Life went on.
Over time, my body eventually recovered enough for me to begin walking around on my own again. Morax and Guizhong threw me a little party for that; a nice extravagant dinner at a recently-opened hidden gem of a restaurant. The young couple who owned the place looked like they were about to faint when they saw us three saunter in, but they managed to maintain their professionalism.
I then finally took a visit to the Feiyun's family manor, mostly to see how my student was doing. And boy, was it a surprise to see the young man I often trained had blossomed into a father. He'd lost a lot of his old boyish charm, but his new look was no less eye-catching than before. If anything, I've heard that his status as a father made him more desirable to some.
Naturally, I'd also met Tianqiu's wife and daughter. Both were extremely overwhelmed to have one of Liyue's three gods straight up sit before them, but Tianqiu was thankfully quick to assure them that I wasn't all that strict.
At some point, Tianqiu's daughter—Baiqu—began asking me if I could teach her as well. After all, her father was one of the greatest swordsmen that had ever lived, and she'd grown up listening to his exploits. Of him cutting through hundreds of demons on his own, protecting the gates of Liyue Harbor even in scenarios that sounded impossible.
I declined. Not because Baiqu's talent was any less inferior to her father, but because she was just too young. She was only 5 years old, having been born late to her parents' marriage due to how busy they were in the past. Though I did promise to teach them once they turned at least 10 years old. In the meantime, I gave her some scrolls to guide her on how to grow her base strength.
Though, in truth, it wasn't so simple. The so-called 'scrolls' I'd handed her were actually some Talent Scrolls I'd gotten from the Gacha. I could've used them myself, but they were either redundant or didn't fit. I wanted to see if someone could learn from these scrolls normally—after all, my [Instructor] managed to impart my [Swords Dance] to Tianqiu in the past, so I at least knew that the Genshin System was able to share Talents to other people.
That aside, I wasn't able to instruct Tianqiu either. Neither of my two requisite Talents had risen to 4★, and the items I needed to do that weren't ones I could easily purchase from the [Shop].
I'd just told Tianqiu that I was still compiling ways of simplifying my techniques for mortals to understand, and he thankfully bought that.
Since my previous 'official' job was now unavailable, I took to my new position as Liyue's historian with great excitement. My actual title was Liyue's Storyteller, but it didn't really change much. My job was to document how Liyue developed, and to put into ink Liyue's past, present, and future.
Which meant more exploring! There might not be any more treasure chests for me to find in the whole region of Liyue, but 17 years was still a lot. I was eager to see how things had changed in my absence.
And so it became common to see me walking all around Liyue, jotting down various histories and little anecdotes. It was honestly a lot of fun listening to the tales of others, whether straight from the people or from piecing together the lost history of ruins through their artifacts. My [Hawk Eyes] shined in this regard, allowing me to spot minute details many would've missed.
I'd even encounter some people during my travels outside, and they'd often become the most enjoyable parts of my new job. Since they were people who often lived outside Liyue Harbor, they didn't really know who I was. And so I could afford to be a little more casual when I talked to them.
Of course, once they then learn who I was, they'd often prostrate themselves and beg for forgiveness to apologize for how casual they'd been. I'd just laugh it off and made a faux promise to keep things to themselves.
My journey around Liyue was much slower this time, with me taking weeks or even months in a single place at times. Occasionally I'd even pick up a few 'temporary' students who needed help. Training people out in the open wilderness quickly became one of my favorite pastimes.
I returned to Liyue Harbor from time to time. Officially, it was to deposit the scrolls I'd written during my travels, but really, it was just to visit Morax and Guizhong. We'd always celebrate with a lavish dinner, before I'd spend a few days with either Morax or Guizhong.
With Guizhong, I shared the many stories I'd encountered during my travels, occasionally giving her new inspirations for future innovations.
With Morax, we'd spend hours watching the people, or walk across the nearby beaches as we enjoyed the ocean's breeze.
It was a time I found great contentment, and it became easier and easier to put aside the fact that I'd lost 17 years of my life due to being kept in stasis. It still stung to know that, but it didn't grate on me like it used to.
And before I knew it, 3 whole years flew by.
Right now, I was seated atop a fallen log, with a small campfire burning in front of me, and a cup of warm chocolate in my hands. I took a curious sip of my drink, and hummed. The velvety taste of warm chocolate never failed to please me, but this cup was different from the hundreds of warm chocolates I've drank in the past.
[Cup of Warm Chocolate 1★
A cup of warm, sweet chocolate.
Increases resistance against the cold by 5% for 15 minutes]
This time, the cup of warm chocolate was an item my System recognized. Most of the cocoa—the newest plant I'd bought from the [Shop] and introduced to the Liyue palette—turned into chocolate that was ordinary. Not to say they were bad, but that there wasn't anything special about them, so to say.
But since I had the [Hand of Creation] Talent, I decided to see what'd happen if I decided to turn some cocoa into chocolate myself. And while turning the initial fruit into the chocolate I knew was a hassle I did not want to repeat, I was pleased to see that my Talent applied to even something as mundane as cooking.
[Hand of Creation 4★
Your hands hold the weight of creation, capable of shaping artifacts that hold the power to shake destiny. The heavens themselves seemed to descend and bless your every creation.
Any creation of the User will be at least 1★. The resulting rarity of the produced item will increase according to the amount of effort and energy spent. Allows the user to create items from Elemental Energy]
It was this same Talent that allowed me to create the sword and bow that destroyed Osial, and I'd done a lot of testing over the years to see the boundaries of this Talent. And as it turned out, there was no boundary. Creation was creation, and as long as I made something from other things, this Talent would activate.
Funnily enough, since most of my creations were all mystical in some ways, the people of Liyue began calling me a god of crafting as well.
I grinned slightly as I thought about it. Winds, Liberation, Music, and now Crafting—my 'domains' as a god sure were diverse. Then again, both Morax and Guizhong also had many different 'domains' that fell under their specialties, so I guess I was just fitting into the mold.
Just as I finished the cup of chocolate however, I caught sight of something surprising.
It was a falling star, streaking across the skies and heading towards the West. I'd blinked when I saw it, but my instincts also told me that it was no ordinary falling star. So I quickly used [Hawk Eyes] to better see what was so odd about it, and my eyes went wide.
It wasn't a falling star at all—it was a person!
My halo flashed into existence, white wings burst from behind me, and I soared into the skies in moments. The winds quaked as I flew by at extreme speeds, and I'd no doubt scare off many nearby animals, but I didn't care.
My instincts screamed at me that I needed to catch the person before they hit the ground, and my instincts had yet to lead me astray.
My figure turned into a blur as I flew as fast as I could, and then, I finally caught the person. My winds burst around me as I gently slowed down, and my wings wrapped around me and the person I caught, creating a small barrier of wind to protect us from the cold.
I took a few moments to catch my breaths, and once I did, I looked down to better see the person I'd caught.
And my breath was taken away.
It was a beautiful girl with hair as yellow as the sun, wearing white dress adorned with arcs of gold, with a wispy scarf extending behind her. Even pale and shivering, her beauty was no less than Guizhong's or mine. But more than that, I could feel a connection with her—a warmth that felt as if I was holding the stars themselves.
A small headache stabbed me as I thought that, and I winced as I shook my head-
Just then, I heard a soft groan, and I quickly looked down to see the girl's eyes begin to open.
.
.
.
"AETHER!"
The last thing Lumine remembered was seeing their own sibling be engulfed by those red cubes, caught by the unknown god that'd stopped them when they tried to leave this world.
It shouldn't have ever happened. This world was rife with conflict and dangers, and so she and Aether agreed to leave. But they were stopped before they could pass through the veil of the planet. At first they'd been confident—after all, they'd never met someone who could defeat them when they fought together. But they were wrong, and now her sibling was lost to her.
The next thing she knew, she was falling from the sky, heading towards some place unknown. She didn't have the strength to do so. She could feel how heavy her body had become, and it wasn't hard to realize that the unknown god had done something to her.
But more than anything, she didn't have the energy to do so. Because she'd failed, and now Aether wasn't here. They'd been truly separated, and she couldn't feel where he was.
For all she knew, he could be dead.
So she let herself fall, and silently, she somewhat wished she would hit the ground hard enough to never wake again.
Before that could happen though, she felt something warm wrap around her, and the cold of the night sky was blown away. The smell of warm Spring engulfed her, almost hugging her. It reminded her of younger days when she and Aether weren't even a decade old; of that place she used to call home.
Gently, she opened her eyes, and she finally saw her savior. It was a girl, with black hair tied to braids and bright blue eyes. A halo shone above her head, and she could see the pair of white wings that wrapped around her, protecting her from the elements.
But it was her savior's eyes that took her the most. It was the deep concern her savior had as she held her; a gaze filled with care and worry, but also with the conviction to protect.
And maybe it was because of what'd happened to her and Aether, or maybe it was how her savior so dearly reminded her of the home she'd lost, or maybe it was how she held Lumine as if to protect her from the world,
She felt tears building in her eyes. She tried to stop them, but her savior smiled sadly as she wiped her tears away. "It's okay." She whispered, voice soft like gentle wind chimes. "It's okay. You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you anymore."
Lumine's lips wobbled, before she dove into her savior's chest and began to cry.