9 First Week - Meeting the Traveler
"Hello There" -- Characters speaking
'General Kenobi' -- Character thoughts
"You are" 'a bold one' -- Invocations, Thoughts/Conversations in flashbacks
The Negotiator -- Titles
"Ah yes, the Negotiator" -- Xeroc speaking
------------------------------
------------------------------
Dawn broke as the sun began to rise from the east. The silence of Mondstadt city was trampled upon as people left their homes, journeying along the illuminated streets as they followed divergent paths, arriving at their stalls and shops so they could prepare for the hustle and bustle that would occur later in the day.
Within a building located at the southern part of the city, the otherworldly duo were wrapped around each other, cozily sleeping while sharing a single bed. The room they were in was of a simple design—wooden walls and floors with a singular window, a small bed, side table, a closet, and a singular bathroom.
As rays of light escaped into the room through the gaps in the thick curtains, Calamitas stirred awake, opening her eyes while trying to blink away some of the sleep.
She carefully removed her arms from around Erden so as to not rouse him, slowly sitting up on the bed. Running her hand through her disheveled hair, she heard a faint murmur escape her companion's lips.
Curious as to what he was dreaming about, she leaned in close, hoping to get a clue from his silent mumbling. Nevertheless, she wished she hadn't done that, as she could feel her face getting hot, realizing that his current dream...
"Hehehe... foursome with three Callies..."
...Was in fact, a wet dream, evident from the tent that began to form under the blankets they covered themselves with.
Ignoring the raging boner trying to free itself from its prison, she quietly moved off the bed, walking around it towards the covered window with hushed steps. Sliding the curtain slightly, she opened part of the window with ease, breathing in the fresh, morning air.
Witnessing the droves of people making their way to their workplaces, her eyes held unspoken appreciation for the people willing to wake up early morning, working to provide for themselves and their families. Gazing from above, she eyed one specific individual.
Drudging up the memory of the interactions from the day before, she remembered him as the man to whom Erden had sold some ores, netting them the necessary Mora and allowing them to procure a temporary residence for the time being.
------------------------------
[The Day Before]
"...In terms of Mora, we have no Mora."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
Her face covered by her palm, a guttural groan escaped from her lips. It completely escaped her mind that a different world might have a different currency system. With a worried countenance, she expressed her concern as to their situation, while suggesting a somewhat... extreme solution.
"What are we going to do now? We're completely broke with no place to stay at, unless... hey, should we mug the guy with the biggest stall?"
"Good grief Callie, this isn't London. Stop worrying about the Mora so much..."
Scanning his immediate surroundings, he spotted an open shop resembling a smithy nearby, that stood out amongst all the stalls.
"...Because I might have just found us a way to make a quick buck."
There were four pillars of stone, supporting a roof made up of red tiles with a square hole cut-out in the middle of the roof, allowing a sturdy hearth with a chimney made of cobblestone to rise through the cut-out.
The entire structure was constructed mostly using stone, with some traces of woodworking involved. Tools and anvils were scattered around everywhere, contrasting with the carts, tables and shelves that were placed in an orderly fashion.
To finish it off, there was a fancy wooden signboard attached above the front of the shop with unintelligible writing. Right at the front of the smithy stood a man in brown clothing, his dirty blond hair parted to the side, looking through one of the shelves, perhaps searching for something.
Erden grabbed Jamal's reins, bringing him and Calamitas along as he walked over to the smithy. Arriving at the smithy, he greeted the strange man, startling him to some degree.
"Good evening, kind—"
"Haiii! Please don't sneak... up..."
Slightly spooked by the newcomer, the man was about to give them a piece of his mind, but when he turned around, the words died in his throat. In front of him stood the tall, imposing form of Erden, his trusty steed right behind him.
Though, what drew his attention was the woman behind him, her exotic features visible for everyone to see. Her ashy-gray skin and the two horns on her forehead were unique. While he had been witness to people with non-human ears, this was completely new to him.
He stared at her for a few seconds, and most likely would've kept staring if his vision wasn't covered by the figure of an annoyed Erden.
"Excuse me... are you the owner of this smithy?"
"Huh... oh! Oh, no! I'm just an apprentice," exclaimed the apprentice. "If you're looking for the master, he is currently in the back. Do you want me to call him?"
"I would quite appreciate that."
Nodding, he walked towards the back of the smithy, looking for the owner. While waiting for him to return back, he turned towards Calamitas, noticing her gaze focused on the signboard.
"Callie?"
"Those letters... I can understand what they say, even though it's my first time seeing them."
Following her gaze, he too looked up towards the signboard, reading aloud what it said.
"...Schulz Smithshop."
The words written were completely foreign to him, and yet he was able to understand what the signboard was trying to convey.
"You're right. Maybe Xeroc did some—" Glancing towards the smithy, he saw the apprentice from before walking towards them, accompanied by another person. "We'll discuss this later."
The man besides the apprentice donned a white shirt, with small traces of dirt and soot marring his face. His black hair was damp with sweat, and his tired eyes eyed the duo—especially Calamitas—with vigilance.
"So... I heard from my apprentice that you were looking for me," questioned the supposed owner of the shop. "Why?"
"We were, in fact, looking for you. You see, while on our journey to Mondstadt, we severely underestimated the amount of Mora we would need, hence we are lacking on funds to rent us a temporary residence."
Listening to Erden's circumstances, perhaps due to exhaustion, the owner seemed to misunderstand what he was trying to say, judging by the scowl that formed on his face as his voice took on an aggressive tone.
"Now, listen here... traveler. I don't know what you take me for, but this place isn't some damn charity for you to—"
"Ah! But you misunderstand. We are not here to beg, but to sell our wares."
The owner stilled mid-rant, his mind comprehending what Erden said. Embarrassment filled his veins as he turned around for a moment, catching his breath before turning back towards the otherworldly duo.
"...Oh. W-Well... ahem, s-so what kind of items are you selling? Ores? Ingots? Or maybe a used weapon?"
Clearing his throat, he inquired about Erden's wares, conveniently ignoring that he almost lashed out at a potential customer and connection.
'I definitely need to avoid going to that damn tavern so often! I might just end up killing my business, or even worse, myself with nothing but alcohol.'
With a smile on his face, Erden put his hand in the Ore Bag that he had taken out discretely when the owner had turned around, the apprentice's attention taken by his weird actions.
"Seeing as this is a smithy, I suppose" —searching through the Ore Bag, he took out bars of different metals, lining them up on the table in front of him— "these will do nicely."
The owner observed the bars with a critical eye, recognizing some of the metals, while being eluded by some of the others. Realizing that he was having some difficulty in discerning the nature of some of the bars, he turned towards Erden.
"Your wares are quite high in quality. I can see that some of these bars are of Iron, Lead, Silver, and Gold. But I don't recognize the last two."
The two bars in question were unique in their own rights. The first bar had a platinum sheen to it, while the second looked like someone had sprayed two different colors on it—cyan and brown.
"Oh, the one with the platinum-hue is well... Platinum, while the dual-toned one is called Aerialite."
Learning the names of the unknown metals, the owner seemed even more puzzled as he scratched his trimmed beard, trying to remember if he had heard of them before, but completely drawing a blank.
"Sorry, but I've never heard of or seen these ones before."
"Makes sense, as these are exclusive to our homeland. You would be hard-pressed to find even a trace of these, no matter where you look in Mondstadt."
Chewing on his lips, he thought about Erden's words for a few seconds, before putting them in the back of his mind.
Grabbing the hammer that hung from his belt, he picked up the bar of Platinum, putting it on the anvil to his side. However, before he did so, his gazed moved towards Erden, as if asking him for permission.
"By all means, go ahead."
With Erden's consent, he held the bar down firmly—
Clang!
—before striking it with the hammer, as hard as he could. The collision generated a loud sound, drawing the attention of the nearby pedestrians.
"Hmm... it's heavy, but it's also quite sturdy. I could probably make a good claymore out of this."
Satisfied with the quality of the Platinum Bar, he put it back on the table before grabbing the Aerialite Bar. As soon as he picked it up, he noticed something peculiar about the bar.
"...It's light. Too light."
Picking up the Aerialite Bar and putting it on the anvil, he struck with the hammer again. This time, a more subdued sound rang out. Looking closely at the bar of Aerialite, he saw a slight indentation at the point of contact, created by the hammer.
"This one is less durable, but it's also much lighter compared to regular steel." He contemplated about the strange metals, coming to a final decision. "How many of these do you have on you?"
"A good amount. The real question is... how much are you willing to pay per bar?"
"Let's see... I want ten of each. For the Platinum, I can do 600 per piece, and 750 for the Aerialite."
Mentally jumping around doing mathematics, Erden calculated the total amount he would make from this transaction.
"13,500 Mora is the total."
The owner nodded, turning towards his apprentice, whose gaze was fixed on the Aerialite Bar. He was snapped out from his trance by the owner's voice calling out to him.
"Schulz, get the Mora."
"Hmm... oh, ah, yes." The now named apprentice began to walk towards the back of the smithy, but not before stopping, turning back towards the owner for clarification. "Uhm, how much exactly?"
Exasperated, the owner released a long, tired sigh. In a loud, annoyed tone, he recounted the exact Mora he owed to the traveling duo.
"Ugh, just get two large ones and seven medium ones!"
With a slight jump in his gait, the apprentice hurried towards the back, not wanting to attract any more ire from his teacher. Meanwhile, the owner couldn't help but rub his temples at his apprentice's air-headedness.
"New blood?"
"Yeah, joined about a few months ago. I saw potential in him, so I took him in."
"And how has that been going for you?"
Taking a trip down memory-lane, he remembered some of the moments from the months he had spent teaching Schulz.
"It was hard in the beginning, but he's come a long way. Though, he still isn't anywhere close to forging a weapon worth selling."
Seeing the bond between the apprentice and master reminded him of his own experiences with his teachers. He began to tell the owner about them...
"Man, hearing that reminds me of my own expe—"
"I've brought the Mora!"
Only for him to be interrupted by the loud voice of Schulz carrying a small bag of Mora in his hands, completely killing his enthusiasm for telling some of the stories of his past.
"—riences... nevermind that for now. Do you mind double-checking the amount for me?"
"Sure, just give me a second." Taking the bag from Schulz, he overturned it, emptying it of its contents. "Two 5,000 coins and seven 500 coins. That totals up to 13,500 Mora."
Grabbing both the Mora and the empty bag, he put the Mora inside the bag, handing it over to Calamitas. He then took out bars of Platinum and Aerialite from the Ore Bag. With a total of ten Platinum and Aerialite Bars on the table, he began to put most of them back inside.
A raised eyebrow was something he received from the owner as he also left the Silver and Iron Bars on the table. To clear up any confusion, he shed light on the reason why he was giving them the bars, free of cost.
"We saw that you were closing the smithy when we came over, so consider these as a thank you for not turning us away."
"...You sure?"
"Definitely."
"Well, if you're offering these for free, then I don't see a reason to refuse." As the owner set about putting away the items from his purchase, he realized something crucial about his interactions with the travelers. "By the way, I never got your names."
"Ah, mine is Erden Yeager, and the beautiful lady over there is Calamitas."
"I see, my name is Wagner, the owner of Schulz Smithshop," —he pointed his finger towards his apprentice— "and you've already met Schulz, my apprentice."
With an slight smile on his face, he pointed out something peculiar he found about the name of the smithy.
"You named your shop after your apprentice?"
"Hah... I lost a bet to him in a drinking game, and as part of the bet, I had to rename the shop."
"Pfft, that is quite interesting to hear," he chuckled in amusement. "But I'm sure that you are tired, so it's best we wrap this up here. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Wagner."
With a wave of his hand, he replied back, "The pleasure's mine. Seeing as you seem to be new to this city, I'd recommend the Dawn Breeze Inn if you're looking for a cheap, but reliable place to stay at. It's also owned by Old Man Goth, so you won't have to worry about being cheated out of your money."
Eyes wide, showing his surprise, he expressed his gratitude towards Wagner, "What a coincidence, I was about to ask you for directions for that particular inn. But, thank you for that."
Grabbing a map from the nearby shelf, Wagner unfolded it and told Erden of the paths leading towards the inn. With a thankful nod, he grabbed the reins of Jamal, getting a few more words in, before he went about his away, along with the horse and his companion.
"Well then gentlemen, I hope you have a nice night. Also, if you do end up using any of those metals, I would quite appreciate it if you let me know the end results."
Walking at a set pace, they adhered to Wagner's guidance, taking the shortest route that led them directly to the inn. Along the way, they received a few curious stares from the passersby, which they chose to ignore.
'I won't lie, I felt like I became an NPC for a second while I was talking to the guy.'
After several minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination—a simple two-story building that didn't stand out much from amongst the rest, with a signboard above the entrance stating "Dawn Breeze Inn".
Spotting an alley beside the inn, Erden went right in along with Jamal, coming out a few seconds later with Calamitas walking beside him massaging her butt, sore from hours of sitting on a saddle. As for Jamal, his body dissipated into smoke, the saddle falling right into Erden's Inventory.
Entering the inn, the duo was greeted by a middle-aged man wearing casual clothing manning the front desk by himself. Strolling up to him, a courteous greeting was offered, followed by an inquiry regarding any available rooms.
"Let me see... unfortunately, we do not have any double-bed rooms currently available. However, we do have a few single-bed ones with attached bathrooms. Would such a room suffice?"
"Yeah, that'll work. How much would it be for a single night?" asked Erden.
"750 Mora for one night in a single-bed room. This does not include breakfast as our inn does not offer such a service."
Hearing the price, he found it to be reasonable as he told the receptionist of his choice, "For now, we'll take the single-bed room for one night."
Taking out two of the 500 coins from the Mora pouch, he handed the coins over to the receptionist, who in turn, gave them the key for their room.
"Room 205. You will find it upstairs, towards the left."
The duo nodded towards him in appreciation for his help, walking up a set of stairs beside the front desk. Without wasting any time, they found the room, a plaque right on the center of the door stating the room number.
Inserting the key in the keyhole and unlocking it. they walked inside, gazing at a simple arrangement of furniture— a singular bed right beside the lone window at the end of the room, a table off to the side of the bed, a small closet, and presumably the bathroom door.
Calamitas flopped right onto the bed face-first, speaking into the sheets as her voice came out in a muffled frequency, "Haaim thaaired, weh'll thalk thummhorrow." (I'm tired, we'll talk tomorrow.)
Seeing her behavior, although Erden empathized with her, he still couldn't stop himself from urging her to not sleep in her robes.
"Good grief, at least change your clothes before you try to sleep," he advised.
All he received was a simple, "Yhou dho ith." (You do it.)
Rolling his eyes at her tired but lazy behavior, his Inventory activated as he sent her robes and clothing inside, replacing them with a simple nightgown that outlined her figure, especially her bubbly butt.
'Calm down boner-kun! Your time will come soon.'
Although, he was severely tempted to just not replace her clothing with anything, leaving her completely naked on the bed, he was able to quash down his horniness in favor of finally getting some rest.
Putting away his armor and the Mora bag into his Inventory, he wore a simple shirt and shorts. Making sure that the door was locked, he also threw the key into the Inventory.
Gently moving Calamitas over so he could make some space for himself, he laid on the bed, his head on the pillow as he wrapped his arms around his companion for comfort. Laying a gentle peck on her forehead, he bade her goodnight, drifting off into sleep as the duo's first day in another world came to an end.
------------------------------
[Present Day]
The sound of shuffling brought Calamitas out of her musings. Looking towards the bed, she saw Erden moving, trying to find a more comfortable position for both himself and his rock hard schlong.
'It's still quite early, maybe I'll get more shut-eye for the time being.'
She turned back towards the window, taking one last look at the city before she closed it, covering it with curtains again. She then maneuvered around the bed, getting on to the bed as she laid back down on her spot.
Intertwining her legs with his, she wrapped her arms around his stomach, laying her head on his shoulder. She could feel his schlong resting between her thighs, paving way for a diabolical idea cooking within her mind.
'Should I... nah, it's too early for that. I'll get to have some fun tonight anyway,' she thought to herself, already anticipating the "fun" she would have at night.
Quashing down the devious plans within her head, she closed her eyes, her mind setting off to Lalaland.
Just like that, about two hours passed by before the duo finally woke up. Freshening themselves in the bathroom, they dressed in the same clothing they wore the day before—Demonshade Armor for Erden, while Calamitas wore her signature robes.
Leaving the room, they walked downstairs, spotting the same middle-aged man they met yesterday manning the front desk again. Exchanging pleasantries, Erden handed the key back to the receptionist, leaving the establishment along with his companion, the two of them intimately holding hands with each other.
Walking back towards the direction they came from yesterday, they kept a steady pace. Calamitas discreetly looked at some of the signboards of the shops they passed by, asking the question she didn't get the chance to ask the day before, in a quiet voice.
"I thought my mind was playing tricks on my mind yesterday, but it seems that I really am able to read and understand this foreign language. You didn't use your magic on me by chance, did you?"
Shaking his head, he dispelled her doubts, "Even if I subconsciously did end up using my magic, I would have been the only one being affected, considering that I have to touch you directly or indirectly with my Mana for me magic to affect you."
She contemplated over his answer, trying to come to a conclusion. "Do you think this is the work of... Xeroc?"
"Most likely, it is," he shrugged, adding his own two-cents to her conclusion. As they walked along, they passed by Schulz Smithshop once again, and saw Schulz standing out at the front.
Greeting him with a simple wave, they marched on. After a few minutes, the duo were able to find a small building on the main street along the stairs, some distance from the entrance of the city. As they stopped in front of it, Calamitas couldn't help but question his motives. "Why are we stopping here?"
Her question brought about a simple response from him, "Patience, young padawan. You will see."
For the most part, the building was the same as others, its architecture consisting of a mixture of wood and bricks. What stood out was a small hub-like area, extending from the building right besides its entrance. Above the front of the extension was the symbol of a compass—which was the logo of the Adventurer's Guild.
The hub-like area consisted of two shelf racks lining the back walls and a door between them. The front consisted of a counter and was mostly open, save for two small wooden pillars that added to the aesthetics.
A raven-haired woman with fair skin stood behind the counter, her hands intertwined, resting about her abdomen. Her gray-blue eyes stared straight ahead, unflinching as her back was ramrod straight. She could have easily passed off as a statue if it wasn't for the periodic blinking of her eyes.
She wore a white dress with green accents, a black corset covering her midsection. On her head sat a white maid's hairband with a cross on the left. All in all, she was a really beautiful woman. Upon spotting the foreign travelers approaching her, she greeted them with a calm, professional smile on her face.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. How may I be of use to you today?" she inquired.
"Actually, we would like to register," he stated their purpose in coming to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Ahh, in that case," —bending down, she pulled out a piece of paper from underneath the counter, offering it to Erden along with a quill and a bottle of ink— "please write down the required information on this form; The names of yourself and your party members, and the name of your party."
Erden and Calamitas looked at the form which was mostly blank, leaving space for the names of the party and the party members. They felt something amiss, prompting Calamitas to speak for the first time, inquiring about any other requirements or information they might need to fill out.
"Wait, that's it? Do you not do any acceptance examinations or charge any fees or the like?"
"Fret not, for we do not charge any memberships fees. As for having any barriers to entry like acceptance exams—most of the new rookie adventurers are usually mentored by more experienced adventurers..."
As she explained the details about registration, she trailed off, perhaps remembering something unpleasant, her tone laced with regret and resignation. "But there are always the foolhardy ones, in their grandeur of delusions and arrogance, choosing to go off on their own. Of course, most of the time, they end up with severe injuries."
"That is understandable. Please give us a second to discuss this among ourselves," she stated, turning towards Erden as she spoke in a hushed tone. "I'm fine with joining, but what should we name our party?"
"Shadow Wizard Money Gang." The reply was instantaneous, causing her to facepalm at the asinine suggestion. Her refusal was vehement, evident by the "X" formed by crossing her arms, followed by an, "Absolutely not!"
However, Erden wasn't one to give up as he thought up another name, right on the spot.
"Jumpjutsu Kaisen?" Another name that simply wasn't meant to be, as it was instantly shot down by her. "Again, no!"
"Second coming of 'Murica?" Third times the charm, is what he thought to himself.
However, Calamitas did not look impressed, responding with a simple, "Do better."
"Hmm, then how about... 'Terrarian Crusaders'?" he suggested once more, this time putting a lot more thought into it.
"Still can do— on second thought... that is actually a good name." She was about to refuse for the fourth time, but froze midway as she stopped to think about the name. Although she wasn't sure about the "Crusaders" part, the reference to her world felt kind of nice to hear.
"Alright then, 'Terrarian Crusaders' it is!" exclaimed Erden, excited to finally have an isekai adventure without having to worry about fighting for his life everyday. He picked up the quill, dipping it into the bottle of ink as he began to write down on the form.
As he wrote down the party name, his hand froze for a moment as his eyes widened, realizing that he was writing everything down in Teyvat's native language. He then continued writing, a neutral expression on his face masking his surprise.
Once he was done writing down everything, he looked up towards the receptionist, asking another question, "By the way, Ms. Katheryne, would there be any problems if we wanted to add more members to the party in the future?"
"Not really, though I would recommend coming notifying the Guild in case you do end up having more members, as having more than one person in a party increases the reward Mora by 50% for each person, so it would allow us to have an easier time when distributing rewards and such," replied Katheryn, following it up with an inquiry of her own. "Also, I do not recall introducing myself by my name."
"Oh, I heard it from the one of the locals when they guided me here." He lied as naturally as he breathed.
"I see. Well, without further ado, please allow me to officially welcome you into the Guild!" She bent down once again, this time pulling out a notebook from underneath the counter. "Here is your Adventurer Handbook. It acts as proof of your membership."
And not only that, but it also contains a myriad of information, ranging from knowledge about enemies, and domains, to simple things like the different kinds of flowers and plants in different areas of the region."
Once she was done speaking, she handed over the Adventurer Handbook to Erden, giving them a few seconds to digest the information, before she continued speaking further.
"For now, I believe that will be enough. I suggest familiarizing yourself with the handbook and starting off with some of the more simple commissions." She halted for a moment, as if remembering something, before she continued speaking.
"Oh! Speaking of commissions, you will be given four per day. Once you complete them, please make sure to come by, and bring some sort of proof with you depending on the type of commission. If you happen to complete all four within the same day, you will be rewarded an extra as bonus."
After going into the details regarding commissions, she bent down yet again, looking underneath the counter as she rummaged through a bunch of papers. Finding one that suited the current circumstances, she stood back up as she handed the paper over to the duo.
"These are your daily commissions for today. The first two are simple gathering and delivery commissions, while for the last two, I have determined that you are prepared for combat, judging by your build. But other than that, do you have any questions?"
As soon as she was done speaking, Erden requested for an item that held quite the importance to them, in the current moment, "Can we get a map of the region?"
Hearing his request, Katheryne obliged, this time walking towards one of the racks, pulling out a folded sheet of paper from the top shelf. She unfolded it, getting a quick look to make sure that it was the correct item. Nodding to herself, she folded it back, walking towards the counter as she gave it to Erden.
"Any other questions?" she asked, ready to answer any more questions the duo would throw at her.
Seeing the new members shake their heads in denial, she smiled, uttering the very words that haunted every single Genshin Impact player, whether they be casuals or hard-core players. "Ad astra abyssosque, Adventurer! With effort, you shall reach the stars and conquer the abyss!"
Erden's smile became strained hearing those words, as he offered a polite 'Thank you' before dragging Calamitas off with him. Once they were some distance away, Calamitas looked concernedly at him as she asked for his wellbeing, "You alright?"
He looked at her, his eyes meeting hers as he answered her concerns, his face still bearing that strained smile, "Oh, I'm alright. Just having some Viet— Genshin flashbacks." He started reading through the commissions list that Katheryne gave him, finding the quests to be laughably easy.
The quests ranged from gathering fruits called Sunsettias, and mining some iron to fighting slimes and some humanoid creatures called Hilichurls. Although the reward wasn't as high as he would've like, but he mused that it was because of the low difficulty of the commissions.
"Anyways, do you want to get straight to doing the commissions, or should we explore the city a little bit?" he asked, wanting to get the opinion of his companion. She pondered over the choices, settling on the latter as she vocalized her choice, "We didn't really get the chance to explore the city yesterday, so let's do that first. The commissions, we can do later."
He smiled, gazing at her face and her crimson eyes that contained the bubbling excitement she felt. Gazing around, he made sure that nobody was looking towards him as he put the Handbook, map, and the commissions list into his Inventory.
As they began walking up the sets of stairs, the wind picked up as large, erratic gales surged through the streets for a few seconds, before they stopped. All of a sudden, they heard a feminine cry from above.
"Ahh! O-Oh, oh no, watch out!"
Looking up, they saw a young girl dressed in red and white, rapidly falling towards them. Within a split-second, the duo made eye-contact with each other, unspoken words being exchanged among them. Calamitas held her arms wide, bracing herself as the girl fell directly into her arms. Erden, seeing the spectacle, couldn't help but comment on the girl's glorious fall.
"Huh... didn't know rabbits fell from the sky."
The girl within her arms had dark-brown hair with a similar shade to Erden's, orange-gold eyes, and fair skin. She wore a jumper-like outfit composed of dark red shorts, a red and black top that has only a hood and sleeves, a white and brown top with the Knights of Favonius crest in gold on the front, red stockings, gloves, and white thigh-high boots embellished with gold linings and symbols.
Gold-framed goggles hung from her neck and a headband with a large red bow resembling rabbit ears, sat on her head. She wore a leather belt with two small bags. Finally, a glass casing resembling an orb, containing elemental energy, hung from the belt.
The girl's eyes were closed, in fear of the collision that was supposed to take place. Feeling herself held within someone's arms, she slowly opened them, only to find crimson orbs gazing at her in concern. She gaped at the appearance of the foreign woman, her exotic features being the first thing that stood out to her.
A coughing sound brought her attention over to the man that stood beside the mysterious woman. He was dressed in black garbs with gold accents, his emerald eyes looking at her in amusement, as his lips were slightly curved upwards, forming a smirk.
Her face reddened in embarrassment, realizing that she had been blatantly staring at them for too long. She averted her eyes quickly, requesting in a hushed tone, "Umm... can you let me down?" In response, Calamitas gently let her down on her feet, the woman standing straight as she composed herself.
"Ahem... Thank you for catching me before I fell to the ground." Showing her gratitude, she saluted in the same manner as the knight from yesterday. "I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius. Right now, I have somewhere else to be, but I'll definitely make sure to properly thank you later!"
Saying that, she ran off to take care of her business. Seeing her behavior, Calamitas couldn't help but make a small remark. "What a quirky girl." While Erden on the other hand, found the whole situation quite ironic.
'To think that the first playable character I meet, just so happens to be the first character that everybody gets, aside for one of the twins.'
Getting back on track, the duo began to explore different parts of the city—the Favonius Cathedral and the Anemo Archon Statue in front of it, the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, the Market District, and a few other places.
After that, they left the city, completing their commissions for the day. It was evening by the time they got back to the city, heading directly to Katheryne to collect their rewards—about 20,000 Mora from four commissions, on top of the bonus.
From there, they directly went to the Good Hunter, a restaurant renowned throughout Mondstadt for their delicious dishes with affordable prices. After eating, they explored some more parts of the city, before going back to the Inn they were currently staying at, as they paid for a few more nights.
The night passed, and morning came once again. Like the day before, they received their daily commissions, completing them, talking to the locals and touring the sights.
The following days passed by without much happening, except for the reported sightings of a dragon near the city and the occasional storms that passed through.
Another interesting thing was that in just one week, the duo had gained quite an interesting reputation among the city's adventurers, as the rookie's with the fastest recorded times for completing all four of their commissions within an hour.
They also happened to briefly meet some of the more influential figures of the city. However, they didn't interact much, other than exchanging simple greetings and some small talk. Though, the most annoying to deal with happened to be some of the Fatui diplomats they encountered.
Just like that, their first week in Teyvat was over. It was just like any other day for the duo, strolling through the city as they had just got back from completing their daily commissions. By now, they had easily accumulated over 150,000 Mora, making sure that they wouldn't be financially troubled for quite a while.
Greeting the few locals that still chose to stay outside, regardless of the recent storms that raged around the city, they walked into the Market District, spotting Amber in the distance standing alongside two new figures.
The first was a small floating fairy-like creature. She had thick, cropped white hair, and purple eyes. Her attire consisted of a long-sleeved white jumper and a night-blue cape flecked with stars, white stockings, and white boots.
Rose-gold embroidery and shapes adorned her jumper, boots, and sleeves. She also wore a dark blue hairpin, almost black, and a rose-gold tiara that levitated above her head as though it was a halo.
The second figure was a female, around Amber's height. her blonde hair was cut at chin-length, except for two locks of shoulder-length hair framing her face. Two light-blue Inteyvat flowers were pinned on the right side of her head and two pale blue feathers tucked at the left.
She wore a sleeveless, backless, box pleated white dress held up by crossed black straps. A long two-tailed scarf hung around her neck, with each tail having a gold, flat diamond-shaped ornament attached to the tip of the tail. Her legwear consists of angled thigh-high stockings and white ankle-high boots.
Walking towards Amber, Erden hollered at her, drawing the attention of the other newcomers. As the blonde-haired girl turned around, he made eye-contact with her, her fiery-gold eyes gazing into his emerald orbs.
Maintaining the eye-contact for a few seconds, Erden was the first to turn away, inwardly musing to himself, 'Looks like it's Lumine who woke up later. Well... at least I'll get to see smug Lumine, but that also means that the dragon will attack soon.'
Looking towards Amber, he inquired about the strangers, pretending to be as clueless as possible as as to not draw any suspicion towards himself or his companion. "Are they new here? It's my first time seeing them in this city."
Amber turned towards the voice calling out to her, eyes shining with recognition as she gazed at the duo. "Oh! Erden, Calamitas, you're already back? It's only been about two hours since you left to do your commissions." She paused, pointing towards the newcomers as she began to introduce them.
"Anyways, this girl here is Lumine—a traveler from afar, currently searching for her brother. While the flying—"
"Emergency food." The girl, Lumine joined the conversation.
"—emergency food is Paimon," Amber finished her sentence, choosing to use Lumine's nickname for Paimon, who was definitely not happy, judging by her kicking the air in indignation.
"Hey! Paimon is not emergency food," Emerg— Paimon replied angrily.
Ignoring the petulant child, Amber finished the introductions, this time focusing on the otherworldly duo. "These two over here are Erden and Calamitas. Just like you, they're travelers from a distant land, currently staying in Mondstadt."
Hearing that the two of them were also "from afar", Lumine narrowed her eyes, eying them with slight suspicion. Erden, who knew the truth about her, and Calamitas, who heard about her from Erden, both ignored her gaze, knowing it was too soon to reveal themselves to be travelers from another world.
"Anyways, I was just about to take them towards the Anemo Archon's statue because I have something I want to give her. Do you guys want to come with us?" Amber offered, finding this to be a good opportunity to get to know more about the otherworldly duo.
Erden shook his head, rejecting her offer, "Not for now, you guys go on ahead. We're kinda hungry, so we'll get something to eat while we wait for you guys."
Amber didn't let the rejection discourage her, signs of her bubbly personality evident as she responded in an energetic manner, "Don't worry, It won't take longer than a few minutes! We'll be back in a jiffy!"
Saying that, she grabbed Lumine's hand as she dragged her off to the Favonius Cathedral. Lumine didn't resist, but she made sure to give the duo a bombastic side-eye before she left along with Paimon.
Erden simply shook his head at her behavior, as he set about walking towards the center of the Market District, Calamitas walking alongside him as he cautioned her about the events that would soon unfold.
"Get ready, in a few minutes, we'll be fighting against a dragon. Make sure you don't kill or wound it, as our goal will only be to drive it away," he instructed her. Knowing that it wasn't something that would really put them in harms way, she accepted it.
Several minutes passed by before both Lumine and Amber landed on the ground, their Wind Gliders greatly slowing their fall. At the same time they landed, the breeze picked up, soon replaced by harsh gales billowing through the streets as dark clouds covered the sky.
ROAR!
A loud roar shook the city, as a large dragon flew over the city walls, weaving through the city structures before it damaged one of the buildings, causing debris to fly everywhere and injure some of the inhabitants of the city.
ROAR!
It roared once again, controlling the winds and creating a giant tornado right in the middle of the Market District where the foreign travelers and the Outrider were located. The tornado began moving towards them, and unfortunately, Lumine and Paimon got caught up in it, as they were the closest to it.
"Lumine! Paimon!" Amber screamed, horrified at seeing them being flung circularly upwards along the tornado. On the other hand, Erden and Calamitas remained calm, with not a trace of panic on their faces.
With a thought, a dark, obsidian stone appeared in his hand, emitting wisps of shadows. "Come out, Crys," he spoke, his words directed towards the entity living within the stone.
Upon his command, the stone shook, flying out of his hand as shadows erupted from it, forming the figure of a dragon that wasn't too big in size, traces of blue shimmering from its eyes and throat.
The shadow dragon—Crysthamyr, unfurled his wings as he awaited the duo to board him, which they did with practiced ease. He looked towards Amber, finding her staring at the dragon, her mouth wide open as she gawked stupendously.
"Amber, Amber!" he called out to her twice, snapping her out of her reverie as he advised her on what to do next. "Focus on evacuating the citizens. We'll be right back in a few."
Not even giving her a chance to retort, Crysthamyr took off with impressive speed, his wings an extension of his body as he maneuvered through the storm with grace.
Breaking through the clouds, they came witness to Lumine attempting to balance herself, while also trying to avoid getting munched on by the dragon's jaws.
With a sigh, they prepared themselves for battle, Erden taking out a long-ranged weapon with non-lethal rounds, while Calamitas readied some of her weaker spells. He also took out his Cell-Phone, scrolling through it until he found an appropriate song that fit the situation.
The sound of instruments rang throughout the sky, drawing the attention of both the raging dragon and Lumine and Paimon. Screaming out a one-liner, Calamitas and Erden charged into battle as Crysthamyr accelerated towards the angry dragon.
"Now then, who wants to have some dragon meat for dinner?!"
------------------------------
That's it for this chapter.
Not much to say other than it took longer than I expected.
See ya next time.
