And Liyue? Would he even make it there in this lifetime?
Paimon, oblivious to Zephyr's internal complaints, turned to Lumine and asked, "Traveler, can you feel the elements of this world now?"
"It seems like simply touching the statue allows you to gain the power of wind. For the people of this world, gaining such power would be absolutely impossible."
"This power… so it really is…"
"Yep! It's because you're not from this world, after all. If we head west from here, we'll reach Mondstadt, the city of freedom."
"Mondstadt is the city of wind, and the god they worship among the Seven is the Anemo Archon. Since you gained power from the statue, you might find some clues about the gods there...
"Plus, Mondstadt is full of bards. You might even hear news about your sister from one of them."
"Let's get going. The elements of this world have responded to our wishes—I think that's a good omen!"
"Wait, wait, hold on. What do you mean by 'let's get going'? Paimon, are you saying it's not so easy for ordinary people to gain power?"
"Yep! Ordinary people can't wield elemental powers. Only extraordinary individuals who possess a Vision can do that.
"Not only that, but only those with a Vision can use the power of artifacts, which is why I was so shocked before!"
"So that's how it is… How far are we from Mondstadt right now?"
"Hmm, how far…" Paimon thought for a moment before saying, "I can't say exactly, but we should get there within three days!"
"Three days?!" Lumine and Zephyr were equally stunned.
"Are you kidding me? In the game, it only took a few minutes, but now we have to walk for three whole days?"
If it were just walking, that might be tolerable. But what if they encountered monsters along the way? Wouldn't they have to fight? And what if something stronger showed up and they were defeated?
Low-level Hilichurls might be manageable, but what if they ran into high-level creatures? There were no guarantees.
Zephyr sighed in frustration. "Three days… That's way too long. Wait, I just realized something."
"What is it?" Lumine asked.
"Why does your inventory only have a couple of apples and some berries? You're ridiculously underprepared! Did you seriously set out to fight monsters without packing any food?"
"…You'll have to ask Paimon about that."
Both turned to Paimon.
"..."
"Ehe~" Paimon tried to act cute to avoid the scolding.
"What does 'ehe~' even mean?!"
Zephyr rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "This is a nightmare start. Since you don't have any potions, we'll have to be extremely cautious."
For now, their best bet was to avoid monsters as much as possible.
Lumine nodded cautiously.
Paimon muttered, "Talking to herself, huh..."
"Traveler, now that you've gained the power of Anemo, why not give it a try?"
Zephyr paused for a moment and then nodded. It made sense. While the Anemo element was old news for him, for Lumine, who was still new to this, it would be her first time experiencing elemental power.
"Wind Blade!"
From her hand, a spiraling orb of wind, reminiscent of a Rasengan, formed.
"If it hits a Hilichurl, it's bound to hurt."
Of course, if she got hit by a Hilichurl's "arguments with reason" attack, that would definitely hurt too.
Lumine marveled, "Wind... such a useful element. Speaking of which, if I can use this skill, then maybe I can use it to dry my clothes?"
Zephyr blinked. He had never thought of using elemental abilities for something like that. Mostly because the games he'd played never allowed such creative actions.
However, it seemed possible now.
A gentle breeze swirled around her, speeding up the drying process. But since her clothes were completely soaked, it would still take quite some time to dry them fully.
Paimon chimed in, "Hmm, Traveler, your clothes are too wet. Maybe you should take them off and wring them out first!"
Lumine's cheeks flushed. "N-No need for that!"
"Taking off clothes... does this game have a feature like that?" Zephyr's eyes lit up.
"No! I am a proper person!"
About half an hour later, her clothes were dry enough.
Lumine smiled happily. "Alright, let's get going!"
"Sure."
When they came upon another body of water, Paimon flew right across it. Zephyr hadn't moved yet when Lumine shot him a sharp look.
Zephyr was speechless and had no choice but to walk several hundred meters further, painstakingly making his way around the water.
By the time he caught up, Paimon impatiently said, "Traveler, you're so slow! Next time, just swim across!"
"Fine, then tonight's dinner will be Sweet Flower Braised Paimon."
"Sorry, Paimon was wrong!"
The group continued westward, walking for about an hour.
In that time, Zephyr came to a sobering realization: the time in this world was completely synchronized with the real world.
It was unbearably dull for him. This wasn't like a game where you could use a teleport point to instantly arrive. Even running in a game would only take a few minutes, not like this… walking for three entire days!
Along the way, Zephyr picked a fair number of apples, berries, and mushrooms, ensuring they'd at least have something for dinner tonight.
Lumine remarked, "By the way, we haven't run into any Hilichurls nearby."
Paimon agreed, "Yeah, it's strange. Even though we're not far from Mondstadt, there should've been at least a few around. Such a pity—I wanted to see how strong you are by fighting a few!"
Lumine rolled her eyes. "Of course, because you're not the one doing the fighting."
"P-Paimon can cheer you on!"
Zephyr pondered the situation. Come to think of it, he hadn't encountered Stormterror or Venti either, as described in the original storyline. Had he gone the wrong way?
"Oh well, better this way. If Stormterror went berserk and killed me, that'd be bad."
After all, this was a real world now. Who knew if Stormterror's temperament would be the same as before? If it went wild, what could he do?
Stormterror wouldn't even need to use any special attacks; a single claw swipe would be enough to crush him.
"No way I'm letting that happen. I'm too adorable for this world. Obviously, I'll have to marry myself someday!"
As for Venti, if he wanted to meet him, he could always find him at the tavern later.
"So, could the lack of Hilichurls also be because of this?"
The sheer terror of Stormterror's presence might have scared away any low-level monsters from the area.
Paimon, who had been flying alongside them, suddenly grew tired and perched on Lumine's shoulder.
"I can't go on. Let me rest for a bit."
"Paimon, you're heavy!"
"Paimon is not heavy!"
"When we get to Mondstadt, we're definitely getting a horse for our next trip!"
Zephyr perked up. "A horse? There's a mount system?"
Lumine sighed, "I'd love to buy one, but I can't afford it."
"Figures. We haven't even found a single treasure chest along the way."
"Those obvious ones would've been taken by other adventurers long ago. And any remaining ones are probably hidden in remote places. Not worth the time to search."
"True."
As they chatted, a flaming red Hilichurl suddenly strolled into view.
"Uh-oh, a Hilichurl!" Paimon was the first to hide.
Zephyr scoffed at Paimon's cowardice but quickly followed suit and hid himself.
Seeing that there was only one Hilichurl, Paimon let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, it's just one."
"What level is this Hilichurl?" Zephyr muttered, frustrated. He couldn't tell its level from this distance.
If it was low-level, that'd be fine. But if it was high-level, he'd have to figure out another way to go around.
"Hmm." Suddenly, Zephyr clicked on the Hilichurl with his mouse, and its information appeared on the screen.
...