Whoosh!
A sharp sound echoed through the dense forest. Four Hilichurls, sitting around the campfire, suddenly collapsed, blood flowing freely from their wounds.
"Gah!!!"
A Hilichurl Archer on guard saw this and let out a shriek, scanning the area in panic. An arrow formed of wind pierced through its throat.
Blood spurted out, and the archer collapsed to the ground.
Riku, with a faint green glow surrounding him, walked quickly from one side, his eyes gazing into the air as an even more powerful energy surged within him.
Hiroshi and Lumine suddenly appeared beside Riku.
The three exchanged glances, each sensing the unspoken sentiment. They remembered how unsteady they were when they first gained their powers.
Riku closed his eyes and swiftly adapted to the energy within his body. With the innate talent of his special power, Riku could more easily sense, understand, and utilize his strength. Moreover, his other innate ability gave him better control over his spiritual energy.
Opening his eyes, Riku's face brightened, and he said to the two in front of him, "I've adapted now. We can move on to the next group of monsters."
"Alright."
Seeing how quickly Riku had gotten used to his new power, Hiroshi nodded silently. He remembered when every upgrade took him at least a full day to adjust, though that was mainly due to the difference between his mental strength and physical power. Still, he had grown used to it—in a group filled with geniuses, there was no need for an ordinary person like him to overthink.
Hiroshi unleashed his spiritual sense, spreading it across the Whispering Woods, which covered the entire area between Starfell Lake and the Temple of the Thousand Winds.
Since it was close to Mondstadt, the Knights of Favonius regularly patrolled and cleared out the area, ensuring that no strong monsters would reside there. At the same time, weaker monsters fleeing from the Temple of the Thousand Winds occasionally approached Mondstadt, providing ideal training for beginner adventurers.
This place was the perfect location for Riku to level up safely in the early stages. Hiroshi, meanwhile, served as a utility man—scanning, transporting, and providing protection. He ensured that Riku would not waste time traveling or hunting for monsters. Once Riku became strong enough, he could then move on to clear out the marked dangerous monster groups around Mondstadt.
Lumine acted as their guide. Unlike Hiroshi, who enjoyed staying home, Lumine was always out and about, completing commission after commission to earn Mora for living expenses and future travels. She had explored almost every corner of Mondstadt.
Hiroshi grabbed both Riku and Lumine, activating his spatial ability to transport them.
Unlike Luo Xiaobai's teleportation, Hiroshi's spatial ability could only be used within the range of his spiritual sense, whereas Luo Xiaobai could teleport across set points over much longer distances.
Above a camp with five Hilichurls, space rippled like the surface of water as Hiroshi, Riku, and Lumine appeared.
Riku extended his palm towards the Hilichurls below, gathering wind elements. A wind bullet rapidly formed in his palm.
The elemental fluctuation alarmed one of the Pyro Hilichurl Shooters below.
Spotting the three figures above, the shooter yelled to alert its companions. It lifted its crossbow, a flame gathering atop the arrow.
"Gah!"
With a shout, the Pyro Shooter released its arrow.
Riku's wind bullet was ready, using most of his spiritual energy. It shot down at high speed, sweeping through the incoming flaming arrow, transforming into a fire-infused wind bullet that smashed into the center of the Hilichurl camp.
Like a bomb exploding, soil and flames erupted, engulfing the remaining Hilichurls in a blast of wind and fire.
The Pyro Shooter and an Explosive Hilichurl—the camp's only two elemental elites—were eliminated instantly. The Explosive Hilichurl had been attempting to summon a Pyro Slime when the flaming wind bullet disintegrated it, and the Pyro Shooter that had fired just moments before was also killed by the ensuing explosion and shockwave. Only three ordinary Hilichurls managed to run far enough to survive.
In the sky, Riku, whose energy had almost been drained, felt himself rapidly recover. He had discovered upon leveling up that his own state would recover quickly, and now the experience points from defeating the two elites were enough to push him to level three.
Taking a deep breath, Riku's eyes shone even brighter as he conjured three wind arrows, instantly piercing through the three fleeing Hilichurls, gaining an additional thirty experience points.
Hiroshi was already used to it, paying no attention to Riku's rapid adaptation to his upgraded abilities. Instead, he unleashed his spiritual sense once more, scanning the vast Whispering Woods.
Unlike in the game, Hiroshi's spiritual sense, when fully unleashed, could vaguely detect everything within a fifty-mile radius, though even that wasn't enough to cover the entirety of Whispering Woods. More importantly, he needed to accurately locate groups of monsters suitable for Riku, which meant he had to focus on an area only about twenty miles wide.
Seeing Riku signal to him again, Hiroshi's feet became shrouded in cloud. A horn protruded from his forehead, and, with a flash of white light, the three flew away atop the clouds.
Their next target was a spot far from Mondstadt and the trade routes, a place densely populated with low-level monsters, where higher-level monsters would occasionally emerge. It was more convenient to use his cloud-riding ability to navigate.
From that point on, a cloud capable of shooting wind blades and wind arrows appeared in the sky. Some adventurers in Whispering Woods even saw the cloud float above their battles, sending out a series of wind blades and wind arrows.
As time passed, later adventurers reported seeing more and more wind blades emerging from the cloud, which even ended up saving three reckless adventurers. These adventurers had set out to raid a micro-village of twelve Hilichurls without scouting ahead.
They had not anticipated the village being led by a Mid-level Wooden Shield Hilichurl Berserker.
The three adventurers, unable to use elemental powers, found themselves cornered by the wooden-shielded leader and its eleven subordinates. Their trained bodies and evasion skills barely kept them alive, but exhaustion weighed heavily on them.
Just then, a white cloud floated above them, and from within, there seemed to be muffled voices. Then, a barrage of wind blades rained down, leaving the monsters collapsed on the ground while the three novice adventurers stood stunned.
Watching the cloud disappear into the distance, the three had vastly different feelings and thoughts.
In later rumors, many beginner adventurers tried to guess the true nature of the mysterious cloud. Most who had seen it believed a wind slime had been trapped inside.
The three adventurers who had truly heard voices from the cloud each chose a different path. One quit the Adventurer's Guild, returned home, and took over the family business. He might one day tell his grandchildren of his legendary experience.
The second adventurer publicly proclaimed it was just a case of monsters fighting among themselves. Feeling ignored, sleepless nights of jealousy consumed him, haunted by the young voice he'd heard from the cloud.
The last adventurer, the youngest of the three, felt he had found his purpose in life when he was saved. One day, while returning to the city, he heard his former partner disparaging his ideals.
They fought, and as he stood victorious, bloodied and bruised, a green gemstone descended from the heavens as a token of his triumph.
That day, he took the first solid step towards his dreams.
Meanwhile, Hiroshi's group, having cleared the entire Whispering Woods, stopped to rest.
Hiroshi pulled out a map and spread it out, looking at Lumine. "I'm not familiar with the routes past Whispering Woods, so it's your turn to lead the way."
The sky was turning orange as Hiroshi glanced over at Riku.
Surging with powerful spiritual energy, Riku's body emitted waves of elemental energy, resonating through the sky.
Opening his eyes, Riku smiled at the setting sun, "I've fully adapted to my level nine power. It looks like there's just enough time left for me to reach level ten."
Quietly looking at Lumine, Hiroshi pretended not to hear Riku's declaration.
With Hiroshi staring at her, Lumine pointed in a direction without saying a word.
Before either of them could react, the experienced Hiroshi was already in motion.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, a group of low-level monsters marked by the Knights of Favonius received unexpected visitors.