GI Chapter 20: The Mitachurl’s Dreams

Jean was standing near the mysterious and ominous, red-tinged, teleport waypoint, smiling at the people laughing and cheering with the mischievous kids. She strained herself to her very limits every day just to witness joyful moments like this. The shadowy cloud of Ursa and the meteor shower incident threatened this peace, however. No matter the threats, she, the Dandelion Knight, would deal with them and secure peace for the people of Monstadt.

She solemnly placed her right hand on her chest.

‘For Mondstadt, as always.’

A group of screaming children shattered her happy illusion with utmost abruptness.

“Kraken! Mom, save me from Kraken!”

The rest of the children shouted similar things as they ran into the safe arms of their parents.

Jean frowned, her hand immediately reaching for the Favonius Sword sheathed on her waist. Orion and Mona came strolling from the same direction, snickering and chatting. A black cat followed them, its head on swivel as though it was looking out for anything that could trouble its owner.

‘Did they scare the children? Mischievous like Kaeya, I see.’

Jean smiled, finding the pair a bit more amicable. The pair of adventurers had shown courage admirable enough to earn her respect. It was rather unfortunate that they arrived at Mondstadt under these… troublesome circumstances.

“I forgot to say it last time,” Jean said with her right hand on her chest. A gesture considered a polite greeting by Mondstadt’s standards. “Mondstadt welcomes you, respected adventurers. I am Jean, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. Come with me to Mondstadt. We shall talk some more in the Knights of Favonius’ Headquarters.”

“Can’t we talk here?” Mona groaned. “We have yet to finish the quest in Springvale.”

The distance between Mondstadt and Springvale wasn’t much, but Mona had no will to go back and forth between the locations for the whole day.

“I want to discuss a few important aspects of the meteorites with Lisa and your party…” Jean gave a soft, charming smile full of gentleness. “The Knights of Favonius have another favor to ask of you regarding the recent meteor rain.”

“You want help in solving the meteorites’ problem?” Orion guessed. Unless Jean wanted to launch an assault party to kill Ursa, the chunks of the meteor scattered about Mondstadt posed a threat to the citizens’ safety. If one fell unconscious near a hilichurl or a wild animal, they were as good as dead.

“Ursa’s rage and the mysterious crystals…” Jean continued with a serious expression. “Mondstadt’s peace is at risk. The knights alone aren’t enough to avert two catastrophes. The crystals, in particular, are making people unconscious. We need to find every meteor fragment before much harm is done. For that, we need as many capable hands as we can.”

Orion contemplated her request with a frown on his face. The strange and mysterious meteorites piqued his interest. Even if he refuses to help out, something or someone will pull him back like how he ended up fighting a dragon on a relatively simple commission.

The troublesome fate drew a sigh out of him. “We’ll help as long as we’re compensated fairly.”

More money was always welcome since he will travel a lot in the continent of Teyvat.

“Naturally. I have no Mora on me right now to reward you for your help in saving Springvale, unfortunately. I’ll have to borrow a few bags from the treasury in the headquarters.”

The mere mention of Mona brought twinkles to Mona’s pale jade eyes. Quelling her desire for money, Mona turned to Orion with a small smile etched on her pinkish lips.

Orion smiled wryly. The great astrologist’s appetite for Mora was truly unmatched. “You might be able to see your rival in the Knights of Favonius headquarters.”

“Why didn’t I think of that! Where did Fischl go?” Mona’s eyes roamed, scouring the fake princess in the vicinity.

“Beats me.” Orion shook his head, uncertain. “That girl loves to wander around.”

“Forget about her, then.” Mona decided to leave the archer behind.

“Fischl, the senior investigator at the Guild?” Jean lifted her hand and pointed at a certain house. “Isn’t that her?”

The senior investigator and her raven familiar walked out of the house. A glance at Orion made Fischl beam ear to ear and take big steps towards him. “The unwavering will of the Prinzessin tolerated the venomous corruption of the time.”

“No need, Oz.” Orion put a pause on the translator Oz, despite being ignorant to the profound meaning behind Fischl’s words. It was probably something about waiting. “Jean, let’s go.”

So, the party of five, including Oz, set out for Mondstadt on foot. Jean made small talks about the damage Ursa did in the last few years and how grateful she and other Mondstadters were for their work. Orion denied taking credit for the deed. He wasn’t a fame seeker, neither did he want people bothering him every day. He just wanted to learn and experiment with his powers in peace.

“Hilichurls!” Oz shrieked. “That adventurer could be in trouble.”

Orion saw three hilichurls chasing after Anemo slimes as though they were children playing the game of tag. A girl in a green dress was shaking behind a boulder that hid her from the vision of the monsters.

The girl was barely a hundred meters away from the bridge that led to the city.

“Stand back.” Jean drew out the elegant longsword from its sheath. The Anemo vision pinned on the back of her belt glowed brightly.

“Hah!” Jean sprinted like a gale and crossed nearly the distance of two hundred meters in a couple of moments. With a quick thrust, she pierced a hilichurl’s throat. The hilichurl gripped its throat and fell, turning into a shattered mask. The other two monsters raised their clubs in alarm. Jean precisely struck their throats. Two precise and ruthless strikes to end two lives. The little Anemo slimes ran away in fright.

Jean sighed and slashed at the empty air, shedding the blood clinging to the sword. Midnight cloak fluttering, Jean sheathed the sword and turned around to look at the party that seemed awed by the display of swordsmanship and raw strength. Her fighting was full of elegance and agility, a fierce combo.

“Hilichurls never roamed this close to the city,” Jean spoke in a skeptical tone as her eyes went to the Temple of Falcon domain nearby. “Are the hilichurls—”

“Watch out!” Orion’s shout reached her. “Dodge.”

Jean heeded the warning and dove to her left, dodging a fiery arrow by a hair’s breadth. Small currents of wind flowed parallel to her limbs and stabilized her stance, letting her turn instantaneously to face the ambusher. A red hilichurl stood at the cliff near the red teleport waypoint, aiming her way with a fiery red crossbow.

A black silhouette skated down the cliff, a giant wooden shield with ancient markings raised in its left hand. A muscular hilichurl, the size of two grownup men combined, glared at Jean with two furious eyes shaded on its fierce white mask. With the pair of curved horns on its head and the way it charged, anyone could mistake the monster for a humanoid bull.

“Mitachurl.” Jean’s eyes turned serious.

An exalted member of the hilichurl tribes known for their brute strength and exceptionally thick skin. They were tough to beat without Visions with knights only being able to defeat them in a prolonged group fight.

“Leave that one to me.” Orion laughed as he sprinted through the hail of fiery arrows. The giant bull boasted a phenomenal muscular frame, twice the size of Orion. A worthy opponent to test his physical strength. The martial arts skills from his previous life would be a waste if he didn’t use his body. “Anemo.”

A burst of wind exploded from his hands, almost propelling him into the black humanoid monster. The Mitachurl heaved its shield and thrust at Orion. Even with the massive shield inches away from breaking his face, Orion felt composed. The feeling was either produced by a rush of adrenaline or the King’s Composure talent.

‘I might be dead here if Aunt didn’t boost me.’

Thinking so, Orion took a step forward and clambered the shield, easily leaping over the mitachurl and arriving behind its defenseless back. The mitachurl’s arms had crimson marks pulsating like a heart.

“What a scary monster.”

The monster looked cute in the game, but it was like a horror movie monster from up close.

The Mitachurl looked left and right before finally turning around. It was mad. The Mitachurl did what a furious bull did. Charge straight at its foe.

Orion charged Anemo power in his left hand and blew it right in the Mitachurl’s face. The giant monster staggered a few steps, the shield dropping from its hands. Orion quickly closed in and shoved his fist in its black furry belly.

A sensation trickled into Orion’s consciousness. The sensation of hitting steel-like muscles.

“Ghrrr…” The Mitachurl groaned.

The painful groan was quashed by a loud snap. The rib bones touching the end of Orion's knuckles caved in and fractured in half. The Mitachurl cried out shrilly, intense agony insinuated in its inhuman voice. Mitacurl was capable of feeling emotions like every other person in Teyvat.

Then it went silent.

Seeing the Mitachurl in a subconscious dilemma, a thought flashed in Orion’s mind.

‘What exactly is it feeling? Is it capable of the same range of emotions as humans?’

He became curious about the physiology and emotional capacity of the hilichurls. A thought he soon came to regret.

The Sentimental Ocean talent got triggered according to his desires and transmitted every bit of pain and suffering to Orion’s brain. The pain shimmered him from inside out, boiling and twisting his innards. He drew back with an anguished face, his eyes brimming with tears. The talent transmitted something else. Flashes of distant memories of endless flames ravaging a nation. A celestial figure raining down its wrath on the Mitachurl’s beloved home.

The King’s Composure kicked in just to save him, soothing his pain like a gentle mother.

‘Curiosity killed—’

Orion rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. He once again looked at the Mitachurl. Red liquid dripped down its white mask. Even then, the Mitachurl stood tall, gazing at Orion in silence. It said a few words in its own language that made no sense. Then it collapsed on its knees and scattered in ashes, leaving a glistening purple horn as a memento.

Before its collapse, however, Orion felt that the Mitachurl’s eyes smiled through that mask as if rejoicing from being liberated from an ancient curse. A hallucination perhaps, stemming from his sudden turmoil of emotions, or maybe… a glimpse of truth. A glimpse of the reality of these monsters roaming the lands of Teyvat.

‘Hilichurls used to have a kingdom, which was destroyed… by Celestia or someone else?’

Orion tried piecing together the facts he gathered from the Mitachurl’s memories. He lacked enough facts to make a concrete image.