The only motivation I need is the Mora I’ll be getting

Seeing the Abyss Herald escaping through a portal, I let out the breath I've been holding.

'I need to learn to shut my mouth.'

In a surprising (not really) twist of fate, a lector did in fact show up. It ended up being a herald and not a lector, but I digress.

One of the higher ups of the Abyss Order, and practically the strongest enemy within their ranks as far as I remember.

The fight, although it ended quite quickly, was very dangerous. Thankfully, throughout the domain, I've been focusing a lot more in close quarters combat instead of my usual ranged style. There was the occasional flight to escape a particularly sticky situation, but hey, progress.

It ended up not going well. At all. If not for me being able to conjure an anemo shield, my body would be full of injuries, or even bisected, if the size of the mitachurl's axe were anything to go by. However, precisely because I sucked, I ended up learning how to read an opponent's attack quite well.

That's the only reason I wasn't skewered by the herald's blade.

'Speaking of, I finally used an elemental burst.'

Surprisingly, the execution itself is nothing special, though I did feel something being drained. It's definitely not my stamina, since it didn't feel like I was more fatigued than usual. I'll have to test this further some other time. It was a surprising discovery, but a welcomed one, especially since we just dealt with a lot of mages before.

'Thank fuck his vision is Anemo.'

Halfway through the temple, a swarm of abyss mages appeared out of nowhere and ambushed us. I would've loved to test whether I'd be able to destroy their shields through anemo attacks alone, unfortunately, it was too risky to test at the time.

While Lisa and I managed to push them back somewhat, the moment they put up their elemental shield, and seeing that they were relatively grouped up, it was basically free real estate at that point.

'This must be how Kazuha havers feel in the Noblesse domain.'

It's amazing how effective combat can be if you just have the right element at your disposal.

'I should probably start stocking some disposable elemental source for future combat.'

I could probably buy a different flask filled with water to imbue my attacks with, and bringing a portable source of fire should be possible. The flint and fire striker is already in my bag, so if I start carrying some sticks or a small log it should be possible.

'Doesn't seem viable mid combat though. Now that I think about it, shouldn't there be potions and stuff?'

In the game, you can craft elemental essential oils that basically boost your elemental damage. I never bothered using them when I played so I forgot they even existed.

'This could be huge! Though I don't know if they'll function the same way now, they are basically made out of a source of an element right? Theoretically, if I imbued my anemo attacks with them, it should create a swirling reaction with that element!

'If this works, then my arsenal will be greatly expanded! And this is just the offensive potions, there's the defensive ones as well. Can't believe I never thought about this before!'

The only problem with this is the potential cost.

'How much of a Mora sink will this turn out to be?'

There are only three alchemists I know of in the entire city, and the only one that's available is Timaeus. Albedo is probably busy in Dragonspine, and Sucrose is terrible with human interaction. I can only hope Timaeus is willing to sell some of his stock, or at least getting paid for his service. If not, I'll have to learn alchemy myself.

'Ugh, so many things to do.'

Feeling my tense body relax, I turn towards the librarian behind me. "That should take care of the power source, right?"

"Yes, I believe so." she replied, as she straightened her slightly wrinkled clothes. "What was that thing at the end?"

"That was an Abyss Herald." Looking around the chamber, I tried to search for an exit but there was nothing to be found. Guess we'll have to go back the old fashioned way. "They're pretty high up in the Order's hierarchy. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to see them at all."

"A herald, huh? Have you met one of them before?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Have you fought one of them before?"

"I prefer not to fight them if I can help it."

Not a lie, but not really the truth either. Hopefully I don't accidentally say something I shouldn't.

The way back towards the entrance was dull and boring. The only good thing is that since the chamber we're in is on a higher ground, we can just fly back most of the way. Though I suppose in Lisa's case, gliding her way back.

Exiting the temple, we make our way back to the city. Hopefully, we'll be greeted by the clear blue skies once we've arrived in Mondstadt.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Arriving in the city, the effect of the operation is immediately apparent. The dark clouds covering the skies have disappeared, the winds are pleasant and refreshing instead of the chilling gale it was before.

Climbing the stone steps, Lisa and I make our way to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters towards Jean's office. Making our way inside, I see that Amber, Kaeya, Lumine, and Paimon have already returned ahead of us.

Seeing that the two of us are back, Jean stands up from her seat.

"Ah, you're back. How was it?"

"Everything has been dealt with." Walking towards the book section on the left, she rests both of her hands on the railing, relaxing her body forward, "My skin no longer felt like it was going through a full-blown breakout. We did encounter something towards the end though."

Having his interest piqued, Kaeya turns toward Lisa. "Oh? And what might that be?"

Glancing towards my direction, she explains everything that happened in the temple, particularly regarding our fight against the Abyss Herald.

Rubbing the base of his chin, Kaeya processed what Lisa reported. "A 'herald' you say…." Giving a side-glance towards Jean, he continued, "It seems the Abyss Order's involvement in this matter is quite significant. We should probably bolster the city's defense even further, Jean. Wouldn't want the Abyss Order snooping around, would we?"

"Right." Crossing her arms on her chest, she couldn't help but let out a sigh, "Though Dvalin's influence on the city has been neutralized, we still have the Fatui diplomats breathing down our necks. And now, even the Abyss Order is involved."

'That's rough, buddy. Welp, more Mora for me I guess.'

"Ms. Lumine, can you please show Lisa what you've shown me?"

"Sure. Here you go."

Grabbing something out of her pocket, she held within the palm of her hand a tear-shaped crystal, constantly emitting pulsating red light from within.

Making her way towards Lumine, Lisa carefully inspects the crystal. "Hmm, I can see the impurities within, but other than that, I can't make a proper analysis right now. I'll have to peruse some books from the library's restricted area.

"Once I find something, I'll notify you– ouch!"

"Lisa?!"

"I'm okay, I'm okay." She starts rubbing her hand slowly, trying to ease the pain. "It seems the impurities are repelling elemental energies. But why aren't you getting hurt, Lumine? Can't you manipulate the elements as well?"

Turning her attention towards Lumine, she continued, "What makes you special?"

Trying her best not to give anything away, she settles for a shake of her head.

'I can practically see the cold sweat running down her neck from here.' Keeping my amusement to myself, I said nothing and simply listened to their exchange.

"Well, you should probably keep it. It'll be safer in your hands than ours."

Nodding her head, she put the crystal back towards her pocket.

"With that out of the way," seeing that Lisa couldn't get much from the crystal, Jean turns her attention towards me and Lumine, "thank you windborne travelers, for helping us deal with this issue. The Knights of Favonius have one more favor to ask of you."

Clearing her throat, she smiles toward us, "Please accept the title of Honorary Knights of Favonius, and the gratitude of the Acting Grand Master."

"Whoa, Honorary Knights of Favonius?!"

In response to Paimon's exclamation, Jean opens the drawer on her desk and takes out two small badges with the symbol of the Knights of Favonius engraved on it.

"This insignia symbolizes your rank as an honorary knight and, should you ever need it, serve as a proof of identification. Hopefully, you'll find it useful."

Receiving the badge from Jean, I inspected its design before putting it inside my bag.

'It's great and all, but I'd rather have my Mora now, Acting Grand Master.'

"Of course, I haven't forgotten about our agreement, Mr. Yuu." Taking out a sack from under her table, she hands it over to me. "Three million Mora, as per our agreement."

'Yeah, baby! That's what I've been waiting for!'

"Thank you, Acting Grand Master."

Nodding her head, she turns towards Lumine. "Ah, there's also the matter of your missing brother. Lisa, has the interference within the ley lines disappeared?"

"Yes, I made sure of it on my way back here. Don't worry cutie, I'll be checking the memories within for any signs of your brother. It'll take a while, so I'll get back to you when I'm done, okay?"

Hearing that she'll be one step closer to finding her brother, Lumine couldn't help the beaming smile on her face. "Yes. Thank you, really."

"It's the least I can do for our new honorary knight." Instead of her usual teasing smile, the smile she directed towards Lumine is a genuine one, full of warmth unbefitting of her usual persona.

"Honorary knights," cutting the somewhat festive mood short, Jean continued, "I apologize for interrupting, but we, the Knights of Favonius, ask for your continued assistance in finding some answers," she said, with a serious look on her face.

"Stormterror's rampage, that strange crystal, the Abyss Order's involvement… Mondstadt's peace currently hangs in a balance.

"So please, should you find anything, meet me here once again."

Before I could raise my hand, Jean answered without delay. "Yes, Mr. Yuu, the previous agreement still applies to this one, and shall increase depending on your findings."

'It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Jean.'

Seeing Lumine sending me a questioning glance, I raised my eyebrows. Not that she can see it.

'What? I'm not a selfless person. If I can get paid doing it, then why wouldn't I?'

Now that the meeting is over, Amber hurried towards Lumine's side, congratulating her on her new title, while Kaeya briefly whispers something to Jean before exiting the office, probably something to do with the city's security.

'Should I leave, or should I wait for Lumine and Paimon?'

Before I could decide, I saw the two of them separating themselves from Amber and approached me.

"Should we go?"

With that, the three of us left Jean's office and exited the knights headquarters.

"Where to, princess?"

Tapping her chin lightly, she eyed the bag of Mora in my left hand. "How about lunch? Your treat of course."

"You should really get into earning your own Mora, Lumine. Especially with how high-maintenance Paimon is."

"Paimon is not high-maintenance!"

"The Mora I spent on your food begs to differ."

Amidst our bickering, a voice suddenly calls out to us.

"You two did a really great job helping the knights erase Dvalin's influence on the city."

Atop the steps behind us stood a bard wearing a corset-like leather outfit alongside green shorts with gold embroidery. He wears a green cape tied to his back with a deep blue and gold bow. The white stockings on his leg have three gold diamond-shaped motifs on each side, and on his head is a green beret-like hat with a Cecilia on its left side.

"I haven't thanked you two for your assistance in driving out Dvalin too."

A pair of green orbs shone with a hint of playfulness in between his dark blue twin braids.

The Anemo Archon, Barbatos.

"It's nice to finally meet the two of you."