Mondstadt, the City of Freedom. A place where people are free to pursue whatever they want as long as it is not at the expense of another's interest. People from other nations often mock us for being a city without rule that our God abandoned, but that's fine.

I, of all people, know better.

After all, this entire reality that I'm now in used to be fiction, a game that I once played. I know secrets about this world that very few would know.

As far as my new life goes, it isn't bad. Discounting the abnormal physical strength that I now possess, there's really nothing much out of the ordinary when it comes to me. I later figured that having enormous strength seems to be something that runs in the family, seeing that my little sister is able to effortlessly lift a boulder at least three times her size with a single hand by the time she reaches the young age of seven. This is a world of Gods and magic, so such things really shouldn't be of any surprise to me.

For a period of time I was rather lost regarding what I should do with this new lease of life. That soon changed when my little sister ran up to me one day, an excited gleam in her eyes as she declared her life's goals to me. I was expecting it a long time ago, having once read about her character profile when she was but a two dimensional game character in a life long past.

"Big brother, I've decided! I want to be a Favonius Knight one day!"

Already knowing about it was one thing, but hearing her declaring those words to me was another. She's no longer a fictional two dimensional character, she's my beloved little sister that I want to take care of and protect no matter what.

So, I made up my mind. My little sister had always looked up to me and knowing how naive she can be sometimes, she would need both a good role model and someone who can defend her if her kindness is ever being taken advantage of. The only way to continue protecting her is if I can always be by her side.

I patted her head like a doting big brother should with a smile on her face.

"I'm sure you will be a splendid knight, Noelle."

The next day, I submitted my application to the Knights of Favonius.

I soon realised why Noelle's future weapon of choice would be a claymore.

My preferred weapon of choice is actually a sword, or perhaps even a polearm. However, the absurd physical strength that runs in the family made that impossible. Swords and polearms just won't do, they are too fragile to be wielded by someone like me who is able to easily obliterate a brick wall with a single punch without even trying. Bows and catalysts are also definitely out of the question.

The only kind of weapons left is thus, the claymore, the sturdiest kind of weapons currently available.

"I'm very sorry."

I've lost count on how many times I had to apologise to Wagner the blacksmith for breaking yet another weapon that he had forged. He had forged over ten different swords, each with different alloy compositions, but all of them would eventually lose their edge after a few uses. The swords he forged just weren't sturdy enough to allow me to swing them with my full strength and I suspect that I'm just a hair's breadth away from driving Wagner to insanity.

Despite that, Wagner is a man who takes great pride in his forging skills. He put his reputation on the line and eventually crafted a custom-made Favonius Greatsword that is able to match me in strength, a weapon that can be my lifelong companion in any kind of situation.

Although, I think it might not have been the best idea to inform him afterwards that he might have to relive this tortuous experience in the future because I have a little sister who, like me, possesses the same strength as I do and also aspires to be a knight in the future.

It didn't take me long to become well-versed in the art of combat and following that, become a full-fledged Favonius Knight. My enormous strength had caught Grand Master Varka's eye very early on, and he taught me a single-handed form of Favonius Bladework that was said to once be used by the Wolf Pup Knight Rostam, one of the greatest knights in Mondstadt's history. This style of combat is able to bring out the full potential of my great physical strength, or so Varka says.

I was prepared to come into contact with 'canon' characters the moment I became an official Favonius Knight and allowed to don their uniform with pride. I just wasn't prepared to meet one of those on the very day I was knighted.

"Hello, my name is Jean Gunnhildr. I look forward to working with you."

Tried as I might, I still couldn't help it but stare at her and her outstretched hand with dropped jaws and wide eyes. I wasn't expecting to be knighted in the same graduating batch as the future Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius and be placed in the same team as her.

Thankfully, the shock that came from the surprise didn't last long. I snapped myself out of it and took her hand.

"Nolan, likewise."

As I soon learnt, Jean is the living embodiment of the word "discipline".

I won't deny that she is talented. She is someone who has been trained by her mother at a very young age to be the future successor to the Gunnhildr Clan. However, the only reason why her innate talents were able to bloom into their full potential was because of her unwavering discipline. She is always honing her skills further, always trying to improve, and always striving to be better. Every hour of her day is properly scheduled and timed down to the very last second in order to not waste any time. It is very awe-inspiring and scary at the same time to be in the company of such an impossibly disciplined person.

With my foreknowledge and my newfound recognition of her as a person, I can now see why she eventually became the future Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. I can see why she eventually became the role model and leader of the people around her, and why she is so loved by the citizens of the nation of freedom.

Jean and I are not normal by any means. Our exceptional combat skills and ability to handle almost any situation, both on the field and off the field, soon garnered us much attention and expectation not just from the knights, but also from the citizens of Mondstadt. We rose through the ranks extremely quickly and soon, we were the only ones capable of being each other's rivals in the Company that we are both in. If we want to find someone within the Company to spar with, it can only be with each other. Anybody else just won't do, they won't last long enough in combat if we were being serious.

"You've improved."

"You are one to talk," I rebutted as I countered her thrust and followed up with another huge slash that tore the ground beneath us with it.

Jean's growth as a knight is monstrous, I cannot stress that enough. She improves with such leaps and bounds that one day, she will be leaving everyone else behind. Speed, strength, skill, experience, wits, she has all of it in spades. The future Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius is one scary individual indeed.

Truth to be told, if it wasn't for my mental age I wouldn't have been able to keep up with her. The only reason my combat skills managed to maintain its rate of improvement for as long as it did was because of Jean's ironclad discipline rubbing off me. I had to force myself to wake up at the crack of dawn for a daily morning run with her, followed by accompanying her for a few hours of bladework practices before breakfast… you get the drift. It's hard to not improve with the kind of insane schedule and expectations Jean set for herself.

The scary part? Both of us are only fifteen. Jean still has so much room for growth. I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago if I wasn't so dead set on being a good role model for Noelle and being someone which she can rely on when she eventually becomes a Favonius Knight in the future.

Our spar soon came to a close and as usual, there's no winner. We are both evenly matched in terms of overall skill. I might have the stronger offense, but she has the superior speed. Jean is just so well-rounded and perfect as a knight that there really is nothing to nitpick about her. The only reason why I was able to keep up with her was because I possess physical strength that very few in the Knights can match, allowing me to effortlessly swing my heavy claymore with destructive power but with the ease and speed as though I am swinging a thin sword. In our Company, only Jean has the ability to match my physical strength through her skill and wits.

"That's new," Jean remarked from where she is sitting on the ground beside me, pointing to the rose that Noelle had weaved into my gauntlet. I lifted my dominant hand as a small smile graced my face, remembering just how eager Noelle was in helping me weave the rose that she loves so much.

"My little sister weaved it for me, saying that as a knight, or aspiring knight in her case, we must always keep in mind to keep one another's secrets. That's what the rose means in Mondstadt, and so she weaved it into my gauntlet to help me remind myself. She herself now wears roses in her hair."

"You are a very good big brother," She said softly under her breath as she tucked her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, resting her head on her knees. A wistful look adorned her face and somehow, I just knew that she was thinking about her little sister Barbara.

"With a sister as adorable as her, there's no choice but to be one. I don't think I'm a very good person at heart, but she just brings out the best in me somehow. I'm thankful to her for that," I admitted truthfully, because it's true that Noelle's kindness is really contagious and it has affected me in the best of ways. I don't ever remember being as kind as a person as I am now in my previous life.

"You give yourself too little credit."

"Pot calling the kettle black, Ms Perfect."

"Don't say that, I'm far from perfect."

"Yeah, the only imperfection about you is that you always think too much for others and too little for yourself. I swear, Noelle and you both, peas in a pod."

"I'm not that bad…" Jean muttered, her face starting to flush red from the embarrassment but she quickly conceded my point after seeing the dubious look on my face.

"Alright, that's an area that I need to work on, maybe…"

Whatever we wanted to say next was interrupted when a squire ran into the training ground that we were in thereafter, yelling for us at the top of his lungs.

"Emergency! Dadaupa Gorge! All knights to prepare for immediate deployment!"

Jean and I shared a quick look of surprise, but that disappeared as fast as it came and was soon replaced by one of determination. We immediately stood up and ran, knowing that time is of the essence.

Something is jeopardising the freedom that Mondstadt cherishes and as her knights, we are oathbound to defend it.

The situation at Dadaupa Gorge was a lot worse than we had imagined from the preliminary reports that we had received. From the reports that Grand Master Varka just gathered, the knights stationed near Dadaupa Gorge are in trouble and they need reinforcements as soon as possible. Dadaupa Gorge is known by all as a dangerous place in the nation, being home to three notable hilichurl tribes. It is where the lesser seen and much more dangerous mitachurls and samachurls can be more commonly found in Mondstadt.

Jean and I are both assigned to the advance party for the simple fact that we are the few within our Company with the capability to move swiftly. We deployed without delay, moving as fast as we could towards the last known location of the troops that had sent that distress report by a messenger who had succumbed to his injury and collapsed the moment he strode through the large doors of the Knights Headquarters. Our fellow knights require our assistance.

The sight that greeted us really wasn't pretty.

Many of our fellow knights had already fallen in the line of duty when we arrived. They were already pushed to a corner and desperately trying to make a last stand and hold the last line of defence. Judging from the direction the massive army of hilichurls are trying to advance, they are moving in the northwest direction. If they were to trample across the last line of defence they would be free to continue moving northwest and it wouldn't be long before they reach Springvale and Windrise, too close to the City of Mondstadt for comfort. Not only that, there are many people living at Springvale. Springvale's population is not as much as what the City of Mondstadt boasts, but it would undoubtedly be a massacre if the hilichurl army somehow managed to make their way there.

The advance party only consists of a small team, we don't have enough people. The main army won't be arriving anytime soon to provide the much needed reinforcements. We have to hold them here because we cannot retreat any further. The narrow spaces in Dadaupa Gorge is the only natural defence Mondstadt has in preventing the hilichurls from flooding out of their homes towards Mondstadt. If we retreat any further, the terrain wouldn't allow us to properly hold back such a massive army as they would simply overrun us through sheer numbers alone.

Judging from the grim look on the faces of every single knight present, this is an understanding that we all shared. We have to somehow make do with just the few of us, this is where we have to make our last stand until reinforcements arrive.

"Assemble a team of four to get those who cannot continue fighting and send them back to Mondstadt. We need to try to minimize casualties as much as we can. Everyone else, to arms, we have to join our comrades at the forefront and hold the hilichurls back for as long as we can," Jean immediately took charge of the situation and nobody argued despite needing to take orders from a fifteen year old teenager. Despite the fact that she has not yet possessed a Vision which I know she will in the future, Jean's capabilities are already known far and wide by the entire nation.

"I will be the vanguard."

My declaration drew looks to me, be it one of surprise or something else. It's not the wisest decision I had ever made, because being the vanguard in such a dire situation is putting myself in a place with the highest risk of death.

However, this is one of the rare times where my emotions simply got the better of me. It's hard not to. It's especially easy to spot the soil stained crimson with the blood of my fellow knights and their bodies lying around the battlefield, some of whom I had known personally and even shared a few drinks with before. Their deaths weren't pretty, and they had fought to their dying breaths just for the faint hope that it might delay the hilichurls' advance for just one second longer. The sight of it made my blood boil with rage. I knew from the very start that this world is not a pretty one, its lore is much more sinister and darker than it really appears to be, but the realisation never hit so close to home as it did now. This world is not fiction, not to me, and these people who were killed in cold blood all had hopes and dreams just as any of us do.

I'm angry. For what, for whom, even I'm not too sure myself. All I am sure of is that nothing would appease my rage until I slaughter every last hilichurl in sight.

"Nolan!"

"I'm the most suitable person for the job, you know this as well as I do," I coolly reminded Jean of the most rational way we can go about to resolve this emergency. We are currently choking the hilichurl within Dadaupa Gorge by exploiting the narrow exit of the region that leads out into Springvale. Just for that very reason alone, there's no way we can send too many people in at once, we can only send so many people at the choke point at any single time just as the hilichurls can send only so many of their brethren at any point in time. It's both a blessing and a disadvantage for our current situation.

Jean fell silent, knowing very well that I am indeed the most suitable person to hold our ground against the hilichurls at the chokepoint that we are defending with our lives. She turned around to give out orders to the knights behind her as I ran forward towards Dadaupa Gorge, already prepared for a vicious fight lying right up ahead.

I soon reached the warfront, the choke point where the knights there are currently battling the hilichurls and desperately trying to push the hilichurls back. I withdrew my greatsword from my back with practiced ease, its heavy weight resting against my hand providing me the comfort and reassurance that I sorely need.

Somehow, I wasn't afraid despite facing such insurmountable odds for the first time. All that fueled me at that point in time was cold undiluted rage, my greatsword cleaving our enemies into two with each swing. Hilichurl, samachurl, mitachurl; none of that mattered. They all eventually fell by the swing of my greatsword.

I simply lost myself to the heat of the battle, uncaring how the hilichurls' blood had stained me red from head to toe and how hideous I must be looking right now. All I cared about was not letting them take a single step past me, taking advantage of the narrow space of the current terrain to choke them here and not letting them out of Dadaupa Gorge. All I cared about was that my greatsword never stopped swinging, each swing faster and more powerful than the last as I hammered them into oblivion. I didn't know at which point in time it happened, but soon it was just me against the combined might of the three hilichurl tribes of Dadaupa Gorge.

It was then I heard a familiar yell from behind me. The familiar shine of the blade that I had crossed with countless times joined my side as its wielder swiftly cut up the hilichurl that tried to do me harm, snapping me out of whatever trance I was in.

Jean had arrived.

"You are too reckless," She muttered under her breath as she stood by my side as my equal. The hilichurls in front of us are giving us a very wide berth, staring warily at us after I had proved that their superior numbers mean little in front of me as I slaughtered their brethren much more mercilessly than they had slaughtered my fellow knights. Jean's arrival gave me some much needed time for me to catch my breath, her presence is simply reassuring.

"Says the one who came here to join me without backup."

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but you pushed them so far back that we are now at the second last line of defence. Everyone else simply can't keep up with you, so they can only now hold the fort at our earlier position."

It was then I noted that I had somehow managed to push the hilichurls back further into Dadaupa Gorge. Not much, but enough to give us some breathing space.

"Huh, didn't realise that happened."

Jean gave me one of pleasant smiles as she took a stance with her sword.

"Don't worry, I'm here with you."

"Worried? That earlier barely counted as warm up," My prideful self refused to acknowledge how reassuring it was to have her by my side once again as I lazily swung my greatsword in preparation for the second round of battle that will erupt at any second now. The hilichurls tensed up uneasily, also preparing to meet us in battle once more. Nobody knows who will be the brave foolish idiot that will signal the start of our second bout.

Judging from the small knowing grin on her face, she must have spotted my lie.

"Ready when you are. Anything you want to say before that?"

"Hmm? What do you want to hear, your favourite phrase? For Mondstadt, as always?"

Just at that moment, the roar of a mitachurl reverberated across the area as it leapt high up in the sky, its gigantic axe raised high up above its head as it swiftly descended unto us from above. I raised my greatsword and with a powerful swing, cleaved it into two before its axe could reach us, raining blood down upon us as the two halves of its corpse dropped down harmlessly. The hilichurls roared and began their charge anew upon the sight, too frenzied with rage and bloodlust to back out now.

Well, there's the signal.

"For Mondstadt, as always."

Jean's whisper was soft, yet clearly audible for me to hear. We both charged right into the fray, the collision and dance of steel both mesmerising and equally deadly as we fought side by side. We knew each other's combat style inside and out from the frequent spars we had with each other. We already knew by heart how to cover each other's weaknesses and how to best complement each other's strengths to bring out an even greater power. We trust our backs to each other, trusting that the other party is skilled enough to be able handle themselves on their end as we worked on carving out a bloodied path on our side.

The sun started to set without me knowing when. I didn't know how long it took, but the number of hilichurls started to significantly dwindle and it was obvious that Jean and I succeeded in pushing them back even further into Dadaupa Gorge. Somewhere in the frenzy dance of steel and blood was when our blades started to glow, not that we paid it any mind because we were too preoccupied on trying to stay alive and cut our enemies down.

The glow grew even brighter. Mine a bright gold, hers a light green and somehow, I instinctively knew that this moment was when Jean truly took the first step to become the Dandelion Knight that I know she will be in the future.

"I swear by my sword!"

A gentle yet fierce breeze encompassed the area that Jean and I were both in. I can see the brief look of surprise on her face for that impossible feat she just pulled off but this is no time to be gawking or to wonder about what just happened. We continued our onslaught, not allowing ourselves to stop because we cannot afford that luxury. Somehow, our wounds and fatigue started to disappear and I knew that the Gods finally acknowledged her.

She had been deemed worthy.

I gave another horizontal swing, putting myself in front of Jean to protect her while she's momentarily defenceless as the golden shine emitting from my greatsword finally reached its brightest. The word came out from my mouth so naturally, as if it was meant to be said all along.

"Tremble!"

The earth quaked as the power of Geo responded to my determination, the golden shine on my greatsword condensing before lengthening to at least twice its original length as I began to mow down the hilichurls in front of us with my newfound power. I knew what just happened, but my mind hadn't registered the fact until the hilichurls began to scatter and flee from our combined onslaught and Jean and I finally managed to catch a breather. The both of us were so tired that we were practically leaning onto each other for support, our hands and arms numb from the pain and exertion we subjected it to.

"You… You have a Vision," I cannot help but state the obvious while pointing at the new accessory hanging from her belt. As an ex-addict of Genshin Impact and a Jean main, I could have sworn that in her original lore she only received her Vision in a dispute against the Fatui. Did something change?

"You… You too," She replied between short breaths and like me, pointed to the shining new trinket which is also hanging from my belt. We both looked at each other in silence.

And then we laughed. Receiving a Vision is a huge deal but we don't even care if we had just received the greatest gifts from the Gods. We laughed like no tomorrow, simply glad that we had won and we are still alive.

We are alive, and that is what matters.