I never was a morning person. Waking up all stiff from sleeping on a cold hard stone bench certainly didn't help either.
Nevertheless, I couldn't allow myself to slack off, especially now that a quite some time has passed since I've eaten.
I'll do a few commissions, earn the money, and then have a nice meal after a good day of work. Then, I'll maybe rent a room from an inn or something. I don't really want to sleep on that bench again...
After choosing a few commissions and accepting them, I spent the whole morning completing them.
Simple stuff such as collecting some materials, to some physically taxing ones such as carrying goods from point A to point B, and clearing out hilichurl camps.
I was quite fast at completing them, and as morning went, afternoon came.
Collecting my rewards from the commissions, I made my way to Good Hunter to have a meal for my hard work.
Arriving at the famed restaurant, I took a seat at one of the tables.
I didn't have to wait long before a waitress arrived. She wore a typical maid outfit, her hazelnut hair was tucked in a high ponytal, and her red eyes looked at me with interest. I recognized her as Sara, the in-game waitress for Good Hunter.
'She's cute...'
"Welcome to Good Hunter. May I take your order?" she asked in a polite tone, a slight blush present on her face.
"Yeah. I'd like a... Sweet Madame, and some water please." My mouth was already watering at the thought of finally eating a good meal.
She left, and after some time, came back with my order. The Sweet Madame looked aboslutely delectable, and I couldn't wait to start eating.
Putting down the plate with the delicious chicken, and a wooden glass of water, she sat down across me.
Picking up the wooden fork and knife I glanced at her for a moment. She was intently looking at me with a smile on her face, and her chin resting on her palm.
Averting my gaze for a moment, I asked, "Uh, is there a reason you're sitting here with me?"
"None in particular," she answered, "At this hour there's not too many costumers, so I thought I'd have a chat with you, hope you don't mind," she said, a smile still present on her face.
"Well, I don't," I said, cutting a small piece of the chicken.
Immediately, I felt bliss. The chicken was absolutely delicious.
Sara's smile grew a bit wider, seemingly noticing my happiness, and asked, "You're not from around here, are you?"
I chuckled, "I thought it was pretty obvious," I said while cutting another piece of the chicken.
She giggled. "Well, yes." She paused for a moment, seemingly realizing something, and said, "Oh, I'm Sara by the way. Nice to meet you."
She extended her hand, and I shook it.
"I'm..." I trailed off.
Who am I?
I'm on Gojo's body, but I'm not really Gojo...
It felt like a long time, but in reality, a split second passed. It was almost as if my entire soul was compelling me to answer. I decided who I was, my identity.
"I'm Dani, nice to meet you too," I said with a smile.
Dani, the diminutive of what was my name in my world. Yes, I may be in Gojo's body now, but I'm still me... or so I'd like to think.
After that, Sara and I kept chatting for a while.
When I finished my food, and I was ready to go and finish my pending commissions, Sara asked me something.
"Um, are you free right now? My shift ends soon, so I was wondering if you wanted to keep chatting for a bit..." She seemed a bit fidgety.
Not really thinking too deeply about the question, I answered, "Sorry, I have some stuff to finish, maybe some other time."
She seemed a bit disappointed, and after exchanging goodbyes, I went on my way. I still have some herb collection commissions to finish...
'Wait a minute.'
...
Did she just ask me out?
'Ah, fuck.'
_______________________________________________________________
The days passed uneventfully. I repeated the routine of doing commissions every day to save up money.
It slightly reminded my of my past life, where I was in the same monotonous cycle every day. Thankfully, the thrill of clearing hilichurl camps was not getting old, and the sights I could explore were as breathtaking as the first time I saw them.
For the time being, I was staying at an inn. It was close by to Good Hunter and the Adventurers' Guild, so it was very convenient to say the least.
As I was passing by on the streets, taking a break before continuing with my commissions, I heard some interesting gossip talk from the locals.
"Hey, have you heard? A mysterious blonde outlander showed up earlier this day... She was very cute!"
"What? Again? Didn't another one came in a few days ago? A white-haired one... He was pretty handsome as well."
The gossip was drowned by the hustle and bustle of the city, and I couldn't hear any more.
But, it confirmed one thing. The Traveler has arrived.
A smile formed on my face. 'Finally things are getting more exciting...'
My mind was already on the events that would transpire later this day. So I was already making my way to the city's fountain plaza.
Once I arrived, I sat at the edge of the fountain, and patiently waited for the people I was looking for to arrive.
Once they do, Stormterror's attack should begin... That should be thrilling!
Eventually, I noticed the two girls I was looking for walking nearby, plus a floating... fairy.
A short haired blonde girl, with two locks of hair falling down to her shoulders, framing her cute face. She wore a two-tailed scarf-like accesory on her neck. Her white dress was adorned with small streaks of gold on some parts, perfectly complimenting her slender frame.
The girl that followed had long brown hair that fell to her back, and she was wearing a red and white jumper-like outfit. She also wore thigh-high boots, and there was a ceirtain pep to her walk.
Then, there was that fairy-like creature. A small, white-haired, floating child that followed the blonde girl around.
There they were. Lumine and Amber, in the flesh. And Paimon, I guess.
I have to say, seeing video game characters come to life is ceirtanly exciting.
'Now, what to do...' was my first thought.
My mind tells me to approach them, and strike up a conversation... But I'm not that extroverted.
I guess I'll just stay nearby...
Standing up, I tried following them without being too conspicuous, until out of nowhere, the sky seemed to darken, and the wind picked up quickly.
'It's time...!'
The shadow of a giant beast could be seen on the ground. Looking up, none other than Stormterror soared across the city, giant gusts of winds picking up on different parts of the street, and small tornadoes forming alonside it.
I saw Lumine getting dragged by one, being launched into the sky.
I don't have a Wind Glider, but...
I sighed. "If you don't risk, you can't win..." I whispered before I ran to one of the tornadoes, intending to be launched just as Lumine.
As I was launched toward the sky, I tried regaining my balance, trying to see where Stormterror was. Scanning my surroundings as calm as I could, I looked at Stormterror's flight trajectory.
Calculating my fall, I barely landed on Stormterror's tail. The wind was strong, and I could feel my grip loosening.
'Don't look down, don't look down...'
Strenghtening myself with cursed energy, I was able to pull myself up.
"Phew..." I squated, grabbing onto Stormterror and clenching my fist.
Mustering all my strength and cursed energy, I punched Stormterror's back, his skin denting on my fist.
...
It didn't seem to do much. It felt like all I did was pinch him. I thought I'd do more damage... Maybe this wasn't such a great idea.
"Great. Now what to do...?" I said to myself.
Before I could think of anything, a flurry of what seemed to be wind blasts came crashing onto Stormterror, nearly hitting me.
I looked behind me, and there she was. Lumine, with a Wind Glider, shooting wind blasts, most likely with the help of the Anemo Archon.
"Shoot at him, not me!" I screamed.
She seemed surprised to see me, but quickly regained her composure, and concentrated on attacking Stormterror.
The flurry of attacks seemed to damage him quite a bit, as he accelerated. At some point, he flapped his four wings before swirilng, and started going upwards at a fast velocity.
I grabbed onto him tightly, trying not to fall.
Looking down, I noticed we were going too far. It seemed Stormterror was already leaving.
"Ah, fuck it!" I said as I let go of Stormterror.
The strength of the wind, and the velocity at which we were going were enough to launch my body away.
I flailed my body around. With what little I could look at, I noticed I was quickly approaching Lumine.
"H-Hey, watch ou—" I was going too quick, as even with my attempt at warning her, I crashed onto her with great force.
I heard a yelp, and we were both definitely falling to the ground
"FUCKING HELL!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I was falling.
But it's not like I jumped in without a plan...
My mind was racing with a million thoughts. That maybe this wasn't going to work, that I was going to die.
But still, what is life without a little bit of thrill?
"Okay..." I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself.
Negative emotions surfaced as cursed energy permeated my whole body. I concentrated, even through the almost painful prickling wind.
Now with my entire body covered in cursed energy, I closed my eyes and braced for impact.
After what seemed an eternity for me, I slammed onto the ground. A big crash sound could be felt, and my entire body reverberated.
"Ugh..." I moved my aching body. It felt like my entire body was hit with a giant steel bat. It hurt, but I was alive and well. Apart from maybe a few broken things...
I slowly stood up, and I saw Lumine gracefully landing, Amber checking up on her almost immediately after.
It seems she managed to take control of her Wind Glider, even when I crashed onto her.
Lumine looked past Amber, and noticed me. Her face quickly contorted into one of anger.
"You!" she exclaimed, pointing her finger at me.
She ran past Amber, approaching me, and stopped on her tracks right in front of me.
"Are you insane?! Why were you on top of that thing? You nearly killed me!" She was clearly upset.
Well, can't really say anything about that, I did crash onto her. If she wasn't as skilled, she probably would've died...
"Lumine, calm down!" Paimon said. It seemed like it was the first time Paimon saw Lumine this upset.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about—"
"Sorry?! Sorry isn't gonna cut it, you f—"
Before she could finish whatever she was going to say, a clapping sound was heard.
The source was a tall tanned man with navy blue hair. He had a long lock of hair that fell over his shoulder to his waist, and a black eyepatch. He wore a half-cape with a fur collar; a white-collared, cleavage-revealing blouse and dark trousers.
Of course, I recognized him immediately as Kaeya.
"You've actually got the power to go up against the dragon..." he said, looking at Lumine. "Are you a new ally... or a new storm?" he finished.
Then, he looked at me. "And you... You're either brave, or completely crazy, to try and go up against the dragon like that... I like it."
"Brave? He's a complete and absolute—"
"Yeah! You jumped at one of the tornadoes, and then you survived a fall from that height! Who are you, really?" Amber chimed in, interrupting whatever insult Lumine was going to throw at me.
"Uh... Let's say I'm a traveler from a faraway land." I tried dodging the question with a vague answer. After all, I can't just say I'm a guy from another world... Or it's just not that convenient.
Amber and Kaeya didn't seem too fazed, and simply nodded along.
Lumine, on the other hand, seemed slightly interested at that, but with her crossed arms and her anything but amused expression, it was clear she was still upset at me.
"Well, everyone has secrets. I won't press you for more," Kaeya then paused, and said, "I'm Kaeya, cavalry captain of the Knights of Favonius. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Lumine. Nice to meet you too." Lumine's expression immediately softened up while introducing herself.
"And Paimon's name is... well, Paimon!"
"Name's Dani," I said, flashing a peace sign.
"I see." Kaeya said, looking pensive. Then, she looked at Lumine. "Well, I was hoping to do some small talk but the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius is very interested in meeting you, and formally invites you to our headquarters."
"Oh! Well, that fight you just had certainly was witnessed by a lot of citizents, and you helped a lot! It's no wonder Jean wants to meet you." Amber said.
"You may come as well." Kaeya looked at me with a smile.
"Me? Why?" I asked.
"For starters, you are a very interesting individual. You ran to a tornado, seemingly looking to fight Stormterror, and then survived a fall from a considerable altitude," he paused for a moment, and then said, "Well, let's just say you helped in the battle."
It seems he wants to keep an eye on me... Well, I can't complain.
I glanced at Lumine, and she was glaring at me. Seems she isn't too stoked on coming with me.
She then turned to Kaeya, a tired expression suddenly appearing on her face. "Alright, I'll meet with this... Acting Grand Master of yours. I hope she can help me find the Anemo God at least..." Lumine sighed.
After that, we all started making our way to the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
As we walked, a smile formed on my face. Today was a crazy day.
Though, I have to be more careful next time. Even though I'm seeking exciting fights and stuff like that, I have to be less impulsive with my decisions.
Ah, well, let's leave that problem to future me.