon or creation and the user. The complexity of the object varies depending on the user.> Tomoki explained thoroughly, <Objects are generally simpler than creatures. But the strength of the summon or creation depends on its connection with the user. It has to mean something to you.>

'Is that why I can't get this flower to last long?' Orochi questioned as flowers formed of dendro energy appeared around him, dissipating seconds after it was casted. 'It also didn't seem to do much other than looking pretty…'

<It could also be that you just lack a good understanding of it.>

'That could also be it… but I want to hear what you think I should try summoning or creating. Especially since it feels easier than the other methods.'

<Then that's good, perhaps summoning or creating is the method that the gods gave you.> Tomoki suggested, <Maybe something you know well about. For me, it was my swordsmanship.>

'Poison, stealth, chemistry…' Orochi thought, 'I have an idea of what it is, but I have to make sure.'

'Here we go!'

<Good luck!> Tomoki cheered.

Orochi focuses on extracting dendro energy, manipulating it into the air, and breaking it down into dendro energy particles that lingered in the air.

*Thump!*

<You alright?> Tomoki rushed over to Orochi, whose body collapsed on the ground.

'Y-Yeah, I'm fine. It's just… my body. I can't put any strength into it.' Orochi responded.

Tomoki bent down to closely observe the cause of his collapse and nodded, <It seems like whatever you were doing was not the answer, and it was tough on your body so it gave out while making it last longer. But you will be fine after a quick break.>

*Sighs* "Guess I'll take a quick nap then." Orochi said as he shut his eyes.

•••

*Groans* "How long was I asleep for?" Orochi asked Tomoki, who was casually swinging his katana in place.

<I don't know, approximately 6 hours or so.> Tomoki shrugged.

'It seems that wasn't the approach I should take…' Orochi pondered, 'You got any ideas for me?'

<Hmmm, although I don't know too much about you. But if I had to guess, Orobashi and his intervention in your death, summoning your soul to the world of Teyvat, would be the most impactful thing to you.> Tomoki inferred, <So I would say to attempt to summon or create snakes.>

'What will I do about my elemental burst then?' Orochi questioned Tomoki, 'How will I learn about that?'

<Well, uhhhh. You'll understand when the time comes. It's not something that can be explained, you'll know once you've experienced it once.> Tomoki hesitate as he slowly stepped back and forth around Orochi.

'… if you say so…' Orochi replied as he immediately went back into learning how to use his vision.

<First, imagine snakes forming from.. somewhere.> Tomoki instructed.

'Snakes forming from… my sleeves?' Orochi recalls the sensation that he felt when he was still alive, playing with snakes. Memories of his various interactions with snakes resurfaced in his mind.

In his memory, he recalls the cold and slimy texture that snakes had as they slithered to and wrapped themselves around his hands. He was interested in snakes as a kid, but he never got one as a pet. According to his parents, snakes were "too dangerous," as pets. The size of a snake largely depends on their lifespan and the type of snake.

The sensation of multiple snakes coiled around Orochi's hands, extending out of his sleeve, extending his reach. The imagination of the sensation intensified as Orochi inserted his understandings about snakes as he manipulated the dendro energy into multiple dendro snakes, slithering out of his sleeve, acting as an extension of his arms.

*Huff* *Huff*

"This is harder than expected… will it be like this every time I do it?" Orochi commented as he swung the sword with the help of the snakes for a little bit.

<It won't be like that every time and it'll get easier as you use it more often. Just don't rely on it too much. I've known some vision users who were too reliant and arrogant because they were bearing Visions.> Tomoki sighed, <Those idiots were just too reliant on their vision that they somehow managed to lose to some without visions, truly a shame.>

'I better keep that in mind…' Orochi told himself. He didn't want to get beat up by a normal person, it would be shameful. 'Why don't you help me polish my sword skills every so often?'

<Polish? I don't understand what you mean.> Tomoki scratched his hair in confusion. <Aha! You mean beating you up? If that's the case then I don't see why not!>

Orochi held his hand up his forehead and sighed as he shook his head, 'Think of it however you want. I take it that you accept my request.'

<Hmph! You better be thankful for my help!> Tomoki smirked, crossing his arms.

'Yeah, yeah, whatever…' Orochi rolled his eyes, 'Although these snakes are lasting longer now, but why do they still seem so… fragile?'

<Oh! You mean why they are as tangible and flexible as you expected them to be?> Tomoki thought, <Hmm… if I were to make a educated guess—>

'It would have something to do with connecting my ambition with the vision, blah blah blah. Something like that?' Orochi interrupted Tomoki.

<If you knew, then don't ask!> Tomoki shouted.

'I figured I may as well ask since I wasn't sure. And since you said it was a educated guess, it means you don't know the definite answer,' Orochi explained, 'So I cut you off before you went on ranting about useless things…'

<You-! Whatever, what now? Are we going to stay here and continue training or something else now?> Tomoki asked, exasperated by Orochi's reply, <And what about joining the Watasumi Island Resistance? What happened to that?>

'I wonder… we'll just watch and see. We don't want to join the losing side after all. There's a price to everything.' Orochi snickered, 'After all, only the strong will win while the weak struggles.'

<I really dislike that side of you, so what about now? What will we do now?> Tomoki asked, disgusted with Orochi's behavior.

'We'll wait and see,' Orochi replied, 'A show will begin soon…'

A/N: The support is a bit too much… I don't think I can release 3 chapters a week… Maybe I'll do like 2 a week and max of 3 depending on the support. Either way thank you for the support though!