4 What was it that they say? ‘No pain, no gain’ or something?

It was always hard for me to make myself do something that needs to be done. If there was a choice to be made, I always ended up choosing the easy way out. A cop out, so to speak. That's why I always end up in situations where I have no choice but to do it. It sucks, but I know myself enough that if this didn't happen, I'll never be able to move forward. If not forced to, I'll never change.

Because change is scary.

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This world is indeed different from the game that I played on a daily basis. Everything seems much bigger in comparison. What should have been a less than two minute walk to the lake surrounding Mondstadt, turns into a five minute walk. Not sure how that would affect me in the grand scheme of things, but for now it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Any map knowledge that I have might not be useful anymore, not that I remember much of those. Knowledge of the general area should still be useful, but anything more than that is probably a no go.

By following the dirt path from Starfell Lake, I can see the Whispering Woods ahead of me. It's a lot denser than I remember it being, or maybe it's just me seeing things. It has been a while since I've been to a real forest after all.

Near the coast of Cider Lake to my right, I finally found what I've been looking for.

A Hilichurl camp.

'No sign of Hilichurl-made structure, only scattered campfires with some fence surrounding their campsite. Four hilichurls, one with a shield and a club, two with just a club, and one archer. Based on the color of their mask, probably a pyro archer. This is as best as I can hope for I suppose.'

Four hilichurls wouldn't mean anything in game, but here, if I'm not careful, a single arrow can kill me instantly. I don't know if attacking them during the night gives me any sort of advantage, but it would probably be more difficult for me than it is for them so I should prepare as soon as possible.

Judging by the sun's current position, it should still be somewhere around noon, that means I have a little over seven hours to prepare before nightfall. Not to mention I have to find someplace to sleep if I can't make it to Mondstadt by then.

'For now I should find an empty space near the woods to practice my elemental control.'

After searching the place for a bit, I managed to find a space I can use.

'Based on my understanding, intention and imagination is key to operating my vision, so I should focus on that while making the appropriate motion to help with the image. I remember the Wanderer's attack pattern goes something along the lines of three consecutive wind blades coming from his right, left, and then both of his hands.

'I'm probably not limited in how I manipulate the elements compared to the game, so I can probably design my own attacks. But for now I should master what I know before trying something new.'

I did a few stretches before starting. I'm not exactly fond of exercising before, so I rather not pull a muscle by accident.

'Okay, here goes nothing.'

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'That's strange.'

I've been practicing for how long now? Was it 20 minutes? Trying to conjure the wind blade itself turns out to be pretty easy, yet the most it can do after all that is give the tree in front of me a slight cut, probably around 1 cm deep. I'm not entirely sure on how that translates to damages on a humanoid body, but it should probably be enough.

Unfortunately, I'm not about to take any chances.

Logically, it shouldn't be possible for a wind to cut a person, but this is a magical world for fuck sake, there has to be a way. Should I make the blades thinner? That would only make the overall output lower, most likely. I did imagine the blades to cut deeper, but it never went past the 1 cm threshold, so it's not that either. What am I missing?

'Maybe I should 'charge' my attacks? I haven't tried that yet so it might work. Not exactly his charged attack though, so I suppose it's more reminiscent of Heizou's elemental skill charging mechanic.'

I concentrate and gather anemo energy towards my right hand once more, but this time I continue gathering anemo for an extra 3 seconds.

'The energy felt more abundant this time.'

Concentrate. Swing. Release.

Bang!

'The feedback from the attack is much more apparent. If nothing else, it's undoubtedly a lot more powerful. I suppose the 'combat system' is a lot more gamelike than I thought. Good to know.'

Walking towards my target, the result of my attack became apparent.

'Roughly an extra centimeter in depth. Fuck yes!'

Although the attack requires a charge, progress is still progress. Any optimization can be done at a later date. Now that I'm done with normal attacks, I should start practicing my elemental skill and charged attack.

'Wanderer's elemental skill makes him jump and enter a flying state, and his charged attack turns into an AOE attack that lifts the enemy into the air for a brief moment. Great for crowd control, and evasive maneuver in the air should be a lot easier. Worse comes to worst, I can just fly to a nearby tree and hide.'

After going back to my previous position, I gathered anemo energy towards my leg and jumped while simultaneously dematerializing my hat, turning it into a propeller on my back.

'The initial jump itself should be an attack on its own. Now, Imagine creating a small anemo orb in the center of the enemy group, sucking them into its center, and lift them up into the air.'

I made a grabbing motion with my right hand, and right there, in the place where I imagined it to be, an orb of anemo started forming, the grass surrounding it slowly swaying towards its direction.

'The suction power seems to be weak, probably not enough to drag a hilichurl, but that's fine, that's what practice is for.'

After the orb materialized properly, I lifted my right hand in an uppercutting motion, causing an updraft to form around the orb's surroundings.

'Updraft strength is quite strong, not enough to uproot the grass, but should be enough to disrupt the enemy and lift them, however slight that might be.'

Now that casting it is a success, I'll have to practice the execution. Repeat the process until it no longer feels slow and deliberate. Ideally, to the point of casting it like it's second nature, but that's something for the long term. For now, anything above a snail's pace should do.

So I continued practicing. While I'm at it, I also trained my aim in mid air. After all, what's the point if your attacks can't hit your enemy?

'Imbue my feet with anemo, jump, fly, attack the target, and carefully land.'

Repeat ad nauseum.

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'Should I practice my elemental burst?'

I've been thinking about this for a while now, but what does energy cost translate to in this world? Can you use your burst whenever you want? If not, then how do you know you can cast it? Does energy cost mean stamina? Or is there something that I have yet to figure out?

Should I go through the motion anyway? I know how it's supposed to work. But what if I managed to successfully cast it, yet I suddenly felt very tired? Or maybe I'll fail to cast it and nothing happens? Do I want to take this gamble?

'Too risky. I'm alone with no one around to help me should anything bad happen. Sorry 50/50, not taking any spooks this time around.'

It has been roughly two hours since I started practicing. Aside from making sure I can cast elemental skill and combo it with attacks relatively fast with little delay, I've also spent extra time on practicing aiming, dodging, and the charged normal attack, both on land and on air just to be sure.

'With this, I am no longer a level 1 crook.'

It's amazing how much of a motivator it is to be able to clearly see your own progress. I wonder, if I have a status screen that I can monitor whenever I want, would I be less of a slob?

'Okay, no more stalling. It's time to start.'

With a heavy heart, I started walking towards the hilichurl camp.

'Let's recap. Four hilichurls: two with clubs, one with a shield and a club, and one is a pyro archer. Priority target should be the archer. Initiate a surprise attack from a distance using a charged normal attack and make sure to aim for the head for a guaranteed kill. Kite the shield wielder towards the other two club users, and cast elemental skill. Initiate with a charged attack to make sure it can't use its shield, followed by normal attack. Repeat until the flying state can no longer be sustained and the enemies killed.'

Easy. Just follow the plan. It shouldn't be hard.

So why is it that I can't stop shaking?

'Come on! You have to do this, there's no other way. You need both a mask and the experience of killing humanoids, it's killing two birds with one stone! You've been blessed with a relatively small hilichurl camp to hunt on! Do you want to waste this one-time opportunity?!'

God, how I wanted to say yes.

But I have to convince myself.

Convince myself that there's no other way.

Because if there are…

…I already know what I am going to choose.