Guided by Paimon, Aether heads toward the source of the smoke the duo had spotted earlier. Although there was a possibility of encountering other people, both knew it could simply be a local fire, but they had nothing to lose by checking it out.
It didn't take long for the duo to find the source of the smoke: it was an improvised camp with a campfire in the center. The area was filled with humanoid footprints, signs of a struggle, such as broken objects, arrows stuck in the ground, and a spot that appeared to have been blown up.
"There were several beings here," Aether said while counting the footprints. "There must have been at least eight beings that passed through here, based on the number of footprints. Also, the signs of the battle are recent. This all happened just moments ago."
"Aether, look!" Paimon shouted, pointing at the campfire, causing the traveler to quickly turn into a combat stance while conjuring his sword, but there were no enemies.
"The meat is burned," Paimon commented, making Aether look at her with confusion.
"What's wrong? I'm just sad that the food was wasted."
"I should have guessed that was the reason." The traveler chose not to comment on his companion's priorities, simply laughed, and sheathed his sword.
"Hey, you! Stand right there!" an unfamiliar female voice echoed through the area, and the duo turned to see the owner of the voice. It was a girl of similar height to Aether, with fair skin and long dark brown hair.
'Rabbit.' That was the first thought Aether had upon seeing the young woman, who was a few meters away from him, with a bow drawn and an arrow aimed at him. This thought arose because of the red ribbon shaped like bunny ears that the archer was wearing.
This was Amber, an 18-year-old young woman and the last remaining member of the Outriders of the Knights of Favonius, a group of knights that, over time, became obsolete and eventually disbanded.
Despite being the only one left in her order, the young outrider always strived to fulfill her duties with 100% of her effort, and that day was no different. She had woken up, prepared herself completely, and ventured outside the walls of Mondstadt.
Thanks to her Vision, she could enhance her body and cover great distances while performing tasks that ordinary people could not. That day, she had helped some people being chased by slimes, helped a lost child find their parents, and assisted a merchant in saving his goods from a group of Hilichurls. Overall, it was an extremely positive morning, but it left Amber feeling tired.
So, she had set up a small camp and was ready to have lunch when a group of Hilichurls attacked her. Annoyed by the attack, as she was hungry, she defeated the monsters as quickly as possible. What she didn't expect was that upon returning to her camp, her lunch had burned (she had forgotten to remove the meat from near the fire due to the rush) and that she would find two unique individuals there.
One of them looked like a small fairy from the children's stories she had heard from her grandfather, and the other was possibly the most handsome man she had ever seen in her entire life. For a moment, Amber lost herself staring at the unknown blond, but her senses and training brought her back to her stance.
"Hey! Hold on a moment!" Paimon exclaimed irritably, pointing at Amber. "We're just travelers who stumbled upon this place after seeing the smoke." She pointed at the campfire and then hid behind Aether. "Stop aiming that bow at people. It's dangerous!"
"Travelers?" Amber asked, examining the duo in front of her and trying to recognize the origin of their clothes to determine which nation they were from, but without success.
"Please lower your bow so we can talk," Aether finally spoke, and for some reason, his voice sounded like a melody to Amber's ears, which made her, unconsciously, stop aiming the bow and lower her guard. "My name is Aether, and this is Paimon. As my travel companion mentioned, we are travelers, and our current destination is the city of Mondstadt."
Amber continued to stare at the duo for a moment before making her weapon disappear and opening a friendly smile.
"I apologize for the previous hostility. Initially, I thought you were thieves, as the number of outlaws has been increasing lately."
"It's okay," Aether replied with a smile as he approached Amber. "May I know your name, miss?" With the reduced distance, the scout was dazzled by the traveler's face but soon regained her composure, becoming slightly flushed.
"I'm Amber, leader of the Outriders of the Knights of Favonius," the archer introduced herself proudly. "How about I show you the way to Mondstadt as an apology?"
"That would be great!" Paimon said cheerfully, but her enthusiasm was interrupted when the fairy's stomach made a loud noise. "Can we eat before we go?"
"Of course! I'm hungry too," Amber replied with a smile, going to fetch some things from her camp.
"I'll help prepare the food," Aether offered, and the archer accepted the help.
...
After the trio had a meal, Amber explained that they were in the Vale of the Starfall and that to reach the city, they would need to cross the Whispering Woods and enter through the main gate.
During the journey, a few monsters attacked the group but were quickly eliminated. This event allowed Aether to see Amber using fire to imbue her arrows. She explained to the traveler that she was a bearer of a Pyro Vision, which granted her fire-related powers.
When Aether learned about the Visions, he was initially surprised, as in most of the worlds he visited with his sister, the native population was naturally capable of using some form of elemental power.
As someone who explored the cosmos, visited countless civilizations, and interacted with various concepts, it was easy for Aether to understand that Visions were the physical manifestation of imaginary elements, serving as a shell. Within this shell, there was an elemental core that allowed Vision bearers to utilize their powers.
When the traveler asked Amber about the origin of the Visions, she responded that she wasn't sure, but most people believed that the Visions were gifts from the Archons. Knowing that this group was possibly responsible for manipulating the imaginary to create these objects made Aether reassess the level of power he had attributed to them.
Unfortunately for the young man, when he asked about other elements beyond the seven associated with the Archons, Amber replied that she had no knowledge of them and that throughout her life, she had only heard of these seven.
With this response, Aether theorized that the common people of this world probably didn't have knowledge about the imaginary element or the non-existence. He would have to wait until he encountered an Archon to ask more complex questions.
If he could get his hands on a pure source of the imaginary, he could recover part of his lost power. Even though Visions have a shell made of the imaginary element, it wouldn't serve Aether's purpose, as the imaginary of these objects had been modified and diluted to interact with reality.
What concerned the traveler was the possibility of there being no pure source in this world. If such a scenario proved to be true, his situation would be more complicated to resolve than he had originally planned. At least, due to the Anemo energy, Aether did not lose hope, as this element was a derivative of the concept of light, and he himself was a child of light. If he could synthesize all the elements, theoretically, a part of his lost power could be recovered in the same way as finding a pure source of the imaginary.
"Hey! We're almost there," Amber spoke up, taking the lead and pointing to the road that led to a more open area, almost free of trees.
In this new area, one could see the bridge connecting Mondstadt's main gate to the land. There was a large flow of people entering and leaving the city, and Aether could see several knights stationed on the bridge, controlling the entry and exit of people. The traveler assumed these were the Knights of Favonius Amber had mentioned earlier.
"Travelers, I present to you the City of Freedom, Mondstadt," Amber said proudly as the group crossed the bridge toward the main gate. "Here, everyone is free to be whatever they want without being judged. You'll find everything you could imagine in the streets of this place."
"How free can people be in Mondstadt?" Aether asked, genuinely curious.
During his many travels with his sister, Aether had encountered many places that called themselves the City of Freedom. He wouldn't deny that he and Lumine had a lot of fun and did various crazy things in those places. The problem was that sometimes people could go overboard in expressing their freedom.
A clear example was when the twins visited a highly technological world and ended up in a city called Night City. There, the siblings went to a party and were having a great time. The trouble started when a group of idiots tried to mess with Lumine, and one of them even dared to grab her. What the fool didn't realize was that the twins' speed was immensely superior to anyone in that world. The result was the idiot having his hand broken by Lumine before he could do anything, which started a fight between the twins and the other idiots. The fight escalated quickly, and within minutes, it became a gang war against the twins.
Of course, Lumine and Aether won, but that day taught them to use their powers to alter their appearances and appear more "normal." In the end, an inside joke emerged between the siblings: "We have to stay ugly because our beauty can cause disasters."
"Well... As long as you don't break any laws or harm others, you can do almost anything," Amber replied, stopping and blushing slightly. She took a deep breath, returning to her usual demeanor, and moved closer to Aether to whisper in his ear. "If you have any peculiar desires, you're likely to fulfill them after the sixth chime of Barbatos' church bell, which coincides with sunset." Amber paused briefly before continuing. "After this time, people head to the west district of the city, and there, they start to have fun and become more expressive." The scout stepped back, leaving Aether's personal space. "Almost every night, there are big parties in the west district. It's good to go there from time to time to unwind. Just remember that entry is prohibited for anyone under 16 after the sixth chime of the bell."
"Don't worry. I'm over 16, and if I decide to visit the west district, I won't bring Paimon," Aether assured confidently, though he nearly mentioned that he was MUCH older than 16.
"Paimon doesn't mind not going. Aether, just don't forget to bring some food if you go to that place, okay?" the small fairy commented, not particularly concerned. She preferred sleeping or eating to exploring places like the one described.
"Aether and Paimon, give me a few minutes. I'll register you in the city gate's list to allow both of you to enter and exit freely," Amber said.
"Amber, no need to be so polite. You're helping us willingly, so take as much time as you need," Aether replied with a smile, while Paimon nodded in agreement.
"Paimon completely agrees with Aether, you don't need to be so formal with us," the fairy smiled adorably at the archer.
"Thank you, everyone. I'll be right back."
Watching Amber walk away, Paimon turned to the traveler and landed on his shoulder. Aether didn't mind, as the fairy was as light as a feather, despite eating more than three adults.
"I liked her, even though she threatened us with her bow at first," Paimon said.
"She was just being cautious. Amber's reaction was perfectly normal given the situation," Aether replied, leaning against the bridge wall.
"What do you think of her, Aether?" asked the fairy, her voice full of curiosity.
"I don't know her well enough to have a formed opinion, but she seems like the type of person who is always optimistic and seeks to help others," the traveler closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind on his skin. "She seems like a good person, and she's quite cute."
"Cute?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
"Cute like a bunny."