Takashi carefully counted the other rewards: eight high-level energy cubes and an energy cube maker.
As expected, this was very "miHoYo-like."
The energy cubes in his store only went up to high-level, and making cubes that would satisfy a legendary sprite's preferences was still incredibly challenging.
However, fortunately, he had plenty of time to experiment.
Xerneas held a pestle in its mouth, narrowed its eyes, and obediently handed it to Takashi.
Takashi took the hint, sat cross-legged on the floor, and started thinking about how to tinker with this thing.
He looked carefully—there were four slots at the bottom of the machine, each for placing a different type of Berry.
On top of the machine was a speed control dial, with a pointer inside it and four red needles around the edge, all pointing toward the center of the dial.
When the machine started, the pointer inside the dial would spin rapidly, and by manipulating the outer needles to align with the inner pointer, the machine's speed would increase, speeding up the fusion of the Berries.
The speed determined the quality of the Berry fusion—the higher the speed, the higher the quality of the energy cube produced.
One person had to operate four needles quickly, aligning them with the inner pointer—it was like playing a game of whack-a-mole, requiring skill and coordination.
Takashi remembered back when he played Pokémon Emerald, having to play solo, finding three NPCs to help make energy cubes. Some Berry masters operated like pros, always hitting the mark.
The other "fish-like" NPCs (players) were truly awful.
Takashi took out four fresh Berries from the counter, put them into the machine, and was about to start making energy cubes when he realized—how could he operate without four people?
He looked up to see Xerneas watching him with squinted eyes.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot about you." Takashi scratched his head, laughing awkwardly. "Let's make energy cubes together."
"Okay," Xerneas said gently.
Takashi and Xerneas each controlled two needles. Takashi placed his hands on the needles, while Xerneas used its feet.
The inner pointer began to rotate.
"Click, click, click..."
With storm-like speed, Takashi started frantically tapping—this game was all about speed and strength.
As long as he tapped enough times, eventually, he'd hit the mark—a blind cat catching a dead mouse, aligning the inner and outer needles.
Takashi was sweating profusely, watching the speed meter steadily rise in a straight line, reaching 180 RPM—near the limit. He couldn't help but feel ecstatic.
Xerneas tilted its head, watching Takashi—its trainer seemed quite energetic.
Takashi got into the groove, fully immersed in the energy cube-making atmosphere with the sprite, ignoring the up-and-down fluctuations in the speed meter.
After five minutes, Takashi leaned back against the table, panting, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Xerneas, wasn't I amazing?"
"Mm-hmm." Xerneas smiled, its soft fur pressing affectionately against him.
Takashi shrank his neck, laughing, "Xerneas, you're tickling me."
After a short rest, Takashi took out the freshly made energy cube, placed it in a sprite-specific bowl, and handed it to Xerneas. "Here, try it and see if you like it."
Xerneas took a bite, showing a satisfied smile. "It's delicious."
"Really?" Takashi also took a piece from the plate and tried it. "Whoa, spicy! I didn't know you liked spicy food!"
In the future, he thought of taking Xerneas to Liyue's Wanmin Restaurant, where they made excellent boiled fish. However, he'd have to watch out for Ying'er at the nearby Chihshang Kiln—she had a knack for steering conversations in a direction that might corrupt Xerneas!
Since he now knew Xerneas liked spicy energy cubes, Takashi decided to replicate the process. He placed four more Berries into the machine and resumed making cubes with Xerneas, controlling the speed within the 180-220 RPM range.
This range produced slightly spicy energy cubes, perfectly suited to Xerneas' taste.
At first, Takashi thought it was his own "god-like" operation that got the speed up, but after a moment, he noticed—Xerneas was always hitting the mark with the outer needles, compensating for his errors and bringing the speed back up.
Takashi couldn't help but feel a little disheartened—turns out, he was just riding along for the win.
Xerneas kept smiling at him, "It's okay, keep it up."
...
The twilight sun cast a long shadow of Diluc as he returned home, holding his newly obtained sprite, the pseudo-legendary Bagon.
The cute little fellow had already closed its eyes, nestled in his arms, snoring softly, a bit of drool at the corner of its mouth.
Diluc contentedly patted its small, iron-hard head, wondering, "How did it get this strong?"
Dragonspine's ancient ice was as hard as diamonds, and even his full-strength strike couldn't shatter it.
Diluc could clearly tell that Bagon's head could rival the ice.
But who would have the heart to let a Bagon worth millions of Mora test itself against the ice?!
Returning to Dawn Winery, the fragrance of wine filled the air, and under the wooden signboard were four carved words: "Remember the Beginning."
As a noble of Mondstadt, he wore a mask to help the citizens solve their problems discreetly, and in other matters, he was always courteous, never belittling others.
At times, he'd host gatherings with other nobles, and amidst the fragrances and elegance, someone would always try to introduce their daughter to him, only to be met with laughter. "Thanks to Master Diluc marrying his career, we get to enjoy his fine wine."
"Master, welcome back." Three beautiful maids stood at the door, bowing to greet him.
"Mm."
Head maid Adelinde saw him holding the strange creature and some items in his hand, and she moved to help. "Let me assist you."
"No, no need." Diluc smiled, declining the offer, entering his room alone.
Adelinde, along with the other two maids, Moco and Hilly, was stunned. Master Diluc had never looked so happy before.
"I heard there's a sprite shop that opened in Mondstadt—maybe it has something to do with that?" Moco whispered.
"I heard that too. Someone caught a red Magikarp in Starfell Lake yesterday, but its scales couldn't even be scraped off," Hilly immediately replied.
"What are you two whispering about?" Adelinde glared at them. "Hurry and clear the haystacks around the place."
"Those haystacks seem impossible to clear—maybe we should get an adventurer..." Hilly complained, but upon seeing Adelinde's stern face, she and Moco quickly grabbed brooms and ran out.
Diluc returned to his room, gently placing Bagon on his bed. He took off his black and gold coat and covered Bagon with it to keep it warm as it slept.
Seeing Bagon sleeping so peacefully, he sat alone at his desk, lit the lamp, and began flipping through the sprite trainer's manual.