Furina sat cross-legged, trying to cultivate, but she hadn't made any progress. Frustrated, she began to worry was she truly untalented in learning chakra?
But then she overheard Romon and Hinata's conversation. Her heart leapt with excitement:
So that's it!
It's not that I lack talent it's that this place isn't the right environment!
Once I return to Teyvat, where the environment is more compatible, I'll definitely be able to cultivate elemental power and truly become a god of water.
That will make playing the role of the other me Furcalor much easier.
With that thought, Furina opened her heterochromatic eyes, placed her hands on her hips, and looked at Romon and Hinata.
"Once I return to Teyvat, I'll be able to cultivate. But what about you two? After being in close contact with me, the great Fontaine Water God, the God of Justice, did your strength increase significantly?"
Furina's words were arrogant, but deep down she was well aware of her limitations. She knew she was just an ordinary person and likely had little effect on Romon and Hinata.
But just as Furina pondered this, she saw Hinata nod lightly, then spring into action.
She quickly formed hand seals in the Chaos Temple:
Chen – Chou – Mao!
Water Release: Wild Water Wave!
Whoosh.
Hinata puffed her cheeks and released a massive stream of water from her mouth.
It was a tidal wave, dozens of meters wide, surging out of the Chaos Temple and into the black mist outside, making the fog churn violently with roaring echoes.
Furina's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That's the Wild Water Wave jutsu we saw in your memories? That's a C-rank ninjutsu, right? But how is it this powerful? That's not right this is easily at least A-rank. It's as strong as the Great Waterfall Technique!"
Hinata exhaled deeply, then turned with a smile and explained:
"Normally, when I use the Wild Water Wave, the most I can manage is a few meters of water, and even that's pushing it. But this time, after spending a while with you, Furina, I suddenly grasped the nature transformation of water.
That allowed me to cast this jutsu again with greatly enhanced power."
"Is that so? Ha… ha…" Furina let out an awkward laugh.
She had assumed that being around Hinata might boost her physique slightly but not that it would supercharge Hinata's jutsu from a faucet trickle to a full-blown waterfall.
After all, Furina herself, as the Water God of Fontaine, couldn't even control water yet. Creating a waterfall? She couldn't even produce a proper water orb. The best she could do was maybe… spit.
At that moment, Romon stepped forward and began to form seals as well:
Chen – Chou – Mao!
Water Release: Wild Water Wave!
Boom!
Another mighty wave, just as wide and forceful as Hinata's, roared forth from the Chaos Temple, flooding into the black fog and creating a crashing torrent.
Furina stared, stunned.
Did Romon also gain insight into water-style jutsu from being near me?
That means… among the three of us in this Chaos Temple, only I the Water God of Fontaine, the so-called God of Justice can't even control water!
The realization hit her hard. Sadness welled up from within.
Seeing her emotion, Romon gently spoke:
"Don't be discouraged. Once you return to Teyvat, you'll definitely be able to use elemental power.
And more importantly, when you go back, you must try to persuade the other you the one in the mirror, Furcalor, who lost her memories from when she was me.
Stop her from executing the plan to use the Oratrice's judgment five hundred years from now to destroy the Water God's seat and return its ancient power to the Water Dragon King.
Tell her you've gained strength from beyond the world and with the four hundred and ninety years left before Fontaine's prophesied destruction, you can change everything."
"I will," Furina nodded seriously. "But I'm not going back right away. I plan to stay here a while longer, to remain close to you two to draw on your bodies' strength and maybe even gain some of your powers."
"Of course," Romon and Hinata exchanged a glance and smiled, nodding.
Once again, the trio joined hands. Almost instantly, all three began to undergo rapid physical enhancement. At the same time, Hinata and Romon gained deeper insights into water element transformation, and their chakra levels continued to grow.
A full day passed quickly.
Then, the black mist outside the Chaos Temple surged again. It swallowed the temple whole and expelled Romon, Hinata, and Furina from its depths.
Each of them returned to their respective worlds. As they did, a final message appeared:
The Chaos Temple will reopen in seven days.
---
Back in Fontaine, Furina reappeared at the Mermonia Palace. To her surprise, even after being gone for an entire day, everything remained perfectly calm.
Not a single ripple.
No one had even noticed the Water God was missing.
But Furina found that understandable. After all, all governance in Fontaine had already been handed over to Neuvillette. As the Water God, she had long become more of a figurehead.
And yesterday just happened to be her scheduled day off. So of course, no one noticed she'd disappeared.
Well almost no one.
One person had noticed: the true Water God, Furcalor, who lived inside the mirror and commanded the Oratrice. Yesterday, she had completely lost contact with Furina and spent the entire day in anxiety.
Only when Furina returned to Fontaine and reappeared in her senses did Furcalor finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But she wasted no time. Using divine power, she immediately descended into the mirror to confront Furina.
"Hmph!" Furina placed her hands on her hips and let out a smug snort at the reflection of Furcalor, who looked identical to her but wore white divine robes.
"Mirror me, I went somewhere beyond your imagination."
Furcalor's face paled. "Don't tell me… Celestia? Has the Heavenly Principle discovered my plan?"
"Of course not!" Furina stomped her foot, puffing her cheeks. "What are you even thinking? That's not it at all. Though… I can't exactly tell you where I went either. Everything in this world is recorded by the ley lines."
She pressed her palm against the mirror.
"Let's use our own special method of communication the most secret form shared between Furina and Furcalor."
Furcalor did the same.
In that instant, she received a flood of information from Furina's side.