2 New chapter of my life

"What's the name of the town?" I asked as we walked along a dirt road. The scenery was lush with vibrant trees and plants. The air was incredibly fresh, far cleaner than on Earth, as one might expect in another world with no pollution. 

Lumine and I were the only ones walking, as Paimon had disappeared into another dimension, who knows where.

I recalled her saying, "Paimon doesn't like boring things. Let me know if there are amazing things." She also implied she was following Lumine's path. I had no idea how space worked.

"According to the map we bought in the previous village, it's called Calla City, named after the special flowers in Mondstadt," Lumine answered as she summoned a map.

"Additionally, there are seven cities in Mondstadt: Calla City, Cecilia City, Dandelion City, Philanemo City, Lamp Grass City, Valberry City, Windwheel City, and Wolfhook City, excluding the capital city, Mondstadt," Paimon appeared next to Lumine as she continued the explanation.

"Wow, I never expected that, well, I did expect it when I first heard that there's a city in Mondstadt."

"More importantly, how did you do that, Lumine?" I pointed at the map.

Lumine stopped. "Oh, it's one of the skills I learned in my homeworld."

"Can I learn it?" My eyes sparkled with excitement at the thought of learning something. It meant it wasn't exclusive, unlike the language translation skill I had.

"You can, but it's challenging if you don't have the basics. You'd have to start from the very beginning. It took me 13 years to learn this skill, and I'm not sure if you have the aptitude for it, as it's exclusive to my people, as far as I've known." Lumine replied, reflecting on her past.

"So it's a racial skill," I mumbled. "We can try, can't we?"

"Yes, we can. There's no harm in trying," Lumine said with a smile.

She looked strikingly beautiful, even though she was chronologically 3000 years old. I'm 19, but I couldn't help but wonder about the age difference. Was this even legal? I remembered something about a four-year rule. Maybe. But, well, it was another world, so who could stop me?

"For starters, my people draw power from the stars, which we call starlight. With it, we can do almost anything, create planets if we have enough starlight or destroy worlds. The power is extraordinary yet destructive. That's why our leaders implemented a strict rule that we'd suffer divine punishment if we ever used it harmfully. So, Ronan, if you want to learn our skill, you'll have to abide by this rule," Lumine explained the powers behind dimensional storage.

"That's a bit of a problem because I don't want anyone to shackle me. But I do want to learn it," I said, pondering the pros and cons.

"Alright, I'll do it," I decided after careful thought. Who wouldn't want to learn such an amazing skill?

"Good. Thank you for understanding," Lumine said, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Why?" I was puzzled.

"Well, I would've used my ability to make you forget what I said. It's a secret skill from my people, and I wouldn't have had to use the limited starlight I gathered for the past three months," she explained.

I hadn't noticed that Paimon had already returned to her dimension. She wasn't one to eavesdrop on her companion's secrets, but she did love to uncover other people's secrets.

...

Time passed, and it was dusk.

"I just realized, we haven't encountered any monsters," I remarked.

"That's because there's a rumor about Stormterror. Wild monsters are afraid of it," Lumine said with excitement in her eyes.

"Yeah, the dragon?" I asked, not revealing any future events to her. I only told her some small details.

"You know," Lumine was surprised.

"Yeah, his name isn't Stormterror; it's Dvalin. He's a friend of an Anemo Archon. I know the reason for its rampage, or maybe I don't. It's different from the game I played," I explained, leaving out the name of the Anemo Archon.

"That's sad," Lumine's eyes dulled. "Did Aether leave me too?"

"No!" I shouted, shocking her. I'm also shocked about my own actions.

Lumine was taken aback by my loud voice.

"He didn't. Trust your brother, Lumine. He has his reasons. I can't tell you why because it could cause disruption," I reassured her, holding her shoulder.

Since my time in this world was brief, I didn't know which side to choose. It was a big problem. I did know that Lumine's brother wanted to save the people from Khaenri'ah, which were the Hillichurls. But what they did to Dvalin was beyond belief. That poor dragon.

This might be the doing of the unknown god who stopped the siblings. I didn't even know where to step into this mess. It was quite a predicament.

Lumine gently held my wrist, sweetly smiling at me. "Thank you, Ronan. That helps me a lot. I don't know why you're keeping some things from me, but I'll trust you. As you trust me."

That sounds weird. Implicit thoughts, go away.

"As your companion, we'll have to share our burdens and solve them together," I said.

"You're right."

...

Outside the walls of Calla City, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the city outside the open gate. It was much bigger than I had expected, with hundreds of people lining up to get inside. Some were coming out - adventurers, I thought.