Chapter 4 - Is this the End?

As Mathis tightened his grip on the water trident in his hand the hilichurl began charging at him. As the hilichurl got within range he thrust the trident straight at it piercing it through the chest. However it didn't completely stop the hilichurl as it continued moving forward even with the trident impaling it lifted its club and took a wide swing. Mathis quickly let go of the trident and jumped backwards creating another one in his hands. The previous trident quickly broke apart and the water began to fall to the ground.

'How resilient are these things I stabbed straight through the chest and it's still going. Still I'm at surprised how easily the trident cuts through it's flesh even though it's made out of water it's deadly.' The hilichurl began blindly charging at him again but at a visibly slower speed. Mathis used his advantage in reach to attack it from a distance again slashing down on it as he cut down the hilichurl. As the hilichurl's body collapsed onto the ground it began to quickly disintegrate. After a few seconds Mathis again appeared in another room this time facing two hilichurls.

This time Mathis took a few steps back as they charged towards him. As both were in his range he thrust his trident at one of them, but he had learned his lesson from the last time and aimed a decisive blow towards it's head quickly ending it. Just as he was about to deal with the other one he felt a sharp pain in his ribs as the hilchurl smashed it's club at the side of his body. Mathis made a weak attempt at trying finish off the second hilichurl like the first but the pain hindered his ability as he missed and hit the shoulder of the hilichurl instead.

Just as the hilichurl was about to take another swing he kicked it back with all the force he could as it fell to the ground. Due to the sudden movement the pain he felt in his ribs soared. Mathis did his best to ignore it and quickly stabbed at hilichurl laying on the ground until it disintegrated. The moment it disappeared he dropped his trident and fell to the ground reeling in pain. 'My ribs are definitely broken It hurts so much every time I breathe I feel a sharp pain. It's my fault for not paying close attention to the second one, but for short skinny monsters why do they hit so hard.'

Mathis continued laying on the ground waiting for the next fight. After what seemed like a minute he again found himself in another room. This time he was faced with three hilichurls but this time one was armed with a crossbow. 'My ribs still hurt like hell I don't think I can deal with this.' As Mathis started thinking this the two of them started charging at him while the other charged up it's crossbow. As the hilichurls approached he sluggishly tried thrusting his trident forward at one of them but the hilichurl dodged most of the attack with the trident leaving a small cut on it's shoulder.

Both hilichurls raised their clubs at the same time to attack Mathis raised his trident to somewhat block their attack. While doing this he was paying attention to the hilichurl archer in the back and noticed it take aim ready to shoot. Mathis tried to dodge the shot but was too slow and was hit in the shoulder by the arrow. He quickly dropped to the ground and rolled backwards avoiding the narrowly avoiding the swings of the two hilichurls in front of him. As he started to get up another arrow shot forward and hit him in the leg forcing him on one knee.

As he looked at the two hilichurls with clubs approaching he couldn't help but think. 'Am I really going to die here. Is this how I go out, to a bunch of hilichurls. I haven't even gotten to explore the world or meet any of the characters.' Both the hilichurls were standing in front of him they rose their clubs and quickly swung down smashing onto his head. He blacked out.

He opened his eyes and found himself in the same tavern he fell asleep in. He quickly grabbed the side of his ribs and checked his shoulder and saw that there was no injury. 'Was that whole thing just a dream, that was way too vivid and it felt too real. I don't believe that that was a dream there's no way it felt way too similar to reality.' There was only one way to know for sure Mathis stretched his hand forward and opened his hand and a ball of water appeared floating on top of his palm. It quickly took shape and formed a trident Mathis quickly put it away before anyone took notice.

He looked around and saw that there were a lot less people in the tavern then when he first arrived. As he began to go down the stairs he couldn't help but feel mentally exhausted even though he felt rested up and good physically. 'I knew it wasn't a dream but what was it then another dimension maybe. Whatever it is I can somewhat use the power of hydro because of it, I wonder if I'll be able to head there again in the future. Maybe it takes a certain amount of time to go there again or I have to reach a requirement or something.' As Mathis was thinking about what had happened he walked up to the bartender.

"Hello sir what can I get you." The bartender asked. "Nothing right now I actually have a question for you. What time do you usually close." Mathis wanted to get a grasp at how long it had been since he fell asleep. "Well we're usually closed from 06:00 to 13:00 right now it's 05:00." he responded. "Thank you for your help enjoy the rest of your night." Mathis said his goodbye to the bartender and walked outside and looked up at the sky it was still dark with the stars out and took a breath of fresh air. He guessed that he was asleep for 7-8 hours since it was getting dark when he entered the tavern he was surprised that he was asleep for that long. As he began walking down the streets of Mondstadt he began to think 'Well what should I do now.'