I stood up and stretched my muscles. I could feel that I had gotten a little stronger.
Lumine, who had been sitting in front of me, also stood up.
"So, where exactly is this place full of energy?"
She asked curiously. From her expression and the way she moved, it was obvious she genuinely wanted to know.
"We're going into a dungeon."
Lumine gave me a slightly surprised look.
"A dungeon? How's a dungeon supposed to do that?"
"Dungeons lie on top of Ley Lines. I think the energy there will be denser."
Lumine brought her hand to her chin and thought for a moment.
"...That actually makes a lot of sense. But what if it doesn't work the way you're thinking?"
"Then we'll find something else. Simple as that."
Lumine giggled.
"I guess I'm the one overcomplicating things. Alright then."
Paimon was sitting at the table, watching us while munching on Valberry.
"But we should prepare if we're going into a dungeon. I doubt it'll be easy."
I'm sure brute strength alone won't be enough to clear a dungeon. I remember Genshin's dungeons having a few different types. For now, based on my memory and the map, there should be one nearby. I need to go there.
We got ready to leave and headed toward the city. Paimon had finished her Valberry and was flying beside us this time. I guess she got tired of sitting on my shoulder.
As we walked toward the city, the sky darkened a little and it started to rain.
I hate when rain gets my hair wet.
"Lumine, can you use wind to push the rain away from us?"
"I think I can. Hold on."
A dome of pale green Anemo energy formed around Lumine. Its range wasn't large, so we had to walk side by side. …A little close, actually.
"...Sorry, this is all I can manage right now."
With her walking that close, I couldn't look directly at her. I answered while averting my eyes.
"It's fine. This is enough. I just… don't like when my hair gets wet. And you're wearing white, so… you know…"
I was about to continue, then realized what I was implying and stopped. Her clothes would become see-through if they got too wet — I didn't need to say that out loud.
Lumine understood anyway and replied with a quiet, "Oh… right."
The air between us grew a little awkward.
Paimon was happily spinning around in the rain, completely oblivious.
Meanwhile, a faint mist had started to settle along with the rain, not thick but enough to limit our view a bit.
"Do you like rain, Lumine?"
I asked a random question just to break the tension.
"I mean… not really. It usually shows up at the worst possible times."
It was strange how Lumine and I thought so similarly about so many things. Coincidence?
"I think so too. My problem with rain is that it blocks out the sun."
Lumine smiled.
"You like sunny weather?"
"Yeah. …I feel stronger and happier under the sun."
…Of course, I'd love to be much stronger in sunlight.
"That's interesting. For some reason I thought you'd like snowy weather."
Snow, huh? Back home, it snowed a lot. I did like it. …Or rather, I used to.
"You're not wrong, I do like snow. …But not as much anymore."
We kept talking, and finally reached the city. Walking this distance every day was starting to annoy me.
Then we arrived at Wagner's workshop.
"Yo, Wagner."
"Kane? How you doing, man?"
"I'm better now that I've seen you."
We continued our daily routine of chatting. For some reason, Lumine never seemed very pleased when she talked to other men while she was beside me. It was… odd.
"By the way, Wagner, have you heard what's going on?"
Wagner scratched his beard, clearly curious.
"You mean the Hilichurl situation? Yeah, I heard. Their numbers are increasing."
As we talked, the rain grew heavier. At this rate, the city would surely flood.
After a moment, the sky above us grew darker. I lifted my head to look up.
"ROARRR!!"
…
…
…
A dragon? What?
"SCREEE!"
The dragon — Dvalin — gathered a green ball of energy in its mouth and fired it at the outer wall near the city entrance.
The sound hurt my ears. My hands trembled — not from fear, but because Lumine had moved close to me.
"Kane, what do we do??!"
I was panicking too. The situation looked hopeless. From the screams of the people, I could tell at least a few had died or were badly hurt.
"With our current strength, we can't do anything, Lumine. …We need to protect ourselves. Wagner, don't leave your workshop and hide."
Lumine's empathy was stronger than mine, so she didn't like the decision. She wanted to help the people.
She tried to walk forward, but I grabbed her by the shoulder. Her shoulder was small and delicate.
"Wait… At least for now. Please, let the Knights attack first. I can't let anything happen to you."
After hearing that, Lumine stopped. Paimon had hidden in the corner out of fear.
The dragon continued terrorizing the city. Buildings were collapsing.
"ROARRRRR!"
The screams grew louder. My ears were burning. The outer walls were nearly destroyed.
Soon, the Knights who had gone to defend the villages returned to the city. I had no idea what they could do against a dragon. Jean was among them — and behind her were many of the playable characters from the game. I could sense their fear and tension.
Lumine looked at me.
"...We should go."
"They can't kill that dragon, Lumine. …Instead, I have an idea."
I wasn't sure it would work, but I had no other choice. I was sick of hiding like a coward.
I rushed into Wagner's workshop and grabbed a 1.5-meter-long harpoon. Then I took as many Pyro bombs as I could find and began breaking them on the tip of the harpoon. Lumine watched, trying to understand what I was doing.
After breaking around eleven Pyro bombs, the metal tip glowed bright red. It was close to its melting point. That meant well over 1000 degrees.
I stepped into a clearer spot. The heat hadn't yet reached the part of the harpoon I was holding. Then, tightening my grip, I hurled it with all my strength at Dvalin, who was currently focused entirely on the Knights.
I shocked myself with how powerful and accurate the throw was. The harpoon struck Dvalin's side and pierced through his scales, sinking at least twenty centimeters into his body.
"ROOOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The dragon roared louder than ever. My ears began to bleed; I couldn't hear Lumine at all.
Then, right in front of everyone, Dvalin used his wind breath and wiped out a large portion of the Knights. Those with Visions managed to survive.
I couldn't hear screaming or shouting.
…
I had to hurry. We could easily be next.
I pointed at the Electro orbs inside the workshop. I knew Lumine would understand. She used Anemo to lift them and bring them to me. I grabbed one and threw it at the dragon. The orb shattered against his scales and released electricity. Because the harpoon was still in him, the current traveled through the metal and shocked him internally. I saw his muscles twitch violently.
Jean and the remaining Knights took the opportunity to bombard the dragon with arrows and Vision attacks.
Then I threw several more Electro bombs.
The rain made things much worse for the dragon.
Turns out even dragons can't do much when electricity is running through their soaked muscles.
Still, we hadn't dealt much real damage.
A red crown appeared above Dvalin's head, and with one powerful flap of his wings, he broke away from the battle and flew off at incredible speed.
"What?"
I spoke involuntarily in shock. I still couldn't hear my own voice. My ears were ringing painfully. Lumine looked as stunned as I was.
Something still felt wrong. The mist made it hard to see far.
Then I spotted them — a surge of Hilichurls rushing through the broken outer walls.
5… 10… 50… 100…
Their numbers kept growing. What the hell…? This was bad.
The Knights switched into defensive positions and charged at the Hilichurls.
But something was different. Some of the Hilichurls had a red crown above their heads — just like Dvalin.
I watched one Hilichurl tear through a Knight's armor.
This felt like the fall of Mondstadt.
The Hilichurls were tearing the Knights apart. They were more vicious, stronger.
I turned to Lumine again.
"Lumine, bring EVERY Electro orb from the workshop!"
She didn't even answer — she just grabbed the cart holding all the Electro orbs and threw it toward me.
Despite her delicate frame, she was unbelievably strong.
I threw every Electro orb I could grab at the Hilichurls.
"Hiyakk!"
Even though the Hilichurls had physically grown stronger, their bodies still had weak resistance to electricity. And since they were all soaked from the rain, they were completely helpless to the shocks.
I kept throwing orb after orb while Lumine used Anemo to speed up my throws.
The Knights finally started gaining the upper hand. Their morale surged.
But the Hilichurl numbers didn't go down.
If anything, they kept increasing.
For some reason, I felt far calmer than I should have been.
The red crowns above the Hilichurls' heads gave me a strange, familiar feeling. I couldn't explain why.
My supply of Electro orbs was running low. Lumine noticed and began bringing every other type of orb she could find. She didn't understand the whole situation, but she knew my attacks were working, so she kept going.
I kept throwing orbs until every last Electro orb was gone.
Knights around us knew someone was helping them and adjusted their positions accordingly.
My hands trembled as I threw — and disturbingly, I realized I was enjoying this.
The danger… made me feel alive.
When the Electro orbs ran out, I switched to Cryo orbs. If I couldn't shock them, I'd freeze them. The rain made that extremely effective.
But my arms were getting tired. I had no idea how many orbs I had thrown.
I was starting to breathe through my mouth.
Lumine noticed my exhaustion and started throwing orbs with me.
Together we must've looked ridiculous — but it was all we could do.
After around fifteen minutes, the Hilichurl assault finally ended.
A literal mountain of Hilichurl corpses had formed.
And slowly… my hearing began to return.
"We did it, Kane!"
Lumine jumped and hugged me.
…But we still hadn't defeated the Dragon though...