All eyes were on Childe as he took the field for the Physical Combat II final. Most everyone had their turn already. Instructor Xiao reversed the order according to who went first during the midterm, leaving Childe and I the last to show off our skills, and hopefully, pass with flying colors. Like the midterm, the center of the training grounds had a stone mount with a sword that glowed red hovering above it.

After watching the rest of our class, I already knew what to expect. Childe activated the time trial challenge, and three monsters spawned on the field. For Childe, there was a Geo samachurl accompanied by two regular hilichurls. After this, there would be two more waves of monsters that he had to defeat before the time limit ran out—three minutes.

The structure was the same for everyone, but I wasn't sure if that was an advantage or a disadvantage for us students who went later. On one hand, I could mentally prepare. Hilichurls were first, then monsters with a strong elemental affinity, and then a mitachurl. Knowing these were the enemies I'd eventually face, I was already planning when I would conserve energy or go all out. On the other hand, Instructor Xiao might expect more from me since I got extra time to strategize.

"There he goes," Xinyan said. "How long do you think he'll take? Two seconds?"

I laughed. "Childe's good, but I don't think he's that good. I say he finishes with half the time to spare."

We sat together with the rest of the class. Everyone around me was worn out and stretched in the grass, but there were a few students missing. Those who had sustained an injury were off in the infirmary for proper care.

Thoma was one of them.

In his last wave, Thoma was able to dodge the mitachurl's crackling axe but couldn't get away in time for when it jumped up and slammed into the ground immediately after. Thoma was somewhat out of range, but he clearly suffered some damage once the challenge ended. It had taken everything in me not to jump in and help him.

I hoped the injury wasn't too serious. What if he didn't make it back from the infirmary in time for Vision Studies?

"Oh, wow. That bow of his sure comes in handy." Xinyan interrupted my worried thoughts and pointed to where Childe shot down the Geo samachurl from the pillars it had constructed.

The samachurl fell on its back, taking enough damage to die. The two accompanying hilichurls had already perished, and a single Cryo whopperflower cropped up from the ground as the second wave.

Xinyan scoffed and shook her head. "Aw, now that's no fair. I wasted nearly two whole minutes trying to tackle the gang of slimes that popped up in my round."

"It won't be so easy if the whopperflower gets its shield up," I said. "Since he's only using his bow and no Vision, it might take more than two minutes before Childe can get past those defenses."

"Oh yeah, you're right. On second thought, I had an easier time with my spinning technique. I think that whopperflower shield is about to—whoah! It's dead already?"

I could hear Childe's triumphant laughter from here and found myself smiling with pride. That was the fastest anyone had taken down the elemental wave so far. Now, all that was left for Childe was the mitachurl. It appeared in a grand roar, charging in at full speed with a massive rock shield.

Childe dodged easily, but the mitachurl was just as fast to block the volley of arrows that he fired. A full minute had passed at this point, and neither opponent was making any progress. Measly arrows barely chipped off any rock from the shield, and the mitachurl was too large and clunky to land a solid hit on Childe.

"Luck isn't on Red's side with this one." Xinyan whistled and stretched her arms over her head. "Hopefully, he doesn't end up like my partner."

Their evading went on for another thirty seconds before Childe did something I didn't expect. Right as the mitachurl swung its shield upwards at Childe's head, he ran forward and dropped down with his bow aimed for the sky. The momentum carried him directly under the mitachurl, and Childe released an arrow that embedded itself right in-between the monster's legs.

The mitachurl let out a howl and dropped its shield. Childe took that as his opportunity to end the battle with an arrow aimed at the back of its head.

A round of applause erupted from the class, and he jogged over to me with an easygoing grin. A light sheen of sweat shone on his face, but he otherwise looked unbothered.

"One minute and forty-five seconds," he said and landed in the grass next to me. "A new record for the class. Beat that."

"I'll do more than just beat it. I'll crush your record and finish the final in under a minute," I said with instant regret.

Under a minute? Really, Lumine? I could have gone with a milder goal—like a minute and a half. Competition shouldn't be on my mind today. I was more worried about completing this final within the original three minutes.

Though I felt perfectly confident while resting in the grass, as soon as I stood up to pick up my sword…instant exhaustion. The tiredness that ailed me yesterday was back again—even after going to bed early last night. I stretched my arms out as I walked over to the weapon rack and practiced breathing exercises.

The weapons that Instrocutor Xiao had us use today were of higher quality than in our training. I held a sword that looked identical to what I used in my duel against Kaeya, and gripping the solid metal filled me with a bit more confidence.

Acutely aware of everyone watching me—especially Instructor Xiao—I approached the time trial challenge and activated the mechanism.

Excited growls erupted behind me, and I whirled around. Just my luck, a Dendro samachurl waved its staff behind two hilichurls ready to attack. Of all the samachurls, the Dendro one was my least favorite. Thorny vines sprouted up from the ground as soon as I took a step forward, and I was forced to detour around them.

The two hilichurls would have to wait. Any chance of success depended on me taking out this samachurl before it surrounded me with thorns completely. I dashed left and right at random so it couldn't detect where to place the vines.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted the hilichurls aiming for my head with stones. Dodging them while avoiding the vines wasn't easy, so I used my sword as a bat and knocked the stones out of the way.

At last, I reached the Dendro samachurl. It yelped in fear and shuffled backward once I got close, but I showed no mercy in bringing my sword down on its masked head. Its cries were only just beginning to fade as I turned to face the hilichurls.

With no pesky vines in my way, I launched myself at both of them. They may have clubs, but I had a sword. Metal cut through feeble wood like butter, and the hilichurls were gone in a flash.

Next up, elemental monsters.

I forced my shaky arms to still and watched the lifeforms pop in front of me. One…two…three of the monsters I dreaded fighting the most. Neither of them was a slime or a whopperflower. I faced fungi. Two of them were small—whirling Cryo fungi. It was the grounded hydroshroom that bothered me.

In training, I had fought a grounded fungus, and those things were insufferably tanky.

The Cryo fungi began to spin like tops and drilled straight into the ground. The only indicator of their location were the puffs of Cryo that trailed behind them in the grass. I kept my eye on the elemental traces, but my main focus was on the hydroshroom that hopped directly toward me. Avoiding its kicks was easy. I chopped off some bits when it readjusted positions.

While I was distracted by the hydroshroom, a Cryo fungus suddenly popped up in my face, forcing me to step back and bump into the other one. A shock of cold bloomed at my back, and I stumbled to the side with a wince. Right then, the hydroshroom summoned a bubble of Hydro energy aimed at me. I had no choice but to abandon my offensive strategy.

The Cryo fungi were back underground and closing in on me. If I could time this right and get the Hydro bubble aimed in a certain spot…now. I arced my sword in the air to pop the Hydro bubble right as the Cryo fungi emerged, showering them with enough Hydro damage to stun the monsters.

I dealt with those two swiftly.

The hydroshroom was kicking at me again. Now that it had my full attention, it wasn't very hard to hack off its legs and watch it flail on the ground for just a second before I brought my sword down on the hydroshroom's midsection. The monster fell apart just as the others did—in a disintegrating mess of red and black ash.

It was more than just my arms that shook, now. I was ready to collapse onto the ground just like the monsters I killed, but there was still one left to fight—the mitachurl. Which one would it be? None with a shield, I hoped. Childe's strategy was unique, and I might be able to pull off something similar if not for my lacking energy. Please be a mitachurl with an axe—blazing or crackling, I didn't care. Just no shield.

A glance at the timer shocked me—only forty-five seconds had passed. It felt a lot longer than that, but I might actually clear this thing in under a minute. My hopes flared up, and I eyed the space in front of me.

The mitachurl was taking an awfully long time to show up.

Was my final just the two waves of monsters?

No—I heard the mitachurl before I saw it. At least, I thought it was a mitachurl. A look over my shoulder revealed something else. My gut sank.

It was an abyss mage.

How was this possible? Not a single student fought a different category in all the challenges I saw today. And for me to be up against an abyss mage of all monsters…

Now wasn't the time to falter. I leaped into action and raised my sword against the abyss mage. It had spawned into the training grounds on its feet, but the wand in its hand glowed gold and cast a yellow shield around the monster. It hovered in the air.

Great.

I paused and assessed the enemy before making any sudden moves. What element was this abyss mage? What sort of attacks should I be expecting? The color of its clothing matched the yellow shield. If I matched that color with what I knew of the elements…could this be a Geo abyss mage?

"Lumine," Instructor Xiao called my name, and I looked over to where he was running toward me. "Move out of the way. I'll take care of this."

Huh? Wasn't this monster part of my final? If Xiao defeated it instead of me…my grade…was the least of my worries. This was an abyss mage. A creature created from pure evil. Those hilichurls and elemental lifeforms were nothing compared to an abyss mage. If Instructor Xiao was intervening, that had to mean something wasn't right.

This wasn't part of the final.

I clutched my sword defensively and made a hasty retreat. The abyss mage chanted something unintelligible, and my next step didn't make contact with the ground. I fell forward, and my face smashed into the air. No…it was a solid, transparent material with a yellow tinge. The ground was too far. I was floating in the air—trapped in a Geo shield just like the one surrounding the abyss mage.

"Rekcus, won uoy tog!" The monster taunted me in a garbled speech that I couldn't understand. "Gninraw a eb siht tel."

I still had my sword and tried to stab my way out of the shield—it was no use. With most shields like this, there was an element that worked to whittle it down. Cryo worked best against Hydro, Pyro worked against Cryo…what could counter Geo?

More Geo.

I didn't know when I started sweating, but my sword slipped from my hand as I tried not to panic. The Geo shield carried me closer to the abyss mage. If I wanted to get out of here, I might have to break out with my own Geo power. Even if the damage wasn't enough, the sheer size of the boulder I created might be enough to shatter the shield.

My hand shook as I held it in front of me.

No. I couldn't.

Revealing my power to Instructor Xiao—to everyone in class—would be the end for me. Celestia Academy would know that I had control over an element without a Vision. I needed to avoid that at all costs…but if the cost was my life…

Xiao suddenly darted in front of me. He was a blur of Anemo and moved so fast, I almost didn't catch that he'd put on the mask that normally hung from his belt.

"Release my student," he demanded.

I'd never seen him fight like this before. When Xiao saved me from the stonehide lawachurl during the monster raid, all it took were a few plunges before it was killed. Except now, the abyss mage's shield was a lot stronger than the lawachurl's defenses. Xiao dashed mid-air from side to side. His strikes were swift and hard, but only the smallest of cracks appeared in its shield.

The shield that held me captive was still on the move. I pressed my body as far away as I could from the abyss mage that waited for me with open arms. Sooner rather than later, I would have to make my decision to use Geo.

A flash of blue glowed at my side, and I flinched in response to a sharp wave of water that splashed onto my shield. It washed away to reveal Childe on the other side. His boasting demeanor from earlier was nowhere to be found—replaced by sheer determination.

"I'll get you out of there," he said before launching another set of attacks with his Hydro blades.

From underneath the shield, I felt another disturbance. Xinyan was below me. "We're gonna get you outta there. I'm doin' what I can. Rockin' to the rescue!"

The bubble around me shuddered with the onslaught of both Childe's Hydro damage and Xinyan's physical damage. Because some of her attacks were also loaded with Pyro, a billow of steam began to fog up the shield's surface from the vaporize reactions. Enough fog built up that I couldn't see either of them nor could I tell how close I was to being delivered to the abyss mage.

If I couldn't see them, they couldn't see me.

This was my chance.

I raised both of my hands in front of me and expelled all the Geo energy I could. A golden light exploded from me, and the shield cracked and fracture into pieces. The world tilted as I fell to the ground.

"Ack! Hey, watch it."

Xinyan had cushioned my fall.

I rolled off of her with a groan.

"Give my name a shout the next time you drop from the sky like that." She coughed lightly, but her expression was lightened by a smile. "It's good to see you aren't stuck like a fish in a bowl anymore. Who would've seen that comin'?"

Childe rushed over to us and knelt to where I was barely sitting up. "Lumi, hey, are you okay?"

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"Always."

"Then no," I admitted. "This is probably the worst final in the history of finals."

My whole body ached even more than at the start of the day, but adrenaline still buzzed in my veins. I did my best to stand, and Childe looped my arm around his shoulders to help me up.

Xinyan circled around us.

"You look pretty fine to me from the outside," she said. "Were you scared?"

I nodded. "How could I not be?"

Just then, a shriek pierced the air. All three of us turned to watch Xiao tower over the fallen abyss mage. Its wand glowed once more, but the monster was in no shape to summon another shield. Instead, glowing shards of Geo energy were flung at Xiao's head. He dodged each one effortlessly.

Eventually, the abyss mage seemed to accept its fate—simply covering its face with tiny hands as Xiao stalked forward. Wisps of Anemo and shadow wafted from his form, and his jade spear plunged straight through the abyss mage and into the earth. Xiao removed his mask only after the abyss mage faded into shreds of its former self. He looked just as deadly without it.

Golden eyes flicked over to where I stood, and the edge around them softened by a fraction.

"Good. I see you are unhurt. Unfortunately, it seems that the last challenge of our class final was compromised. This should have never happened, and I'll be having a word with those in charge of the enemies we keep contained here," he said. "You pass."

"I—what?"

"You may be concerned that this incident will negatively affect your grade. I am telling you now that, considering the circumstance, you pass this final."

Whether or not I passed the final was actually the last thing on my mind, but with Xiao being so straightforward about it, I did feel relieved.

"Thank—"

"Do not thank me," he interrupted. "Your life was put at risk today. It is my duty to make sure nothing bad happens to you."

Xiao looked me up and down once more before sharply turning away. To the rest of our class—who had all picked up a spare weapon and were on high alert—he said, "Class dismissed."

Nobody moved a muscle for a moment, and then everyone was rushing to pack up and leave. An eruption of exclamations and hushed whispers mingled in the air. I couldn't bring myself to listen in on any of it. I thought I was exhausted before—I was wrong. Dropping dead now was a very real possibility.

"That was a close call," Childe murmured in my ear. "Too close. I'm going to enjoy destroying that Domain."

Feeling weak, I leaned in closer to him and nodded silently in agreement.

Specifically, tomorrow night was when Childe would unleash his Foul Legacy transformation. We were still in the midst of exams, but if the rest of today and tomorrow were anything like the past two days…I wasn't sure if I'd survive until then.

geo abyss mage when

i hope everyone's pulls for cyno/venti/weapons have been going well! i also hope all scarab hunters still have their sanity...

the genshin concert was amazing! i felt super motivated to create more after listening to so many talented and passionate musicians :')