"Not bad for a beginner I must say, you coked it just right. Keep it up and you'll be a pro in no time." Lars nodded as the cooking instructor headed towards Qiqi and examined her meal.
"Oh my, it's very well made, I see you're experienced in handling the ingredients, especially the herbs. Very good job, little miss. Keep it up." Qiqi nodded politely.
The both of them were attending the Guild's cooking class, made compulsory by new adventurers so that they are able to survive in the wild if they ever find themselves on expeditions.
"Hm... I have to remember these steps now." Qiqi whispered, as she read the instructions on how to cool the newly learned meal she had written in her notebook. Lars was just eating the meal he cooked.
"Hey, it really isn't that bad..."
....
Lars brought down his Geo blade, swinging it at Qiqi who blocked the strike before swiftly countering. Currently, they were having a sparring match against each other.
This was their daily routine now. They would wake up at the inn, bathe, go out of Liyue to train in a small forest for a couple of hours before heading to the Guild Post to complete commissions. Then they would end their day by having a small dinner together at the inn before going to sleep.
At first, Qiqi was confused about Lars having received the Geo ability but didn't have a Vision with him. But she learned not to question things that happened to him. After all, everything about Lars is already strange.
Qiqi sent multiple ice shards at Lars who expertly dodged them. Then with a single stomp, he sent a large rock pillar straight at Qiqi who jumped on it before leaping at Lars.
A large amount of ice shards were created before it all flew towards Lars endlessly like a gatling gun.
With a stretch of his hand, Lars created a rock barrier in front of him, blocking the barrage of ice. Suddenly, the barrier froze solid and was broken into pieces by Qiqi's swing of her sword. Lars looked at his blade before it was imbued in a dark tint.
The two rushed each other before swinging their blades. The sword clash sent out a giant shockwave. Both he and Qiqi were sent skidding back. They both stared at each other before lowering their weapons.
The Geo blade disappeared into thin air as Lars smiled at Qiqi. "That was some good fighting there, Qiqi. You're improving day ny day."
"Thank you, you've also gotten a lot stronger." It wasn't a lie. His control over his Armament Haki and his Geo abilities have improved significantly. Before when he received the element, he was only able to created a small knife but now he can create a blade or a giant wall without a problem.
It was a simple thing really, he just needed to train, train, train. He wondered if the other Vision users went through the same process as he is currently going through.
He looked at Qiqi who was sitting down, staring at the butterflies in front of her. The little adventurer has been improving lots too, both mentally and physically. Her memory is better, which was the most important part.
He hoped that she would be able to enjoy life as humans do in the future. She does seem more independent, being able to think and want for herself more, not relying on her notebook much.
He shook that thought off for now. Whatever path she chooses for herself in the future, even if it means seperation, he'll accept it. But for now, they had commissions to complete.
"C'mon Qiqi, let's go to the Guild and earn some money."
"Right."
...
"Thank you for completing your commissions. Here are your payments." Katheryne handed Lars and Qiqi each a sack of Mora.
"You have been completing commissions' at a fast rate, and the commissioners have nothing but praise for you two. As such, I hereby announce that you are now C-rank Adventurers. The Guild has greenlighted you two to be able to complete C-rank missions."
"Oh wow! That's great news!" And in record time too since they've only been doing this for a couple of weeks. "So what kind of missions are in C-rank section?" He asked Katheryne. Meanwhile, Qiqi was already heading to the board, wanting to check out the new options she has.
"C-rank missions have much more variety. You are now able to perform combat missions such as clearing out Hillichurl camps or Treasure Hoarder camps. Neighboring villages place delivery commissions, payment varies depending on the object you are delivering, sometimes it gets to the point where we rank those missions as a B-rank."
"You are also allowed to go on expeditions to gather resources such as ore, cor lapis and other various precious resources. Furthermore, you also have the option to take on escort missions, but only around Liyue. And that's just a part of it." Katheryne listed off as Qiqi came back, noticably with a C-rank mission poster in hand.
"I want this one." Qiqi laid it in front of Katheryne.
"Ah, gathering herbs at the Dihua Marsh for Bubu Pharmacy." Lars muttered, looking at Qiqi. Katheryne nodded as she took the poster. She then looked at Lars
"Can I do this on my own? Don't worry, I can handle myself. I've done this tons of times before." Oh yeah, apart from being more independent, she was more vocal now. Lars smiled and nodded at her plan.
"Of course, Qiqi. I don't see the harm in that. But always stay cautious, there are Hilichurls and whopperflowers, sometimes even abyss mages there." Qiqi nodded, before she dashed off towards the harbor's exit. Lars watched her run off, a small smile forming.
He took a look at the mission board before ripping off three of them. Placing them in front of Katheryne, she nodded as before taking them, marking the missions as his to take on her ledger.
Lars then bid her farewell before heading to the harbor exit. The missions he took were all combat missions, clearing up hillichurl camps around Guili Plains, Yaoguang Shoal and Lingju Pass. 'These places are somewhat close by, plus I wanna take the chance to activate the Geo Statues for myself. I have to try right? Who knows what benefits it would give me.'
And off he went.
.....
"Don't disturb me." Qiqi muttered as she cut through the last of a group of hillichurls disturbing her herb picking. The job was fairly easy and was sailing smoothly, well, until the Hilichurls came knocking but that wasn't a problem.
"That's the last of them." She whispered, gathering the herbs before placing them in her purple bag she got for herself the other day.
As she made her way back to Liyue Harbor, she couldn't help but wonder how much her own self has changed over the past few weeks. She finds herself not needing her notebook as much, which would be a concern at first, but she realized that her memory was improving tremendously.
'So is that a good thing or not?' She wondered, not able to reach a conclusion at the moment. It wasn't long before she arrived back at Liyue Harbor. Surprisingly, she still remembered her way to Bubu Pharmacy even though she hasn't been there so long.
Entering the pharmacy, the strong smell of herbs breached her nose immediately.
"Ah, who do we have here? An unexpected guest indeed." Baizhu smiled as he approached Qiqi. Changsheng hissed at the girl.
"Have you come back to work for me again, my dear Qiqi?"
.....
"I wonder if Qiqi completed her mission already. Herb picking shouldn't be a problem for her?" He muttered, standing on top of a dead shield wielding Mitachurl he defeated purely using his Haki coated fists.
"Anyways, the Statue's right here...." He muttered, placing his hand on it. A surge of power immediately flowed through him. It went by as quick as it started.
"What happened...." He muttered, looking at himself. He body felt lighter. " It was like something was broken, now I feel liberated...." The questions in his head went unanswered. Quickly getting back on track, he made his way to the location of the next Hilichurl camp.
.....
" Please sign here." Baizhu raised an eyebrow at Qiqi who was showing him her handbook, holding out her pen.
"My missions are usually designated as C-rank missions, which could only mean one thing..." He muttered as he jotted down his signature elegantly. "I see the life of an adventurer has been treating you well then. Tell me, Qiqi, do you feel satisfied?"
Qiqi didn't answer for a while. But then, she nodded. "Yes, I feel happy."
"Happy huh...." Baizhu muttered to himself as Qiqi left his pharmacy.
"So it seems you're a human now...."
To be continued.....