The title of Honorary Knight—from a distant perspective—was quite the prestigious identity. More practically, it granted Victor Wang most of the privileges within the Knights of Favonius, such as being able to access the Restricted Section of the library with just a formal request.
However, during the one hour Lisa had given him last time, he had already scoured every corner of the Restricted Section.
What truly piqued Victor Wang's curiosity, though, was something else entirely.
It was still that battle he had spied on the second day after arriving in this world. That golden-haired young man named Sidney had used the Gale Blade. At the time, Victor Wang had thought that Sidney's move seemed incomplete. Now he understood what it had lacked.
Sidney's Gale Blade only had a knockback effect—it lacked the suction component.
But it was still Palm Vortex.
Back when he read cultivation novels, Victor Wang had always wondered: why must one always rely on techniques handed down by others? Couldn't one create their own? Why, under identical conditions, were some skills vastly superior to others?
So, after acquiring the Anemo element, he never stopped attempting to develop his own combat techniques. But aside from some basic moves like the Gale Blade, Wind Blade, and something akin to Venti's Wind Domain—which were so elementary they practically announced themselves—he had produced no further results.
After some intensive study, he finally understood: stop thinking too much, because this truly was metaphysics.
Metaphysics had its own rules and logic, but no matter what, it defied scientific explanation. Those who could create techniques and skills were the ones familiar with the laws of metaphysics and blessed with innate talent.
In this world—this world that defied physics and conjured something from nothing, this world filled with naturally born elemental beings, this world of inexhaustible clean energy—trying to understand metaphysics with a science-first mindset was like ancient people explaining lightning: they could describe the phenomenon, but not explain the principle.
And even in the era Victor Wang had come from, humanity still hadn't figured out its own soul.
Naturally, developing one's own combat techniques yielded little.
That's why learning pre-existing skills was crucial. Under equal conditions, someone with a skill would always outclass someone without.
Most people in this world were protective of their techniques and didn't pass them on. Not everyone was like Lumine. Which made Palm Vortex all the more precious.
After some inquiries within the Knights of Favonius, Victor Wang discovered that Acting Grand Master Jean had left behind the Gale Blade technique in the training grounds. Any member of the Knights could go there to learn it.
So it wasn't that the overworked Jean had made a special exception for someone, nor that Sidney had self-developed Gale Blade due to overwhelming talent.
Victor Wang thus decided to first get himself a sword—unlike Palm Vortex, Gale Blade actually required a physical weapon.
And a good sword was hard to come by.
Mondstadt's weapon shops didn't sell quality weapons. This world used the same star-rating system for weapons as the game—one to five stars. The best the blacksmith had was a two-star Silver Sword.
"If only I had a gacha system, I could roll for weapons. Sure, the weapon banner is a scam... but with my reverse pity strategy, I could snag the soft pity drop easily."
Victor Wang muttered, but truthfully, whether reverse or forward pity, he would still end up hitting hard pity.
To get a good weapon from the map, there were no five-stars—the best was four-star.
After unsealing the Sword Cemetery in Dadaupa Gorge, one could obtain a Northlander Claymore Billet—provided Lumine hadn't completed that quest yet.
As Victor Wang stepped through the narrowing west entrance of Dadaupa Gorge, formed by two uneven cliff walls, he spotted two familiar figures walking out of the valley.
"Ah~ ah~, fate whispers in my ear—the time to claim this treasure has not yet come. The Prinzessin lacks a retainer capable of freezing all. Oz, my familiar, summon such a one to my side."
"Huh? Is there someone like that from your homeland?"
A dark-purple raven spoke in human tongue: "Milady, I do not possess such an ability."
"Is that so? Then it seems this treasure was never meant for us. Oh well."
The white-haired boy gave a wry smile. He was clearly used to this. He seemed like the type of boy full of optimism and sunshine, who didn't dwell too much. Changing the topic with ease, he asked the girl beside him, "So, when can we go adventure in your homeland?"
The girl beside him was mysterious, a traveler from another world. She often spoke of how things were in her original world, and he, being an adventure-lover, was naturally intrigued.
Ahem,the day I return has not yet arrived. Only once I've toured this world in full.
Rejected again…Is it because I'm still not strong enough to survive in her world? the white-haired boy thought. Then he noticed someone approaching.
"Not many people come here. Could he be looking for the Sword Cemetery too?"
Hm… This one is a messenger of the night, a shadow dweller—why would he come here in broad daylight?
"What Milady means is, this person's outfit is strange. Be cautious."
As the distance closed, Victor Wang took the initiative. "Hello. Are you two here to break the Sword Cemetery's seal?"
"So, you're after it too?"
"Yes." Upon encountering Fischl, Victor Wang decided to play along. 'I am Shadow, the one who hunts shadows from within the shadows.'
He tugged slightly at the brim of his cloak as he spoke.
"Wow, could you be from the same world as Fischl?"
"Ahem. I am the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, Fischl. Though I was summoned by fate to this realm, I have never heard your name in my homeland."
"Just kidding. I'm actually an adventurer." Victor Wang pulled out his Adventurer's Certificate and waved it before Bennett and Fischl.
"Hehe, so we're comrades. But I've never seen you before."
Bennett had been raised by the old adventurers of Mondstadt and was extremely familiar with everyone. If it were someone he knew, he'd recognize them by voice alone.
"Ah, allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm a traveler from afar. You can call me Victor Wang." He tugged at his cloak again. "As for my attire… I've had a rare illness since childhood. I'm allergic to sunlight, so…"
Fischl immediately took a few steps back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I once heard that, in distant lands, there exists a clan of blood-drinkers who only emerge at night. Are you one of them?"
Wait, vampires exist in this world? Oh no, our character concepts are clashing!
Victor Wang had no idea how to explain and tried to brush it off. "Ahaha, what are you talking about? I've never heard of that."
But Fischl continued earnestly, "Vampiric beings survive by consuming human blood. One of their traits is their fear of sunlight!"
"I've never heard of that," Bennett scratched his head.
"Hmph, that's recorded in the forbidden texts of the Prinzessin's private library. No mortal may access it."
"What Milady means is, it's from a novel."
"Oz!"
"So that's it… what a misunderstanding." Victor Wang chuckled. "Novels do love to invent fantastical creatures for drama. See? I have a Vision."
Of course, Victor Wang didn't actually have a Vision—but he did have elemental power. He casually conjured a Palm Vortex.
"Besides, I'm also Mondstadt's new Honorary Knight." Saying this felt a bit boastful, but he had to prove his identity. "I was just registered today, so maybe you haven't heard."
Hm… Fischl's feelings—nervousness, fear, and expectation—quickly dissipated.
"By the way, why were you two leaving?"
Behind Bennett and Fischl, on the Sword Cemetery Lake, a hemispherical glowing seal stood out. Even from afar, Victor Wang could clearly see there was still one layer of the seal left.
"A scholar told us that to break the Sword Cemetery seal, we had to activate three elemental totems in the nearby Hilichurl camps. But after working hard, we found that the third totem needed Cryo, and Fischl and I only have Pyro and Electro."
Bennett gave a helpless smile and scratched his head again. "Seems like this treasure just isn't meant for us."
Victor Wang pondered silently—he had come prepared.
According to his plan, he'd use his convenient Hilichurlian identity and the bit of Hilichurlian language he'd learned to infiltrate all three Hilichurl tribes and activate the totems.
He hadn't expected Bennett and Fischl to have already activated two, only to give up due to a lack of Cryo.
"How about this—I can activate the last totem. Once the seal is broken, I'll only take one item from the treasure. The rest is yours."
"You could just wait for us to leave, then take it all for yourself."
Bennett felt a bit awkward taking a share of someone else's reward. But considering Fischl had contributed too, he asked for her opinion, "Shall we give up the treasure?"
"You fool, Bennett! Didn't you want to prove to the world that you could find a real treasure?"
"Well…"
Seeing that Bennett needed the treasure but didn't want to be selfish, Victor Wang stepped in. "Honestly, I just want a decent weapon. I'm not interested in the rest. Let me pick one item first, the rest is yours. Deal?"
Without waiting for more objections, he led the way toward the Sword Cemetery. But upon reaching the fork at the Sword Lake, he paused. "Uh… where's the last elemental totem again?"
"Over here, I'll lead the way." Bennett perked up again. "But wait, you're Anemo—how are you going to activate a Cryo totem?"
The moment he said that, Victor Wang knew—he's never studied "Advanced Elemental Reaction Theory."
"Hehe, you'll see."
The last totem was on the large arena of the Meaty Hilichurls in the north of the Sword Cemetery.
With Bennett leading the way, the three rushed past the guards at the camp entrance, making a beeline for the central arena. The startled Hilichurls chased after them with clubs and crossbows.
"There are too many Hilichurls here! We'll activate the totem and run—no fighting!"
At the center of the large arena, Victor Wang spotted the cylindrical elemental totem. Its grooves shimmered faintly with icy blue-white, denoting the element needed to activate it.
Victor Wang didn't want to battle the Hilichurls, but now that things had come to this, the only option was to activate the totem quickly.
Bennett and Fischl stood behind him, blocking the Hilichurls from advancing.
"Oz, reveal thyself!"
"Hah! Let's light it up!!"
In the game, this totem was locked by an invisible force—you had to complete the entire arena challenge. But now, there was no such force.
Victor Wang pulled a Mist Flower wrapped in ice from his pouch and threw it at the totem.
"Hyaah!"
With a loud shout, Palm Vortex swept up the Mist Flower, gradually slicing through its frozen shell. The Palm Vortex took on a bluish-white Cryo hue.
Vmmm.
The elemental totem activated, glowing with the power of Cryo from within its carvings.
Above Sword Cemetery Lake, the final layer of the seal faded away, dissipating from top to bottom.