After clearing out the Hilichurl camp, Orion clapped his hands and walked over. "Got—it! Hmm? Amber, what's wrong with you?"
Amber looked at Orion, aggrieved. "You changed the map near my hometown!"
Orion turned back to look at the hilly terrain where earthworms were wriggling about, and scratched his head. "Sorry about that, I'll flip it back for you."
Waving his hand again, the ground in the distance flipped over once more, though those Hilichurls were still laid to rest.
Amber raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. "This ability of yours feels... quite convenient for farming!"
Orion:...
Worthy of his Liyue bloodline; he really nailed the farming aspect.
However, Amber immediately asked, "By the way, was that the Anemo Elemental Power you used just now? Lumine used it too."
"Yes." Orion summoned a wind vortex in his palm and instantly dispersed it.
Amber hopped around Orion, then looked in the direction of Lumine and Skirk.
"How can the four of you not even scrape together a single Vision? Never mind, I won't pry into your secrets. Let me take you back to Mondstadt first! Then I'll find a place for you to stay!"
Afterward, Amber enthusiastically ushered the group toward Mondstadt.
Lumine and Paimon were quickly moved by Amber's enthusiasm, following him hand-in-hand at the front—what fast besties.
Skirk and Orion walked behind. Given Skirk's temperament, or rather, his current temperament, he wasn't the type to ask questions, but in this short day of interaction, Orion, who had similar experiences and was far stronger than him, and Lumine, who was also an outlander, had slightly melted some of the ice in his heart.
A young voice rang in his ear: "Sometimes, saying a few extra words is nice, you know."
He looked at Lumine and Amber walking in front, then whispered to Orion: "That girl is even more enthusiastic than before. Did he notice something?"
If Skirk hadn't mentioned it, Orion would barely have noticed, because in his heart, Amber was supposed to have that hospitable, strawberry-shortcake personality.
But reminded by Skirk, he tried to recall the plot and suddenly realized, answering in a low voice: "On one hand, it's indeed his personality; you'll know once you spend some time with him.
On the other hand... he probably discovered that none of us have a Vision but we can all use Elemental Power. Mondstadt has recently been occupied by a group of Fatui from Snezhnaya, and he likely knows that Fatui Delusions allow one to use Elemental Power without a Vision, so he's worried we might be Fatui too.
He and his friends were wronged by the Fatui when they were kids."
At this moment, Orion suddenly felt that Amber was truly worthy of being a Knight of Favonius.
Skirk looked at Orion in surprise: "Are you very familiar with him? And how do you know about the Fatui? We haven't even reached Mondstadt yet."
Orion used his standard line, pointing to his eyes: "My eyes are called Clairvoyance; they can see into the past and future to a certain extent, though not always accurately. For example, my own arrival caused Lumine and Paimon to arrive in Mondstadt a day later than I had foreseen."
"You delayed your arrival by a day to wait for me? You saw that I would go to that beach?"
"Sort of."
"Then do you know what I looked like when I was a child?"
"..."
"Fine, I get it. That's not bad either; at least I don't have to put on an act in front of you."
Skirk felt inexplicably lighter.
An extraterrestrial species still in the transition phase from childhood to adolescence, yet possessing strength far exceeding his own, the ability to simulate Elemental Power and absorb Abyssal Power, and even the Clairvoyance to see the future and past.
This undoubtedly increased the possibilities for him to defeat his master.
And...
Skirk snuck another glance at Orion.
He knew his own personality; if no one had actively touched the depths of his heart, he probably would never have voluntarily spoken of his past in this lifetime.
Yet the other party already knew his past, and this didn't make him feel offended. Instead, for someone who had always spent his journey making himself disappear from others' memories, a small crack appeared on his mask made of solid ice.
...
Lawrence's smile cracked a little.
He didn't understand why the man in front of him, after hearing his name and pondering for a moment, suddenly slapped him on the shoulder and burst into laughter.
Orion knew this was rude, but he couldn't help it.
They followed Amber to the gates of Mondstadt. The Cider Lake bridge in reality was much wider than in the game, with enough space for two motor lanes, two bicycle lanes, and a sidewalk on each side.
However, perhaps due to the dragon disaster, Timmie wasn't standing on the stone bridge feeding pigeons.
Damn, missed a tourist spot.
Speaking of Timmie, Orion actually had quite deep feelings for him. As mentioned before, he initially started playing the game just to find a camping substitute with controllable beautiful girls. It turned out that in a video called "Mondstadter" before the launch, it was Timmie's line:
——The pigeons were all scared away by you!
——They'll come back. (Player)
——What if they don't come back?
——Just like Daddy...
It was these few lines of dialogue that made him feel for the first time that this world was flesh and blood.
By the way, the second time was during the first Lantern Rite, the one the day-one players jokingly called Labor Day.
That time, he very seriously completed every quest of the event and also did many Liyue world quests. When countless pieces of text connected on a certain day, he felt the whole world brighten up; that was the romance that belonged only to the day-one players.
One string, one pillar, the missing mother, the corpse lost at WangSheng Funeral Parlor, the couple who eloped, the well water contaminated by corpse water, and so on.
While he was distracted, the group crossed the bridge, and they saw Amber's fellow guard run over to greet them and check their identities.
Then, when the guard at the gate stated his name, Orion remembered this unlucky guy named Lawrence.
He had lost a bet, so he had to change his name to Lawrence, the notorious surname in Mondstadt, which was also the surname of Eula's family. To use an analogy, it's like losing a bet with a friend and the penalty is changing your name to something like "Jap" or "Kimchi."
After a little questioning, Amber led Orion and his group into Mondstadt.
Orion was very surprised to see Mondstadt, which had expanded several times over. Mondstadt in reality was not only huge, as large as a real European city, but the city walls also had ancient wooden gates!
Among the group, except for Skirk who was expressionless, the other three were looking around at the scenery of Mondstadt with curiosity.
Seeing their expressions, Amber was also quite proud. He liked being a guide for others, and the most trivial reason for bringing them to Mondstadt was that he liked seeing the sparkling expressions of outlanders when they saw his hometown~
"Right, I have a few gifts for you all!"
As he spoke, Amber took out the gifts he had prepared—three wind gliders!
Orion and Lumine received the wind gliders in sync, and Skirk hesitated for a moment before taking one too.
Looking at Amber's teacher-like expression, Orion knew that the wind glider test flight course for new players was about to begin.
He had heard that the wind glider tutorial in the game had been changed to be very simple, but judging by the feel of a Hyrule veteran, the difficulty at launch wasn't high either; he had even seen someone fall to the ground and just run their way through the test.
Come to think of it, Orion was suddenly curious about what kind of difficulty test this pre-update Amber would pull out of his pants.
But just then, the wind and clouds suddenly changed. The originally clear sky was suddenly covered by a layer of heavy black clouds!
Amber looked up, his expression gradually becoming panicked: "Oh no! Stormterror is here!"
Orion also looked up with a terrified expression: I haven't even done the test flight! Lumine and I don't know how to use the wind glider yet! How are we supposed to fight this aerial chase?!
Dvalin! Why aren't you following the script!!!
Meanwhile, a roar came from the horizon:
"Barbatos!!! Today, I will—
Destroy Mondstadt!!!"
Orion:???
Is this Dvalin or Durin coming???
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