Behind the Knights of Favonius headquarters lay a broad training ground. Wooden dummies stood in rows, armor and weapons stacked to the side. By day, knights drilled here. By night, it became the private domain of one particular girl.
Anyone passing by would hear the steady rhythm of a claymore cleaving through the night air.
Noelle finished a full set of the standard Favonius sword forms, wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, and let out a faint breath. The heavy armor she wore, paired with a claymore taller than herself, made the training exhausting. But to be a knight, one had to fight in armor. There was no avoiding it.
She rested briefly, then gripped her claymore tighter, a spark of determination flashing in her eyes, and began again.
Tonight, Xia Lin hadn't come to sleep beside him. So Xia Zhi went next door to accompany Shenhe and Ganyu.
Perhaps because he hadn't joined them the last few nights, they seemed especially… enthusiastic. Which suited him just fine.
After some time in the dream realm and a bit of late-night web browsing, dawn came—and Xia Zhi was pulled once more into Cloud Retainer's dream.
This time she wasn't a crane, but in her human form. Xia Zhi considered for a moment, then transformed into a Crane.
Cloud Retainer blinked, then her eyes lit up with an unusually bright gleam.
Xia Zhi spread his wings. "What do you think?"
Her gaze fixed on him. "Beautiful!"
He chuckled. "How do I compare to Mountain Shaper?"
"Much more handsome than that old fogey! Don't move—let me touch you…"
She ran her hands across his feathers, laughing softly as she stroked every inch. Xia Zhi couldn't help but feel… a little taken advantage of.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Although your human form is very handsome, somehow your crane form is just… easier on the eyes."
"Well, you are a crane, after all."
"What a pity."
"What's a pity?"
"That in this dream, we can't take photos. If I could, I'd make one into my phone wallpaper."
"Seriously?"
"You don't understand."
"Fine. Once we're out, I'll take some pictures for you."
"Deal!"
Since she liked it so much, Xia Zhi stayed in crane form as they strolled through her dream together. Strangely enough, it felt as if their roles had reversed.
At dawn, Yaoyao was—as always—the first up to practice with her spear. But today she found someone had beaten her to it.
The girl named Noelle was already waiting in the training grounds, a plain claymore in hand.
Yaoyao approached politely. "Good morning, Sister Noelle!"
Noelle returned the greeting with equal courtesy. "Good morning, Yaoyao."
"Did you come so early for something special?" Yaoyao asked curiously.
Noelle looked a little shy. "Actually… I came to see Mr. Xia."
"You're looking for Big Brother? He's probably still asleep. You'll need to wait a bit."
"I see."
"If you're in a hurry, I can go wake him for you."
"No, no, don't trouble him. It's nothing urgent—don't disturb his rest." She waved her hands quickly.
"It's just… last time, Mr. Xia pointed out some flaws in my sword technique. I've been practicing for two days, and I wanted to show him my progress."
"Ohhh, I get it! Big Brother's corrected my spear techniques before too!"
"Really?"
"Mm-hm! Big Brother's spear skills are amazing! Even better than Master's!"
"…What? Really?" Noelle was startled.
She knew the truth: this little girl was the disciple of an adeptus. Adepti, the legendary beings of Liyue, who could move mountains and call down storms. Yet Yaoyao claimed that Mr. Xia's spearwork surpassed even that of her master?
Yaoyao nodded earnestly. "It's true—Master admitted it herself."
Noelle was stunned. Who exactly was Mr. Xia?
He had once pinpointed flaws in her swordplay using only his hearing—already unbelievable enough. But this revelation was beyond comprehension.
While Noelle stood in a daze, Yaoyao resumed practicing the [Thirteen Fatal Strikes] her master had recently taught her.
A while later, Xia Lin woke up, ran over to watch Yaoyao train, and when she heard that Noelle had come to see her father, she immediately volunteered to wake him. Noelle tried to call her back, but it was too late.
Yaoyao just smiled knowingly. She understood that Xia Lin simply wanted an excuse to go cling to her father.
"Slower… wait… ah—"
"Xia Lin's knocking."
"But… ngh… you're just… stalling…"
"Ah, true. Nearly forgot."
Xia Zhi set up a Time Acceleration barrier in the room. Ganyu finally caught her breath.
"Don't try to fool me. You did that on purpose just now—ah, wait… mmh…"
And then came the constant ringing of bells. Another busy morning, full of accumulated merit.
Xia Zhi returned to his own room and opened the door.
"Papa!"
"Morning."
"Good morning! Papa, there's a big sister outside who says she wants to see you!"
"A sister?"
"Yeah! The one who's always sneaking peeks at Yaoyao's spear practice—Sister Noelle!"
"Oh."
"She even brought a claymore with her today!"
"A claymore, huh… understood. Let me change and wash up first."
"Mm!"
Xia Zhi turned back inside. The little girl blinked, then followed him in, flopped onto his bed, and buried her face into the pillow, greedily inhaling its scent.
Papa's scent…
But after a couple sniffs, something felt off.
The temperature.
The pillow was cold. No lingering warmth. The scent of her father wasn't as strong either…
She had slept beside him the past few nights. She knew what the pillow should feel like in the morning. This wasn't it. Which meant—he hadn't slept here last night.
She looked up at Xia Zhi changing clothes nearby. When he tossed his worn sleepwear onto the bed, she leaned down and sniffed it.
Sister Shenhe's scent. Strong.
And Sister Ganyu's. Just as strong.
So Papa had spent last night with Shenhe and Ganyu…
The little girl pressed her lips together, lowered her head, deep in thought, as though pondering some monumental problem.
Once he finished dressing and washing up, Xia Zhi led her out to the training ground.
From a distance, Noelle's eyes lit up at the sight of him. She walked over quickly. "Mr. Xia!"
He smiled and nodded. "Good morning, Miss Noelle."
Perhaps it was the excitement of meeting someone she regarded as a master—or perhaps it was the overwhelming charisma in his smile—but Noelle blushed faintly. "Mr. Xia, I… I came today hoping you could listen to my sword technique again. Last time I only had a mop to demonstrate with…"
"Of course. No problem."
"Thank you so much! Then I'll begin."
"Go ahead."
She raised her plain claymore. The gentle aura of a maid fell away in an instant, replaced by a knight's firm resolve. She then performed the full set of Favonius sword forms. Though merely standard-issue, the centuries-tested techniques carried solid power.
On the training ground, one little girl practiced with her spear, another young woman with her claymore—it made for quite the sight.
When Noelle finally finished, slightly out of breath, she lowered her blade and looked at Xia Zhi with hopeful eyes.
"Mr. Xia, how was I?"
He paused thoughtfully before answering slowly.
"No major problems. You remembered all the key points I told you before, very good. But there are still a few small details to work on…"
He pointed them out one by one, and Noelle listened intently, committing everything to memory.
"That's about it."
"Thank you for your guidance!"
"You're welcome."
Then, using his glasses' Vision Sharing, he glanced at Yaoyao, still drilling her spearwork. "In truth, practicing alone isn't enough."
"What do you mean, Mr. Xia?"
"Yaoyao only recently started spear training. Her techniques are sharper than your sword forms, but her experience is lacking. The two of you could spar together. You'd both learn from it."
"Eh?" Noelle exclaimed.
Yaoyao stopped and brightened with eagerness. "Can we?"
Why not? A pair of rookies pecking at each other.
Noelle had years of training with the Favonius forms and was older. But Yaoyao had been well-fed and cared for these past six months—her physical strength now far surpassed Noelle's. If she brought her spear down full force, Noelle's hands would probably go numb.
Xia Zhi smiled and nodded. "Of course. Begin."
Cloud Retainer stepped out of her room and greeted Madame Ping cheerfully.
Ping stopped short, taken aback by how radiant Cloud Retainer looked.
Once Cloud Retainer left to watch the sparring outside, Ping went to Shenhe's room.
"Shenhe?"
"Yes, Master?"
"…Did you do something to your teacher?"
"Not yet."
"Then why did she just look like someone who's finally had meat to eat?"
"…"