This was Nahida's first time playing at an internet café.
Sitting beside her, Xia Zhi watched her scoot her chair way up close to the desk, craning her neck to stare at the screen. For some reason, it gave him the guilty feeling of leading a kid astray online.
But she was clearly already five hundred years old.
Right now, everyone was warmly inviting Nahida to join their game.
Since she wasn't very familiar with it yet, Xia Zhi sat beside her, offering guidance.
"First buy a Doran's, then a red potion—yep, now go…."
While teaching her how to build items, Xia Zhi let his eyes drift from her to a quiet, glittering diamond progress bar hanging in the air.
Progress: [7%].
Even though the two of them had already exchanged countless messages over the phone, the progress bar only began to move once they'd actually met face-to-face, allowing the system to identify it.
"Brother Xia Zhi, I lost."
"No worries, play another."
"Brother Xia Zhi, I lost again."
"Wins and losses are part of the game."
--
After several straight defeats, Nahida started feeling bad for her teammates. They weren't blaming her, but she was still too embarrassed to keep playing. "Brother Xia Zhi, why don't you play instead?"
Xia Zhi glanced at her half-filled diamond progress bar and reassured her, "It's fine, keep going. Don't be fooled by how impressive Dragon King and Barbatos look right now—when they first started, their gameplay was a total mess. You're already doing great. And you're playing support, so the outcome isn't really on you."
Encouraged, Nahida played a few more matches.
Finally, she managed to win some as well as lose.
In the process, Xia Zhi successfully maxed out her progress bar, earning a diamond treasure chest.
Once he saw Nahida had blended into the group, Xia Zhi got up to leave.
After all, hovering over someone's shoulder while they gamed wasn't exactly polite.
He called Shenhe and Ganyu to go with him. After some hesitation, he didn't invite Cloud Retainer—mainly because Cloud Retainer and Ganyu both had such thin skin, and putting master and disciple together might just end up awkward.
Shenhe, however, bound by her red rope of fate, was the most indifferent of them all.
The three of them took a compass and went out to search for dream materials, enjoying a bit of sightseeing along the way.
When they returned to the café, Xia Zhi sat back down beside Nahida.
She wasn't playing support anymore—she was an ADC now.
And then, Xia Zhi watched as she danced across the screen, pulling off a flawless pentakill.
No surprise there—she was another God of Wisdom, after all. Picking up the mechanics so quickly was only natural.
"You're amazing, Nahida," Xia Zhi said with a smile.
Receiving praise, Nahida's eyes sparkled with delight. She whispered, "Not really… I just got lucky. Didn't waste my ult."
Games really were more fun than books.
Nahida sneaked a glance at Xia Ci sitting on the other side.
Hmph. And big sis used to forbid her from coming here!
From across the room, Xia Zhi heard Dragon King and Barbatos groaning in despair. "We're done for! Can't play anymore! We were already getting stomped by that Cream Puff guy, and now Nahida's brutal too…"
Zhongli, expression calm as ever, was reviewing their earlier loss.
Meanwhile, Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper silently cracked open bottles of cola and drank in unison.
After that match ended, the mode switched to one with random teammates.
That had its own fun.
Before they knew it, time slipped by.
Outside, dawn was breaking.
Though a little reluctant, Nahida smiled as she bid everyone goodbye.
She opened her eyes and found herself back in the House of Daena in Sumeru.
Sitting up from bed, she stared at the silent room in a daze.
Then she picked up her phone and sent her very first message to the chat group.
[Nahida]: Good morning.
--
Xia Zhi woke, sat up in bed, and put on his glasses.
Opening his inventory, he pulled out the diamond treasure chest he'd earned from Nahida last night.
He chose to open it.
A thin little notebook appeared before him.
[Book of Erudition]
Quality: Diamond
Type: Special Item
Trait: Inscription, Comprehension, Understanding
Effect: The holder may inscribe any skill (not higher than this item's Quality) onto its pages. Reading the inscribed pages grants a chance to comprehend the skill. The more times it's read, the higher the chance of comprehension. Grants the holder universal language comprehension.
Hidden Effect: When comprehending, there's a chance to gain Fusion skills. The more skills inscribed, the greater the probability.
Recyclable: 10,000 points.
Xia Zhi reached out and grasped the notebook.
A strange sensation surged through him, countless alien scripts flashing across his mind.
This was the "language comprehension" ability mentioned in the Effect.
Compared to the "Teyvat Language Mastery" he'd wielded before, this was several times stronger. At this moment, no matter the tongue, he could read and use it with ease.
Looking down through his lenses, he saw the notebook's cover was blank.
He opened it. Inside was only a single sheet of paper—also blank, not a single word.
Like a heavenly tome without words.
Intrigued, Xia Zhi touched the empty page with his fingertip.
A system voice echoed in his mind.
"Special item [Book of Erudition] detected. Proceed with [Skill Inscription]?"
Xia Zhi made his choice.
"Yes."
"Select the skill to inscribe. Note: Skill Quality cannot exceed Diamond."
At the prompt, a panel of his current skills unfurled before his eyes.
There were active skills of every element, as well as various passives.
After browsing, Xia Zhi selected [Third Meditation Technique].
"Inscribe skill [Third Meditation Technique]?"
"Yes."
At once, light glimmered at his fingertip.
The glow sank into the blank page.
Suddenly, lines of text began pouring across the once-empty sheet.
Line after line.
Even when the page was filled, the words kept flowing.
As if one page wasn't enough to contain it all.
Another sheet appeared. Then a third, a fourth…
By the eighth page, the light at Xia Zhi's fingertip finally faded.
"Skill [Third Meditation Technique] successfully inscribed into [Book of Erudition]," the system announced.
Flipping through the eight pages, Xia Zhi found detailed instructions on learning the Meditation Technique.
But since he already knew [Third Meditation Technique], rereading it gave him no new insights.
For his cousins, however—even as gods—this Meditation Technique still held great value.
Checking his stats, Xia Zhi saw his Spirit Points had dropped by 100.
As expected, inscribing skills consumed mental energy, just like crafting items.
No big deal.
After some thought, Xia Zhi flipped to the last page—the ninth.
Blank, just like the first.
He reached out again.
"Special item [Book of Erudition] detected. Proceed with [Skill Inscription]?"
"Yes."
This time, he inscribed [Second Meditation Technique] and [First Meditation Technique] as well.
Dozens more pages appeared instantly.
Since multiple skills were now inscribed, a table of contents also materialized.
Testing it, Xia Zhi discovered he only had to will it, and the book would flip directly to any page he wanted.
Convenient.
With the three main Meditation Techniques inscribed, Xia Zhi also added the one he'd later derived through Simulation.
[Primal Meditation Technique]: Passive. Increases maximum mana by 3 per second; maximum Spirit Points by 2 per minute; maximum Divine Power by 1 per hour.
This was arguably the most useful one for his cousin and cousin-sister.
After inscribing it, Xia Zhi noted the text was far more abstruse, and its pages exceeded the total of the previous three techniques combined.
The higher the skill, the more pages required.
After some deliberation, Xia Zhi also inscribed [Alchemist Mastery] and [Culinary Grandmaster].
That would do for now.
Closing the book, Xia Zhi carried it next door and handed it to Shenhe.
Curious, Shenhe asked, "Boss, what's this?"
"A book that lets you learn skills," Xia Zhi replied.
Flipping it open, Shenhe frowned. "Strange content."
"Can you understand it?" Xia Zhi asked.
"Some of it, yeah. It's about Meditation Techniques," Shenhe said.
Ganyu peeked over her shoulder, then frowned. "I can't understand a thing. What language is this? Doesn't look like Teyvat's script."
Shenhe blinked. "You're right—it's not from Teyvat. Odd, but I can read it."
Xia Zhi chuckled. "Exactly. Only whoever's holding the book can understand it."
Taking it from Shenhe, Ganyu tried again—and sure enough, she could now read it perfectly. "Unbelievable…"
"Start with the first one—the first eight pages. Even if you don't fully get it, read it once, then again, then again. With enough reads, you'll naturally learn it."
"Right now?" Ganyu asked.
"Yeah, right now. I want to test how many reads it'll take before you two get it. Don't worry about time—I'll freeze it in this room."
"Alright, I'll try."
Shenhe glanced between her senior sister and Xia Zhi, then slowly shifted closer.
As Ganyu read intently, a strange sound reached her ears. She looked up. "Hm? Hm!"
"Sh-sis… you… read first… I'll… take… next…"
"…"