34. On The News

Since Zhongli saw Ryūhei doing his morning routine and practicing swinging his Bokken, Zhongli decided to teach him the Adeptus Arts according to the contract. Starting from manipulating the energy to the techniques.

The techniques were transformation, energy transfer, sensing, and sealing.

Initially, Zhongli wanted to teach him a healing technique. But, because his negative energy contained a Yin nature, it couldn't be used to heal wounds at all.

Unlike the common people who manipulate spiritual energy or Adepti who manipulate Adeptal energy, Ryūhei instead manipulated negative energy that no one else could.

Surprisingly, the concept of performing Adeptus Arts didn't change significantly when using other types of energy. The only difference was that performing Adeptus Arts using Adeptal energy would be more effective and slightly stronger than spiritual energy.

This case was similar to the situation where Ryūhei used negative energy to perform Adeptus Arts. Even though its use of energy was more efficient, the power of that energy wasn't as strong as Adeptal energy.

After Zhongli taught a few techniques, he started to open his mouth.

"I didn't think you learned so quickly. Are you sure you're not a Yōkai?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Zhongli?"

"Usually, even if humans could learn the Adeptus Arts, they would struggle hard to learn even a technique. However, this doesn't apply to you, which is kinda off."

Ryūhei himself also found it weird. It was also proven when he was also able to control negative energy even though it had only been a day. Even when he was a child, he was always a fast learner.

His late father who died after the Kaedehara clan's internal struggle was certainly a human. However, when he thought about his mother, he frowned. He never met his mother once and his father said that her mother died after giving birth to him.

However, he denied that he was a Yōkai since he believed his adaptation and talent came from the gift of the goddess who reincarnated him into this world. What's more, he didn't have the characteristics of a Yōkai in general, such as Oni who had horns, Kitsune who had fox ears, or Tengu who had wings like fallen angels.

"You might be wrong if you think I'm a Yōkai. First, I don't have the characteristics of a Yōkai. Second, even if I was a Yōkai and could transform, I wouldn't have bothered to learn the transformation technique you taught me earlier." Ryūhei explained to Zhongli that he was just an ordinary human.

"Make sense." Zhongli nodded.

Then, a book appeared in Zhongli's hand all of a sudden. That book was none other than the Dragon Ball manga.

Well, such a thing was nothing to be surprised about since Ryūhei had also visited the subspace realm. So, things like a dimensional pocket or storage space weren't too surprising.

At that moment, Zhongli asked.

"By the way, have you ever encountered Apep?"

Ryūhei tilted his head.

"What is that?" He asked.

"It's a dragon from Sumeru. I thought you got the inspiration to draw this dragon in the manga because you saw Apep." Then, Zhongli pointed out Shen Long in the Dragon Ball manga.

Ryūhei shook his head.

"No. I've never even been to Sumeru. Maybe the resemblance between the two is just a coincidence."

"I see."

"Is it not to your liking?" Ryūhei asked Zhongli's opinion. But Zhongli shook his head.

"I think it's interesting. But, I wonder why Goku can't control his transformation. And others also don't know why Goku can transform into a giant ape. Is his race very rare?"

"Well, his race is indeed a rare one. But that is a story for the future." Ryūhei's mouth curled up with a pleased expression.

"Hmmm, I'm looking forward to it."

With that, Ryūhei's morning routine ended and he went back to his shop while leaving Zhongli on the top of Mt. Tianheng.

— — — —

The City of Mondstadt, Starfell Valley, Mondstadt.

Mondstadt is the main city of the namesake nation. Located in the west part of Starfell Valley on a large island in Cider Lake. Mondstadt features cobblestone streets and several windmills surrounded by a large stone castle wall. The architecture is constructed in the Gothic style, an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, and Fachwerk, a timber-framing style of architecture that can be found in Germany.

In the city, there are knights acting as the lawmen of Mondstadt, keeping its citizens safe and creating and upholding laws for all. The knights are called The Knights of Favonius.

The Knights of Favonius is an order responsible for protecting Mondstadt and its belief in freedom. Despite its members being known as knights, none has been knighted by any royalty, and knighthood is a title they earned from the noble duties they assume.

In that city, there is a building in Gothic style used by those knights and it's called Knights of Favonius Headquarters.

Inside it, a man wearing standard white plate armor of the Knights of Favonius walked toward the library while bringing something in his hand. A moment later, the man walked toward a woman in the library.

She has fair skin, green eyes, and wavy, shoulder-length light honey-brown hair. She looks to be around 25. Her height can't be measured because she is sitting on her chair right now. But she has a fantastic body with a waist curve like a Spanish guitar and a pair of bombastic mountain peaks.

"Miss Lisa, this is today's newspaper."

The man who was heading toward her turned out just carrying a new newspaper. The woman named Lisa who sat on her seat didn't even turn her head as she focused on the book she read.

"Oh, thanks."

After Lisa received the newspaper, the man quickly left the library.

A few minutes later, Lisa put down the book she was reading and started looking at the newspaper the man had brought her.

"Hmmm? Manga, an innovation for telling a story? What is this?"

Lisa became interested after reading the headline from the newspaper.

"A 15-year-old boy who came from Inazuma has succeeded in making an innovation to tell a novel-like story in another form called manga in Liyue Harbor. He managed to attract many customers in just a week through this innovation. He wrote 2 mangas with the titles One Piece and Dragon Ball. And from the feedback from manga buyers in Liyue, both natives, immigrants, and visitors from other nations, 89% gave positive responses."

Reading up to this point Lisa raised her brows in astonishment. The newspaper also included a photo, where Lisa could see the Manga Impact shop was packed with people at the time the photo was taken. It was probably the time when Ryūhei played his electric keyboard.

"Interesting, I should try the so-called manga. But, who can I send to Liyue Harbor? Too bad Mika isn't here."

Since Lisa felt that manga was quite an interesting book, she intended to buy it by having someone go to Liyue Harbor. However, some of the knights were on an expedition to the north. Meanwhile, the rest were busy trying to quell the panic caused by a dragon that used to be the protector of Mondstadt.

"Sigh. At a time like this, there should be a hero arriving in this city to defeat a dragon. But there's no one like that up to this day." Lisa complained about the current situation in Mondstadt.

— — — —

News about the Manga Impact shop in Liyue Harbor started to spread in various nations except for Inazuma. This is thanks to The Steambird which is Fontaine's main newspaper company.

In fact, Kshahrewar, one of the Six Darshans, six main schools in Sumeru Akademiya that is primarily in charge of technology, started to stir after one of the students brought manga from Liyue Harbor after doing research.

They weren't excited because of the interesting story, but because of the content in it. How could it not be? When they read the Dragon Ball manga, they saw a means of transportation driven by a girl using some kind of energy. Although they were impressed with the vehicle, what made them excited was how the vehicle could become a capsule that was practical and could be carried anywhere.

So, one of them suggested researching how to make an item fit inside the capsule using their knowledge. Also, they discussed who would buy the manga next time since they believed that there would be more interesting things in the manga.