Chapter 79: Barbatos, the Anemo Archon

Zephyr said, "While you were e-e-e-e-eating."

"Paimon is giving you the ugliest nickname ever!" Paimon snapped. "From now on, you're the Stuttering Jerk!"

Zephyr replied, "I promised Lumine long ago that I'd get her a bed."

After all, they were always wandering around the wild—it wasn't ideal to be sleeping on the ground every night. It was dirty, and cold too.

Lumine was touched. "Zephyr, you're so good to me."

"No need to be moved, Lumine. Just go to sleep."

The little loli looked shocked. "Sis, are you talking to yourself?"

"Standard operation. Just routine stuff."

Paimon let out a cheeky ehe~ and snuggled right in. The little loli looked at the two of them with a mix of envy and jealousy.

"Blehhh~!"

"Hmph, so childish!"

Lumine said, "The bed's big. You can sleep on the other side."

"Thanks, sis!"

"Hmph!"

Paimon was not happy about this.

And so, the night passed quietly.

——

The next day, everyone woke up, and Zephyr packed the bed back into her inventory.

"As expected, a bed is absolutely essential for travel and living," Lumine sighed.

Having that one item made their time in the wild so much more comfortable. She remembered the past—sleeping on the ground, or sometimes up in trees. Life had really been hard.

Tears of emotion welled up in Lumine's eyes.

"So, little loli, what are your plans for today?"

"I'm not 'little loli'! I'm a plant expert!"

"Alright, alright, plant expert, what are your plans today?"

"Yesterday's disappointment really got to Chloris, so she's heading home to check on the flowers that Freya's been taking care of. Hmph! Without me, the great plant expert Chloris, they better not all be dead!"

"Alright, then I guess we'll part ways for now."

"Part ways? We're not going back to Mondstadt together?"

"Nope. I need to unlock a teleport waypoint first."

"Teleport waypoint?"

"Yeah, I'm going to find a Statue of The Seven."

"Ohhh, so that's what you meant!"

"Do you know where it is?"

"Of course I... don't."

"Then why are you standing with your hands on your hips like you do?"

Ten minutes later...

"Waaahhh, sis, don't go!"

The little loli really didn't want to part. She wanted to tag along with Lumine to find the statue, but she was too worried about the rare plant she'd left at home.

She said it came from Snezhnaya, a rare species that had taken great effort to transplant here. In all of Mondstadt, hers was the only surviving one—every other specimen had died due to the environment. It had made Chloris super proud.

So, because she was so anxious about that plant, she decided to head home. Otherwise, she probably would've clung to Lumine all day.

——

After walking for nearly a whole day, a towering tree finally appeared in the distance.

"We're almost there."

The Windrise Tree—a towering, iconic landmark. In the game, it was a well-known scenic spot.

"Huh? There are some Windwheel Asters here."

Windrise was known for its abundance of Windwheel Asters. That's why Chloris had scoffed at them earlier.

But Zephyr was thrilled. He had already hit Level 20, and just needed breakthrough materials to ascend. Now, finally, here they were!

"What a stroke of luck!"

"Finally broke through!"

With this, his level cap increased to 40. Coupled with his current gear and artifacts, he was now quite strong for someone in Mondstadt.

He continued on, passing through a narrow path—only to find a massive boulder blocking the way!

The rock was at least three meters wide, with cliffs on either side—no way to climb over it.

"Now what?"

He tried pushing the boulder—and to his surprise, it actually moved! Delighted, he had Lumine grab hold of the rock with both hands.

With a deep rumble, the boulder began to shift. Lumine's face turned bright red from strain, but she managed to lift the massive thing.

However, her stamina bar was draining fast—within seconds, it was completely empty, and the boulder crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Huff… puff… I can't… It's too heavy…" Lumine gasped.

Paimon was stunned. "W-Wait! That was amazing! Traveler, how did such a small body like yours lift such a huge rock?!"

"My strength… it's back!"

Lumine's eyes lit up with a sharp gleam. She had trained hard on her own, reaching Level 20-something—but ever since she met Paimon, her level had mysteriously dropped back to 1.

And now, her true power was finally returning.

Why was she able to lift that massive boulder? Simple — she had broken through!

Once a Vision bearer ascends, their attributes undergo a dramatic transformation — not just attack and defense, but also strength, speed, and more.

Need proof? She had just lifted a boulder no normal human could ever hope to lift!

At the same time, her agility had also improved immensely. When running at full speed, she was now faster than the world's top sprinters back in Zephyr's original world!

And that was only the Level 20 breakthrough. The higher the level, the stronger one becomes.

By the time she reaches Level 90, punching through a mountain might not even be impossible.

Zephyr was thrilled. The stronger Lumine became, the happier he was, of course.

But since they couldn't move the boulder, he figured — why not try destroying it instead?

"Wind Vortex Blade!"

A surge of Anemo energy gathered in her palm, compressing into a dense ball before she slammed it into the giant rock.

BOOM!!

The three-meter-wide boulder exploded into rubble!

"So strong!"

"If her regular skills are this powerful… what about her ultimate?"

He figured he might as well try it out now, just in case he ever had to use it to escape via a map-wide time-stop trick.

Looking around, there wasn't really a clear target…

"Hmm… guess I'll just hit this mountain, then."

Gust Surge!

Somehow, Lumine launched a massive tornado — far larger than any skill Zephyr had seen before. It towered over a dozen meters high and smashed into the cliff face like it wasn't even there, carving a huge crater into the rock!

The whole mountain rumbled. Stones flew everywhere. One chunk accidentally hit Lumine, knocking off 100 HP.

Zephyr winced and quickly ducked behind a tree for cover.

As for Paimon?

She'd already disappeared before the tornado was even summoned.

The tornado lasted nearly a minute before finally fading away. When it did, dust and debris covered the area. The entire scene looked like it had just come out of a battlefield.

As the dust settled, Zephyr walked over to take a look — and saw that a 20–30 meter high crater had formed in the cliff face, stretching inward over ten meters deep.

"Good grief… she just opened up a whole cave by herself!"

Zephyr was stunned. He hadn't expected the ult to be that powerful. It used to be just three or five meters tall, but now it had jumped to over ten!

Paimon's jaw was also hanging open in disbelief.

Maybe it was a calculation error… or maybe the collapsing rock amplified the destruction — but a ten-meter tornado had just created a 30-meter-wide pit.

Imagine what this would do in a real fight…

"At this rate, if Lumine hits Level 90, she might actually be able to nuke Mondstadt in one hit."

Honestly, that might not even be an exaggeration.

"Traveler, you're amazing!" Paimon cried.

She patted Lumine on the shoulder, grinning. "I knew I picked the right partner! You'd better carry me from now on and show off lots, okay?"

"…"

Zephyr stroked his chin and muttered, "No wonder this is version 10.0… you can actually alter the environment now."

In earlier versions of Genshin Impact, that was completely impossible. In fact, there wasn't even a system for environmental destruction at all.

But now? He just put a giant hole in a mountain.

If he really wanted to, and had enough time, he could probably dig out the entire mountain.

That thought made Zephyr's eyes light up.

But Lumine said coolly, "I suggest you stop thinking about doing anything weird. Unlocking the Statue is the priority."

"…Alright, alright. Since you put it that way."

They stepped out of the blasted area, and finally, up ahead stood the towering tree.

Beneath the tree was a sacred statue. Zephyr gently touched it, and it lit up immediately — unlocking a huge portion of the map.

"Nice!"

Suddenly, he heard a faint voice in the distance.

"Hm? Someone's there?"

Zephyr crept over quietly.

He saw a lone figure standing beneath the tree, behaving… strangely.

With arms slightly raised, strong gusts of wind erupted beneath his feet, lifting him into the air. With a light jump, he soared skyward — then plummeted down, unleashing a powerful plunge attack.

He repeated this over and over, and Paimon stared in amazement. "What is that green-hat guy doing?"

"No idea."

Was that Venti? It had to be. After all, in the game, there wasn't exactly another guy in a green hat.

But why does this behavior seem so strange? The more I watch, the more it looks like a player… Could it be that Venti is being controlled by a player? Or is he just playing around because he's bored?

Given his personality, it's likely the latter. Let's get down to business, Barbatos!

After a brief moment of busy activity, Venti wiped his sweat and said, "Not bad on the morning exercise today."

Morning exercise? It's already 11 AM, seriously!

"Who's there?!"

Paimon gasped, "Did he notice us?"

A small squirrel leaped out of the grass.

"Ah, so it's you."

Venti reached out his hand, and the squirrel climbed up onto his palm.

"So heartwarming. That person is so trusted by animals... If it were the Traveler, Paimon bet he'd kill that squirrel for meat in less than three seconds."

"Be confident, one second."

Venti smiled and said, "Little one, are you here to listen to my performance too? You're a bit early, my performance is in the afternoon, but since you're so cute, I'll play a tune for you early."

The beautiful music floated in the air. Paimon and Lumine were completely mesmerized. Paimon said, "Paimon didn't expect this green-hat guy to have such good music."

"Ugh, can you stop calling him a green-hat guy?"

"Squeak!"

"Are you praising my performance? Thank you so much."

Paimon was surprised, "Eh? Did he notice us? Wait, no, he's talking to the squirrel, right?"

Venti chuckled, "Animals can't understand my voice. Come out, stranger traveler."

Lumine and Paimon exchanged looks and stepped out. Paimon said, "So you already noticed us."

"Of course. I'm Mondstadt's finest bard. I can hear the wind, and the wind told me two cute travelers had arrived."

Paimon grinned, "Hehe, you're flattering me, Paimon is getting shy now."

Zephyr thought to himself, "Well, well, look at you with your big eyes and thick brows. Didn't expect you'd be so good at flirting. If I weren't a guy, I might've fallen for it."

Still, his gaze was intense and full of heat.

Venti smiled and gently set the squirrel back on the ground, saying slowly, "Go back now, your family is still waiting for you."

"Next time you want to hear more, bring me an apple. See you!"

"Squeak." The squirrel scurried off.

Zephyr kept his eyes locked on the squirrel, only calming down once it disappeared completely.

"Lucky you."

Paimon said, "Paimon's name's Paimon, and this is my good partner, Lumine. We're free travelers. What's your name?"

Venti chuckled, "My name? Hehe, my name is Venti. I'll tell you a secret... I'm actually the Anemo Archon, Barbatos!"

Paimon burst out laughing, "Venti, you're quite the joker."

"Is that so? Everyone says that."

At that moment, Zephyr spoke for the first time.

"Fencing, bro?"

"Fencing?"

Venti tilted his head in confusion.

Zephyr felt an urgent desire — Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, must be added to the team! Not only would it help with the main quest, but Barbatos' skills were also powerful. He absolutely had to be recruited!

Back in the game, Barbatos was a god-tier support character. Even if he was played in a "slap" style with Anemo mastery, he still had immense utility.

A quick Pyro attack, followed by Venti's ultimate, then Lisa's basic attacks — and in just a few seconds, they could clear an entire wave of Hilichurls.

And that was just one playstyle! With others, Venti's role would be even stronger!

So Barbatos must be recruited!

"Hmm, unfortunately, I don't know fencing. I only know how to play the lute, sing, and compose poems."

Paimon perked up, "You can sing too? Then, can you sing a song for us?"

//END

❇❇❇

Support me on Patreon - Read Up to 25+ Advanced Chapters There!

patreon.com/RedX43

❇❇❇