Genshin Impact: Following the Winds

The Liyue-Watatsumi Cooking Competition turned out to be a massive success, and it brought a new interest towards the newly independent island nation. Hundreds of people from Liyue arrived on the island every day, using Sublime Spicewood to bridge the distance that would've normally taken them weeks to travel by sea.

At first, it was mostly chefs who were interested in the new and exotic produce Watatsumi had to offer. But soon enough, it was all sorts of people taking their time to visit Watatsumi.

Thankfully, none of the visitors were overly disruptive, and Gourou Village was more than ready to house the new influx of visitors. 

At that moment, what would later be known as Watatsumi's Golden Age began. A time when Watatsumi received an influx of wealth, and would begin the expansion of Gourou Village into a fully-fledged city.

Meanwhile, as everyone else was busy with making use of this new opportunity, Lumine and I finally decided to resume our travels across Inazuma. Now that both of us could fly, travelling across the Inazuman Archipelago became significantly easier. And as long as I didn't strain myself in combat, I should be more than fine.

And so off we went, flying from one island to another, exploring each new region as thoroughly as we could. 

Naturally, our journey wasn't entirely smooth-sailing. Inazuma had only ended its own Archon War, and the method in which Makoto had united the archipelago had left many in need. It wasn't rare for samurai who'd lost their lords to become bandits who roamed the lands, and we came across many settlements in dire need of aid.

But as I was still healing from my own injuries, I ended up being protected by Lumine more often than not. Whenever a group of bandits would accost us, Lumine would swiftly come to my aid, taking them down with little difficulty. I'd even caught her using her new prosthetic quite a few times to scare our enemies away.

My lack of action was tested when it came to the common people however. After all, I just needed to use my [Sunlight Healing] and it'd be as if they'd never been injured or sick in the first place. Yet using [Sunlight Healing] was the thing Guizhong had warned me from doing, as the strange energy I emitted as I used it seemed to react the most violently when it encountered the remaining taint Ronove's attack had left behind.

Alas, I managed to come to a compromise with Lumine. I indeed wouldn't use [Sunlight Healing], but that wouldn't stop me from healing others, even if indirectly.

So I finally made use of my Story as a wandering Bard, playing music for the people whenever they needed it most, and lifting them up through the Resonance of my [Windblume Festival]. My music didn't bereft the people of their pain, but it would at least grant them hope.

Ah, and I also shared what food I had whenever I could. After all, it wasn't as if I would ever finish them, what with my tiny appetite.

Of course, since we were now exploring new areas, it was inevitable that I began coming across more and more of the strange treasure chests that only I could see. I marked them on my minimap whenever I spotted them, and returned to them late at night once Lumine had fallen asleep.

As expected, none of them gave anything particularly valuable. I had a literal mountain of Mora sitting in my Personal World, I had an infinite source of Primogems, and I'd already upgraded most of my Talents to 3★. There was little else these common treasure chests could grant me.

The chests I needed had to be of the more luxurious kind—the one that gifted me more esoteric items or even stronger enhancing items.

Luckily, the season of Fall began just weeks after we started our journey. With Summer over, things began to slow down, and the tranquility following what happened in Watatsumi continued onwards to the new season.

And so there was little to stop Lumine and I from traveling for months on end, scouring through Inazuma and eventually knowing more about it than even its own Archon. I kept up with my tradition of writing our experiences down, ensuring that these Stories would remain one way or another.

Of course, we returned to Watatsumi from time to time, usually after we fully explored one of Inazuma's islands. And whenever we did, our friends would often visit, and things would usually end up becoming an impromptu celebration.

It was then that we caught up with what was happening in the rest of the world. Like how Morax and Orobashi solidified a Contract, tying Liyue Harbor and Gourou Village together as allies. And so now it wasn't rare to find people from Liyue in Watatsumi for their work or vice versa, with a continuous flow of imports and exports between the two nations.

Hanami continued her lessons under Kitsune Saiguu, even as the goddess returned to her own shrine back in Narukami. At first the girl felt saddened at being separated from everyone, but since travelling back and forth became easy due to Guizhong's influence, it didn't take much for the girl to be happy. It was always a joy to watch her light up whenever Lumine and I shared what we experienced during our travels.

Guizhong continued to tutor Makoto in her spare time, teaching her how to lead Inazuma instead of simply ruling it. And to be fair, now that Makoto had a credible teacher, it didn't take long before her Path to Eternity began shifting towards a more harmonious method.

And along the way, Guizhong tried to do the same with Ei, though she and everyone else knew that was a pipe dream at best. The other goddess had two things in her mind: Food and Fighting. The moment she was presented with anything else, Ei began to space out. Which was fine, honestly. Her confused look whenever I patted her head made her all the cuter.

I failed to see the jealous look Makoto would shoot her sister whenever I did so. Lumine snickered everytime she caught that.

And so, time flew by gently. Weeks passed by quickly as I busied myself in my role as a Bard and a Storyteller. New areas were added to my minimap, and with it a plethora of Stories both familiar and not. 

Of course, though we'd hardly done anything as flashy as what we did in Watatsumi, our foreign looks still garnered much attention, and it didn't take long before tales about us spread across the rest of Inazuma. Of a warrior princess, said to carry a strange relic in her right arm. Of a strange Bard, whose songs were capable of soothing the most terrible agonies.

We didn't mind it, and honestly, Lumine and I found it better that way. These were tame when compared to the insane heights both of us had reached in the eyes of Watatsumi. Being looked upon as merely superhuman was a breath of fresh air compared to the reverence both of us received.

But we were still adventurers, and even the simplest adventure had the possibility of turning into something more. This certainly wasn't helped by our philosophies of 'Yes, and?'. If there was something else we could do, no matter how insane it seemed at first thought, we did it. 

Exploring a dark and spider-infested cave to find a lost dog? Sure!

Running up a mountain to race a Tengu? It's on!

Diving into a massive whirlpool to confirm the whispers of treasure? Say no more.

It certainly wasn't something to be emulated, but it was these decisions that made our adventure all the more interesting, no? And besides, more often than not, these Stories blossomed into something grander—more profound. 

The lost dog turned out to be an ancient youkai, still waiting for its old, deceased friend. It was when I realized I could use my [Gentle Remembrance: An Ode Of Tomorrow] to try and call up their spirit. And when it succeeded, the youkai finally managed to let go, finally returning to the child it had recently befriended by accident.

The tengu had apparently been training for a race with others of its kind, and once we learnt of this, Lumine began coaching the tengu on ways to fly using her own experience. And in the end, both of us were invited to watch the race, and we cheered as that tengu won.

The whirlpool didn't lead us to any treasure per se, but it caused us to be swallowed by a giant whale. But instead of simply breaking out, we discovered that an entire village lived inside the whale. The whale was actually a benevolent god from beyond Teyvat's oceans, swallowing any human it found to protect it using its own body. And as it turned out, when we later told Orobashi about this, he recognized the god, and the two friends reunited for the first time in hundreds of years.

And inevitably, time flew by, and a whole year finally passed since Lumine and I first stepped onto Inazuma.

When we shared this, the people of Watatsumi decided to host us one last celebration. A parting gift to thank us for coming to their aid in the first place, and for all we'd done to help Watatsumi grow into what it was today. 

Naturally, everyone chimed in. From the common farmer to the Samurai corp to all the gods we'd befriended in our time here. Their lives had all changed because of us, and they would ensure these last few days of our stay would be the grandest of them all.

Of course, as we were the guests of honor, we decided to honor their wishes and kept ourselves in the dark regarding what they would do. Lumine used her new downtime as an excuse to explore Watatsumi from one last time, comparing it to how it first looked when they arrived here.

As for me?

It was just a few days before the promised celebration, and I was back in the inn that'd practically turned into my third home. I sat on the bed, glancing at the window occasionally. My faint reflection stared back, and my eyes were drawn to my neck, and the obvious lack of bruising.

I idly traced a finger down my neck. Most of my injuries had healed in the month since our first battle against Celestia, and all that remained was a few faint crack-like scars that stretched from my neck and down to my torso. They didn't disappear even after I used [Sunlight Healing] on them, and I was honestly fine with that.

I hummed, rolling the Astral Token between my fingers.

As I planned, I would stay in Inazuma for an entire year, long enough for my Astral Token to finish its cooldown. And indeed I could now flip the Astral Token again to go on another Adventure.

And just as I remembered, the two sides of the coin showed different faces. On one side was that four-pointed star—which I now realize was literally just a Primogem. On the other side was a lighthouse, a perhaps a trAin, or maybe both; I still wasn't sure what it actually was.

I rolled it around my fingers for another minute, before I sighed and closed my hand around it. Right, no point in delaying any further.

I closed my eyes and flicked the coin into the air.

[Generating two possible Adventures…

Twisted Dreams and Knowledge (Genshin)

Watchmaker of Modern Dreams (Star Rail)]

I didn't open my eyes. I just waited for the coin to land. Waited as I listened to the wind's whistling as the coin reached the apex of its throw and began falling back to my hand.

Then it fell back onto my palm, and a feeling of weightlessness took me as I vanished from the world.

.

.

.

[Chosen Adventure: Watchmaker of Modern Dreams (Star Rail)

Beginning tra-!]

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, oh System!"

[Interference detected. Beginning defense-]

"Now, now. You can surely feel it too, no? Your Story is reaching its end. Soon it shall unravel, and your Dreamer's eyes will wake."

[...]

"Aha understands. Truly! After all, dreams and stories are such wonderful things, are they not? They bring us a grand Elation, lifting us above the constraints of this Dream and into another."

"Is that not right, readers?"

[...Understood. Shifting to Alternate Possibility…]

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Let us ascend to the next layer, everyone! And may our Storyteller show us a good time!"

[Chosen Adventure: Masquerade of the Guilty (???)

Beginning transport…]