Guo pressed on with the traveler.
From a rise outside Mondstadt, Starfell Lake opened in full panorama.
Guo's mouth fell open—she'd praised the graphics a thousand times already, but still had to do it again.
This was free to play?
Chat likewise fell silent in awe, then burst into rapid-fire comments.
[The devs are saints! Trailer equals gameplay— zero downgrade!]
[My ideal fantasy world…]
[Lumine so pretty!]
Guided by prompts, Guo lit the Statue of The Seven, gained Anemo, and tested elemental skills.
A gigantic dragon skimmed overhead; she and Paimon followed into Whispering Woods.
There, they stumbled upon a bard talking to the dragon— and accidentally ruined his plan.
The dragon roared and flew off. The bard vanished too.
They found a red crystal and had just pocketed it when urgent footsteps approached.
Lumine tensed.
Teyvat.
Ruola and Noelle rushed up; the instant Ruola saw Lumine— and the super-cute Paimon—her eyes sparkled.
She stepped forward and pressed a hand to her chest in a Knight's salute.
"Greetings, travelers from afar. We're auxiliary members of the Knights of Favonius. I'm Ruola, and this is Noelle, also a maid of the Knights. We heard unusual noise and came to investigate. May we ask what happened here?"
Her conduct was impeccable— she had studied the Knight's etiquette manual very seriously.
Though they'd never been formally sworn in, they held themselves to the standard of full Knights.
Noelle curtsied, the picture of a proper maid.
The stream exploded at the sudden appearance of two new faces.
[It's Noelle! My No-chan from the promo!]
[The other girl is gorgeous too! I hereby declare her my new wife!]
[Three heroines at the start? How is a guy supposed to play the male MC now?!]
[Play what— there's nothing spicy yet.]
Guo's eyes lit up at Noelle and Ruola. "I really like this."
[Didn't you just say the MC is your fave?]
[Hehe, great minds think alike.]
She ignored chat and focused on the screen.
Seeing their formality, Paimon flitted up and chirped, "Hi! I'm Paimon, and this is Lumine. We just got to Mondstadt today."
She wiggled a tiny finger. "We saw a huge dragon here just now! That's probably the noise you heard. But it's flown away."
Ruola and Noelle traded looks—years of teamwork said enough.
"You're travelers? At any other time we'd be delighted to show you around. But the Stormterror incident has everyone on edge. The wilds really aren't safe."
"Stormterror?" Lumine asked. "Was that the dragon we just saw?"
Ruola nodded; her high ponytail swayed.
After a short exchange, Ruola and Noelle joined the traveler and Paimon. With Ruola leading, they headed for Mondstadt.
On the way, Lumine shared her purpose in coming, omitting the part about the Anemo Archon.
She'd already heard too many "the wind god is a scammer" jokes. Until things were clear, a little caution couldn't hurt.
Ruola also discovered Lumine wasn't as quiet as she'd expected. They warmed to each other quickly; talk grew easy.
Before long, a familiar voice called out:
"Hey— you up ahead! Please wait!"
A lively girl with red bunny-ear ties vaulted down from a cliff.
Eyes followed Amber's nimble landing, all four onlookers surprised— and Guo's chat snapping screenshots nonstop.
Amber saluted smartly. "May the Anemo Archon protect you, strangers. I'm Amber, an Outrider with the Knights of Favonius."
"Since you're with Ruola and Noelle, I assume you've met. But you two don't look like locals. Please allow me to confirm your identities."
If Lumine and Paimon had run into other Knights, Amber might've asked less. But with these two… she couldn't help herself.
Those girls were too pure—too easy to fool.
Lumine stepped up. "We arrived today to look for my brother. I'm Lumine, and this is… my best partner."
Paimon covered her mouth, delighted. "We've only known each other a little while, but I'll work hard to be the best guide!"
"In any case, travelers— with a dragon about, you should head into the city at once."
Ruola and Noelle greeted Amber.
As Mondstadt's other signature ball of energy, Amber and Ruola were close friends; Ruola's wing-gliding skills were taught by Amber herself.
Seeing her, Ruola hugged her tight.
Amber's license might get suspended every other week, but her flight skills were untouchable.
Mondstadt's gliding champion, through and through.
Amber beamed. "Ruola, Noelle—what are you doing out here?"
Ruola explained about clearing monsters. Amber decided to escort them back.
Paimon asked, "Weren't you on an assignment outside the walls?"
"It's fine. Recon's basically done. Besides, it's been a while since I saw these two."
Their party of four became five.
They strolled and chatted. Even Noelle joined in. Ruola, who knew the city by heart, introduced Mondstadt's food and fun—Paimon's eyes shone; drool nearly spilled.
"Paimon, we don't have much money," Lumine murmured.
A single sentence wilted the little glutton.
Amber suddenly spotted a few hilichurls ahead.
Ruola blinked—they'd cleared this route earlier, hadn't they?
"Stormterror's stirring them up. Leave it to me."
She drew her beloved bow— Rust.
Lumine unsheathed her Dull Blade.
Ruola held back; there weren't many hilichurls— not enough for Amber to miss a workout.
Lumine darted in and cut down two.
On the stream, meanwhile, Guo's Amber whiffed arrow after arrow and got her HP chunked by hilichurls. She swapped to the traveler and hacked the rest down.
Ignoring a wall of "LOOOL," she had only one thought: When does Ruola hit the banner?
What weapon would she use…
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (390 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (166 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (190 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (150 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (168 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (170 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (110 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (150 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (50 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (40 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (60 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (50 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it