A strong gust of wind blew past John, almost taking the Windwheel Asters with it.
The sun was well into settling for the night with the moon peaking around the horizon.
'At least there aren't any mosquitoes in Teyvat.' John tried to comfort himself as he was crouched over, plucking the flowers from the ground.
Uprooting them proved more strenuous than he initially expected. He hadn't the slightest clue on how gardening worked. How would he? It's not like gardening was the norm for kids his age. All those comments about how Genshin Players should touch grass really came to bite him in the ass.
How did he even get here? Why is he even here? What's the point of him being here? Why him?
John looked up at the darkening sky and let out a long sigh.
'What I wouldn't give for modern commodities.'
Clear pristine air filled his lungs as he allowed himself this one moment of peace, the cold air of the evening washed over him. Just one moment, he'd allow himself just one moment of vulnerability. Just one moment to let it really settle in that there was no way home. No way back. That he was really stuck.
He then turned his face towards the statue. The winged, robed, boyish stone figure, holding up an orb, stood perched on top of a broken and battered pillar lined with an inkling of gold. It was the statue of the seven, it was a statue of Barbatos. Or as players like him knew him as Venti.
Behind it, planted firmly into the ground was a massive hulking tree that stretched its branches far and wide. It was befitting of a landmark, people from Mondstadt referred to as 'Windrise', the place rumored to be ground zero of Venessa, the first Dandelion Knight's ascension into godhood.
John stared at it for a while.
Maybe, just maybe, he would get elemental powers if he'd just touch the statue. Of course he knew deep down, it wouldn't work. The only reason it worked for the traveler was because they were special, heck even fans theorized that the traveler was some kind of god and he… well he was more or less the same as everyone else.
'Forget it, it's not happening.' John reassured himself as he stood up, his shoulders rounded and head hanging low holding a stuffed sack, a sack that Katheryne lended him out of pity.
The walk to the Whispering Woods was more or less quiet. The only thing that broke the silence was the occasional chirp and breeze. Surprisingly, he hadn't encountered one mob, not one.
John had a bad feeling about it. He hated that he even humored the idea seeing as he might as well jinxed himself.
***
The smell of wood and something inherently nature enveloped his nose the moment he got close to the forest.
John practically ran into the forest, jumping at the occasional sound of branches breaking and leaves rustling. His eyes darted from left-right, up-down until finally…
There, growing next to the flat rock face were small, glowing, blue orbs dangling from their stem which just so happened to be bunched up together.
This was convenient… Too convenient…
John wasted no time, he had to hurry while things were still sweet. Something tells him that this peace wouldn't last and that he shouldn't test his luck.
Almost as if on cue. His ears perked up at the familiar sound of a gelatinous, wet blob, slosh up and down on a grassy field.
John immediately got to work.
He knew slimes were slow but there was no way he'd want to find out how it felt to get slapped by jelly.
John pulled and plucked as fast as he could, hurriedly stuffing them into the sack as quickly as humanly possible. His back began to ache due to unfamiliar motions he put his body through.
The unshapely mass crashed down in front of him, kicking up dust which was accompanied by a strong gust of wind. It bent and coiled its body, readying an attack before it shot itself at John, not allowing him even a second to react.
It slammed his body into a nearby tree, violently knocking the wind out of his lungs. If he had to compare it to anything. It felt like diving flat on your stomach. In other words, it's really really painful.
John's eyes glazed over, retching up anything he had in his stomach and without missing a beat, the slime started bouncing back, poising itself to attack again.
John, still reeling from the pain, managed to roll out of the way, barely dodging the moment it shot into the air, this time it hit the tree so hard it visibly wobbled.
How the heck was this low level slime so strong? The pain was unbearable and yet this was the weakest mob in the game?!
Panic flooding his mind and clutching his stomach, John, got up as best he could, leaning against the nearby trees as support.
He had no time to complain, no time to think. He had to get out of here as soon as possible or he would actually die.
But it was no use. His knees were jelly and his legs were paralyzed with fear. His chest heaved up and down, struggling to catch his breath. Reeling in pain and struggling to focus on the monster in front of him. John could do nothing but helplessly watch the slime get closer.
"Someone…" He managed to get out, barely above a whisper. "Anyone…"
"PLEASE HELP ME!!" He screamed, straining his voice and throat.
The amorphous blob of slime began to bounce menacingly towards him. Prepared to finish what it started.
John closed his eyes, resigning himself to the humiliating fate of dying to a slime.
Bile and bitterness rose up in his throat.
This wasn't fair! What did he do to deserve this? Why did he always have to be the punching bag? Why him? This wasn't fair!
Before he could finish that thought. An arrow whistled past his ear, followed by two more arrows, killing the slime with ease.
"Quit screaming like a little girl." A voice called out.
Standing there, dressed in the moonlight, was a silhouette of a woman. The only details he could make out were her short hair and tall stature.
"You call yourself a man? Pip-squeak?"