Even though he had left the Knights of Favonius training grounds, when it came to Favonius Bladework or Wind Blade, once the fundamentals were learned, self-training was enough.
And that's exactly what Victor Wang was doing: morning mental control exercises upon waking, sword practice throughout the morning, occasional alchemy chats with Timaeus over lunch, more sword practice in the afternoon, and finally exhausting his mental energy at night to grow it further.
After five days of this, one morning while reading the daily bulletin at the Adventurers' Guild, Victor Wang saw teams of adventurers forming up and heading out. He couldn't help feeling a little stir-crazy.
Truth be told, he did want to join the Knights' real combat training. But if it meant fighting Hilichurls to protect the people, fine—doing it just for sword practice, though? That crossed a line for him.
Yet without Hilichurls, Teyvat's wilderness would be half as empty.
Thinking about how his former training companions had already been in combat for five days now—probably still in the thick of it—he felt a growing imbalance, as though he'd been left behind.
Watching the adventurers charge into the wild only intensified his desire for actual combat.
What should I do? Go hunt a Whopperflower? He recalled there were some Bloodhounds in Wolvendom. No idea if I can take those yet...
Victor Wang stood staring blankly at the quest board outside the Adventurers' Guild.
The Treasure Hoarders weren't much of a challenge. The Fatui might be too strong. Thinking it through, the only real combat training he could get would be from either Whopperflowers or Bloodhounds.
Just as he was torn between the two, a nearby teenager called out, "Anyone wanna team up for a domain run? Farming for artifacts!"
Domain?
Plenty of seasoned adventurers scoffed, uninterested in artifact farming. But Victor Wang's interest was piqued.
"Farm for what? Even dogs wouldn't wear low-star artifacts."
The teen blinked. "But if you buy from merchants, it's 2,000 Mora each. If I farm five, that's 10,000 Mora I'm saving, right?"
"Heh."
An older youth took an Adventurer's Flower from his pack, raised it to eye level with exaggerated flair, squinted dramatically, then said, "Totally useless. Save 100% by not buying at all."
The teen scratched his head stubbornly. "You already have yours, and now you're telling me not to farm?"
"Hey!" The older one pretended to toss the flower away in righteous protest, but hesitated at the last second. "Forget it. You'll learn the hard way."
The two stopped arguing. The teen kept looking for teammates; the older adventurer turned to complete his commission.
Victor Wang followed him.
"Excuse me. I'm a novice adventurer, and I noticed you seem experienced with domains. Could I ask you a few things?"
The youth gave Victor Wang a once-over, indifferent. "Sure, ask anything. I'll tell you all I know."
"You said low-star artifacts are useless. Then why doesn't everyone farm high-star ones instead?"
This time, the youth walked around Victor Wang twice, clearly puzzled, then sighed. "Are you really that clueless, or just messing with me?"
"No tricks, I swear."
"Alright then, let me—Thor, the kindest adventurer you'll ever meet—break it down. Listen closely: Domains are mysterious spaces that offer rewards and allow up to four people at once. Artifact domains, specifically, reward artifacts upon completion. Everyone knows artifacts come in one- to five-star tiers. So how do you get high-star ones? Depends on the average strength of the team. Stronger team, tougher enemies, better rewards."
He spread his hands. "I'll admit it—I'm not that strong. I'm only good enough to farm two-star artifacts."
"Thank you." Victor Wang nodded politely.
Impressed by the newbie's manners, Thor offered another bit of advice. "Anything under three-star is basically pointless. Don't waste money or time on them."
Well… I've already bought some. And was planning to farm more too… Victor Wang decided not to rub it in. "I'll remember your advice."
Just remember.
Thor walked away, satisfied.
Honestly, two-star artifacts do have some value, don't they? Victor Wang clearly remembered the slight improvement in his mental strength after equipping five of them.
More importantly, it seemed like a suitable live-combat training ground.
So, the domain scales difficulty based on strength and assigns enemies accordingly? Sounds perfect. And maybe I'll improve my artifact loadout along the way.
He wasn't even sure whether set bonuses worked yet, but he was set on tackling the domain that matched him best—Viridescent Venerer.
After leaving the city gates, Victor Wang greeted Timmy on the bridge—along with the pigeons, who no longer scattered at his presence.
He brushed past a flash of fur as a feline zoomed past on its way to work.
Exiting from the main road of Springvale, he ran for a while before arriving at a ravine formed by cliffs of differing height on either side.
Mondstadt was full of mountainous terrain.
The wall to his right stood about four meters high; the one on the left rose at least twelve. His destination—the Valley of Remembrance domain—was atop that left cliff. He could already see smoke rising faintly in the distance.
"Someone's up there?"
Halfway up, he heard a familiar voice.
"Though green glows with vitality, and pink with charm, amidst this boundless field of blossoms, it is the purple flower that befits mein Fräulein best."
"What the young miss means is, she finds 'Thundering Fury' or 'Thunder-soother' the most visually appealing."
A boyish voice added, "I kinda think this 'Noblesse Oblige' looks cooler."
"But why must fate place me here?"
"What the miss means is, she wonders why she's ended up in this place."
Bennett scratched his head awkwardly. "I thought this domain gave Noblesse Oblige…"
When Victor Wang reached the top of the cliff, he saw Bennett and Fischl making what appeared to be a late breakfast—or an early lunch—it was 10 AM, after all.
One was frying eggs. The other, toasting bread.
Beside Fischl lay an open Artifact Compendium, clearly the source of their discussion.
"Hey, fancy seeing you here."
"O Shadow, what brings thee to this realm?"
"I came to farm artifacts. You guys done already or not?"
Bennett chuckled sheepishly. "Looks like we came to the wrong domain."
"Oh, so you were aiming for Noblesse Oblige? That's in Liyue, near Mt. Aozang. Quite a distance."
"…" Bennett fell silent.
"I'm going to run this one. You guys want to join?"
Bennett sighed. "Might as well—we're already here."
He wolfed down his slightly overcooked eggs in two bites.
Fischl, on the other hand, gracefully prepared her toast. Say what you will—she really did carry herself like royalty. Where did she learn this?
"Please allow the young miss a moment to prepare," Oz chimed in from her side.
A few minutes later, the three of them placed their hands on the domain's entrance. Upon forming the intention to enter, Victor Wang's awareness blinked out for a moment—and he found himself inside.
Unlike the ruin they had entered while pursuing the book thief, this domain overwhelmed Victor Wang with a sense of awe.
He instinctively looked upward. Despite it being morning outside, the domain was bathed in starry night. A massive, surreal moon loomed above, large enough to see its craters.
Directly beneath the moon, giant circular ruins towered into the sky—massive rings and faint castle ramparts enclosing the palace remnants beneath his feet.
Victor Wang approached the edge of the ruins, trying to gauge the height of the supporting pillars—what lay beneath?
Only dense mist.
Many of the columns and rune-marked light beams seemed to grow out of the fog itself.
"If you fall down there, it's probably instant death, right?"
"Nope. In a domain, even if you die, your body doesn't actually get hurt—just a splitting headache for a while."
You don't die? Headache? Sounds a lot like what I feel when I resurrect…
Could it be that only the spirit enters the domain?
Victor turned to Bennett. "Are you sure?"
"Well, people say that's just a legend, but I've, uh… accidentally fallen off a domain… quite a few times. Didn't die, just got one hell of a headache. And that's coming from me. If it had been inside a ruin, though…"
"There's a difference between ruins and domains?"
"Yeah. Die in a ruin, and you actually die."
Victor Wang couldn't help but scan the domain again. The connected ruins resembled a collapsed city in the sky.
Bennett and Fischl, unfazed, were already climbing the palace steps.
Teyvat… how many secrets do you hide?
Victor quickly followed.
The palace roof had long since caved in. Mysterious runes and intricate patterns covered the surrounding walls. Victor couldn't understand any of it, but the humming sounds and eerie blue glow hinted that these systems were still functioning.
A massive crimson key hovered in the center of the palace.
Beyond it, past a short floating walkway, was a withered tree emanating faint golden light.
Victor Wang recognized it instantly from the game. But now, it was right in front of him—real.
Bennett stood by the key and turned his head. "Ready?"
"Hold on. What happens if I go touch that tree right now?"
"Nothing at all. You wanna try it?"
Victor nodded and walked briskly toward it.
Beneath the tree was an energy platform that let him see both its roots and the void below while still being able to stand on it.
He tested the footing—solid. Then stepped up and reached out to touch the tree.
Though it looked like wood, it felt like stone.
As expected, nothing happened.