Sleepless Training

Mark began growing accustomed to Jean's office by that point. He breathed out as he placed one sheet of paper on top of an entire stack, pretending to wipe away the sweat on his brow.

"Phew, we're done. I told you we could handle it. It's like, what," 

Said Mark as he glanced over his shoulder to the clock behind him, "six p.m., and we started like, when, six in the morning?"

Mark chuckled, feeling his head a bit too light with a faint hint of dizziness.

"And we even managed to sleep like two hours last night. Heh, how fun."

Mark watched as Jean finished as well, taking a sip from her coffee mug. He himself wasn't a huge fan of it, refusing to drink it even when tired—although he did drink energy drinks sometimes, but mainly for the taste. Staying awake beyond normal limits was some sort of mental training for him, which he embraced a lot more than he should have.

"Alas, it's finally over. I might finally catch a good night's worth of sleep, the first one in a long while."

Mark sat up, rubbing his eyes as he grumbled a bit, trying to stay focused.

"All in all, I'm glad we're done. In the end, it seems that no overtime was needed."

A soft chuckle left Mark's lips as he began stretching, only to feel his jaw drop when Jean took out another chunk of paper, half the size of what they had already worked through.

"Now to take care of these, and I should be done by midnight."

His legs gave out as he sat back down on his chair, sighing.

"Come on," he said as he reached out to her, "give me half of it. I said I'd help you; I'll do it all the way."

Jean was a tad reluctant, but nonetheless, she handed him half of the pile, which he held on to before placing them on the table before him.

"Well, I guess that in the end, overtime came here for me."

Cracking his knuckles, he took one rapid breath, picking up his pencil as he began writing away, kicking into gear. He began adding up numbers, writing them in the ledger Jean gave him, and he even took the liberty to jot down some changes needed in certain cases.

"It still amazes me that you can work at that pace. You must be used to doing things like that."

Mark didn't bother to look up; his gaze stuck in his writings.

"Basic math; I can handle that. Writing is natural, so yeah. My forearms hurt a bit, but it's no issue. We'll finish here, then I'll probably go and train a bit."

Jean seemed worried as she heard his plans.

"Train? Mark, you barely managed to sleep last night. It's too much."

He laughed, saying nothing more. Noticing that, Jean focused on her own stack of documents, taking them one by one.

The sun had already set when they finished. Mark got up and paced around the room a bit, trying to stretch his legs.

"And we finished overtime as well, it seems. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave and go fight some monsters or something. I have some idea as to where some peculiar creatures might be."

Before he could open the door, he felt Jean grab his arm. With a serious gaze, she looked at him, staring right into his eyes.

"Mark, you're not going anywhere. You might end up hurting yourself."

He smirked, trying to figure out what line to use.

"Oh, so you'd rather I stand here with you, just the two of us?"

Embarassed, she looked away, still holding on to his arm.

"If that's what it takes to ensure you don't do anything reckless, then yes."

Mark chuckled as he opened the door, a smile plastered on his face.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm heading out. I want to test some things here and there, so yeah."

His steps guided him upstairs, through the silent hall, right into his room. He glanced around for Ras, who was nowhere to be found. Shrugging, he grabbed his longsword, claymore, and gauntlets, putting them on his arms before leaving.

Dowstairs, Jean was waiting for him, leaning against the door frame.

"Are you heading out?"

Mark nodded as he fixed his gauntlets in place, walking outside, hearing footsteps follow.

"Jean?" asked Mark as he turned around. "Just where are you going?"

She chuckled, speaking in a bit of a sleepy voice.

"I want to make sure that you'll be alright. Since you refuse to rest, I have no choice but to assist you."

Mark sighed, pulling down on his face with his palm, feeling that he was too tired for such a thing.

"Jean, for the love of God and all that's holy, go get some rest. I'm a weird ass machine, ok? I need no rest unless I feel like I'm dying, which isn't the case...for now..." 

Jean shook her head, and Mark had no choice but to keep going about his way, feeling her gaze plastered on his back as she loomed behind him.

He went out through the main gate, heading north-east, embracing the idea of fighting a Hypostasis. Ever since he found himself within the world of Teyvat, his mind rushed for ways to make him stronger, counting all the possibilities to train and try out new things. Despite not remembering a large chunk of his former knowledge, he still had inklings that lingered around.

As he walked off of the bridge, he stopped in his tracks, facing Jean.

"At least walk by my side if you really want to stick around. Come on, I don't bite."

Jean walked beside him, arms crossed together, watching curiously as Mark moved his index finger around, a faint Anemo glow painting its tip.

"You know, I always had this idea in mind. Sound is a vibration, and it travels through the air, so technically, using Anemo I should be able to play some sounds."

Jean raised a brow, trying to follow along with what he was saying.

"You would have more luck talking about this with Lisa. She possesses great wisdom that far outshines-" 

Mark shushed her.

"I know, but it's not all about knowledge or fully understanding. I merely want to show you a cool trick. Listen." 

A faint melody traveled to their ears, and Jean looked around for the source.

"It worked!" shouted Mark, trying to turn up the volume, which he managed to do.

"Now I can play melodies that I remember. How nice. It's even better that it can sort of automatically do it, so I don't have to always focus on it to keep it working. God bless this world."

A strange melody began playing, something unlike anything Jean had ever heard, but she seemed to enjoy it.

"Is this song something from your homeland?"

Mark nodded as the subtle notes danced along the silent night.

"Yes. I think this song was called something like 'can't get enough of me' or something. I really like this one."

He began pacing, walking with a bit of a spring in his step, as if his energy had come back to him from listening to this song.

"I must say, you keep amazing me time and time again."

Mark smirked, walking with his hands in his pockets, humming along to the song. They walked together through the dead of night, the moon their only source of light, until Jean noticed exactly where Mark was going.

"Oh no, you're not fighting the Anemo Hypostasis."

Before Jean could grab him, he ran off, his crimson aura flickering around him as he grabbed his claymore.

Jean tried to catch up, but before she could, he had already reached the elemental incarnation, slamming his claymore against its outer shell.

"So you're just as sturdy, huh? Let's see how well you can handle something more!"

As he thrust his claymore through the gaps, a strong wind pushed him backwards, sending him rolling before Jean. He leapt back to his feet, happy to finally fight a worthy foe.