Irresistible Temptation

Once his luggage had been moved up, Paul surprised the servants with a tip before promptly refusing their offer to help him arrange his things. He could always sort through them at his leisure later, and there were some things he simply didn't wish for them to see.

"Peace at last..."

With everyone departing on his orders, Paul was left alone in his massive penthouse. Fortunately, it was presently around 11:38 PM, a perfect time to open and make use of the Intersection of Fate.

Waiting for the ornate grandfather clock adorning his living room to chime midnight, Paul sauntered over to one of the guest rooms before placing his palms against the surface of its door. He had familiarized himself with the process of entering the Intersection of Fate the evening after his first visit, so he was unsurprised as an intricate pattern of runes spread across the door before it promptly folded inward like a collapsing stone bridge.

"We meet again, Master Paul."

Though it had been seconds since Paul's last departure, at least from her perspective, Zhongli offered a polite curtsy and a simple greeting.

Forcing a smile, Paul approached the center of the platform before saying, "I just finished moving into my penthouse suite at the Milbots Academy of Nobles. We'll need to come up with a cover story, but it should be safe for you to venture outside henceforth."

With one arm crossed over her chest, Zhongli raised her index finger and thumb to her chin, a thoughtful expression on her face as she hummed, "I see..."

Just as Paul was about to ask what she was thinking, Zhongli met his gaze and explained, "My apologies. I was accessing the information given by the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Just as you could view our world as if it were a work of fiction, the Gods governing the boundaries are able to view others in a similar light. Though my knowledge is incomplete, I am familiar with the structure of this world and its diverse cultures."

Noticing the confusion in Paul's emerald-green eyes, Zhongli's expression turned wry as she clarified, "I understand what you must do to explain my existence to others. Though I would rather not wear a collar, I will do so if I must. As for my identity, I would have preferred to assume the status of a Greater Elemental Spirit, but you are unable to use Magic. Thus, I will-"

"That's it...!"

Interrupting Zhongli before she could finish, Paul pulled out his Vision, a somewhat silly smile on his face as he said, "I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. If I tell people you're a Greater Spirit attached to the Vision, I can explain your existence and justify its presence at the same time!"

Though Paul expected her to be pleasantly surprised, Zhongli simply nodded her head, her expression unchanging as she said, "I see. If that's what you've decided, then we'll consider the matter settled. Now, before we depart, there is something I neglected to tell you."

Reaching into the satchel-like purse strapped across her body, Zhongli pulled out a handful of pink, purple, and blue objects roughly the same size as an Asura Gold Coin. When Paul saw them, his eyes lit up like a man that had just discovered an oasis in the middle of a desert.

"You are undoubtedly already aware of this, but these are Intertwined Fates. As an incentive to make use of the Intersection of Fate, your first ten pulls have been provided as a courtesy. Whether or not you use them, however, is up to you."

Accepting the Intertwined Fates from Zhongli's hand, Paul held one up to inspect it. He wasn't sure why, but he had always thought that Fates were spheres. Instead, they resembled a ring with a nine-pointed star nestled and bound between two six-pointed leaves. They were beautiful but a lot simpler than he expected.

As if she could read his mind, Zhongli promptly grabbed one of the Fates from Paul's hand before pressing the two nibs at the center of the leaves. In a manner remarkably similar to a Pokeball, the Fate expanded in size to form a sphere.

"It would be inconvenient if you had to carry around a bunch of fist-sized spheres. My bag functions similarly to a pocket dimension, but the interior is only 3x3m. You will need to upgrade my Constellation if you want me to be able to store more items."

Though he was a little surprised to learn that Zhongli's bag was a storage device, Paul's biggest concern was the Gacha. He had initially intended to wait until his graduation before he started pulling, but there was a case to make for summoning sooner. He had more than enough space in his dorm, and it could benefit all of them if they had a few years to get to know one another...

Feeling like a Devil was whispering in his ear, Paul's expression became awkward as he asked, "Can you...can you tell me who is available in the current pool...?"

Nodding her head, Zhongli answered, "Since their status and titles would take some time, I will simply supply their names. In no particular order, they are Ganyu, Keqing, Mona, Diluc, Jean, Noelle, Xiangling, Chongyun, Fischl, Beidou, Barbara, Xingqui, Xinyan, Diona, Bennet, Ningguang, Qiqi, Sucrose, and Razor. As for weapons-"

Not caring about weapons, at least not at the present moment, Paul said, "That's enough. We'll worry about outfitting everyone once we set out and join the Adventurer's Guild. For now, let's hope for a strong ally..."

Having already made up his mind, Paul placed the ten Intertwined Fates into the hemispherical indents encircling the center of the platform. The notion that he was about to summon someone from another world made him jittery, but that was par for the course when it came to Gacha.

Once all the Fates were in place, Paul whispered, "Please give me Ganyu, Jean, or Ningguang..." before looking towards Zhongli and asking, "Now what?"

Pointing towards a set of handprints near the six-o-clock position of the formation, Zhongli explained, "Place your hands in those indentations and exclaim, 'confirm' in a loud and authoritative tone. Once you've done that, the Fates will disappear, and the summoning will begin."

Following Zhongli's instructions, Paul positioned himself near the prints, but instead of placing his hands inside, he rubbed his palms together and said, "RNGesus, please bless me this day..."

With his 'ritual' complete, Paul bent down and placed his comparably small hands into the adult-sized imprints and shouted, "Confirm...!" with as much conviction as he could muster. In response, the ten Intertwined Fates flashed with a rainbow hue, completely disappearing as a brilliant blue meteor began barreling towards the platform.

"Come on, come on, come on..."

Crossing the fingers of both of his hands, Paul continued to chant 'come on' while simultaneously chanting 'Ningguang' over and over in his mind. The latter was a character that had been able to go from a pauper to the wealthiest person in her world in just under fifteen years, so she would be a tremendous asset to have if his fate was tied to Gacha.

Seeing the meteor split into ten comets, Paul's heart sank as he noticed only a single purple hue among them. There was still a chance he would get Ningguang, but existence, especially when it concerned Gacha, was often cruel.

From within the comets that struck the platform, nine clattered to the ground in the form of weapons while the one at the center manifested into the shape of a young girl with amber eyes and short, dark-blue hair fashioned into a pair of ring-shaped ponytails.

"Xiangling..."

Hearing her name, Xiangling bounced to her feet with a happy smile on her face, exclaiming, "Yahoo~! Xiangling has arrived~!" in an excited and friendly manner.

Feeling a smidgeon of guilt, Paul suppressed his earlier lamentations as he internally advised, ("She isn't just a character from a video game. Don't go deciding a person's value based on their rarity. Even Ningguang is only a 4-Star, and she was the leader of a nation...")

Recovering his smile, Paul placed his hand over his heart, bowing as he said, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Xiangling. I look forward to working with you for the benefit of both our worlds..."

Possessing much of the same knowledge as Zhongli, Xiangling returned a proper curtsy, the hem of her Maid-like dress raised as she bent her body forward and happily replied, "The pleasure is all mine! I might not be the best fighter without a Vision, but I'm confident in my skills as a chef. Just leave all the cooking to me~!"

Blinking in surprise, Paul briefly scanned Xiangling's child-like frame as he asked, "You don't have a Vision?"

To Paul's considerable relief, Xiangling promptly produced a Vision from a tiny pocket in her apron. The only problem was that it was currently inert, completely lacking the luster of a Pyro Vision.

"Unless you summon the Pyro Archon, Lady Murata, Pyro Visions have no power source. I'm pretty handy with a spear, but I doubt I would be able to fight against anyone truly powerful in my current form. Give me ten to fifteen years, and I should be back to my full strength."

Flexing her tiny arms, Xiangling maintained one of the most infectious smiles Paul had ever seen. It made him feel even guiltier about his earlier disappointment, so, after a moment of silence, he adopted a sincere smile and said, "I equally anticipate your growth as both a warrior and a chef..."

Adopting a toothy grin that seemed to illuminate the entire world around her, Xiangling excitedly replied, "Yosh~! Let's all get stronger together~!" before promptly falling onto her bottom as she attempted to perform a pirouette.

"..." x2

Seeing Paul and Zhongli staring at her with blank expressions on their faces, Xiangling's cheeks began to heat up. Instead of fumbling about or acting embarrassed, however, she just knocked herself on the head, stuck her tongue out, and winked as she offered a cutesy, "Tehe~."

...