'What the fuck, why are there so many hilichurls in this cave?'

Aether breathed out, puzzled. Normally, abandoned domains only hold around 30 hilichurls at max. Or, at least that was the case with all the domains Aether entered.

But what was this before his eyes? In front of him, a giant horde of hilichurls of about 100 hilichurls was busy doing something. He couldn't quite understand what was happening, for they were all bending onto the ground.

It didn't take long to know what they were doing, however.

"Quiet, everyone. I have gathered all of you here today to discuss our plans to attack Mondstadt."

It was his long-lost sister, Lumine. So, she has gathered all of the hilichurls here to make plans about an attack on Mondstadt.

Aether was torn between showing himself and just listening still. On one hand, he was tempted to show his face. It was his sister, after all. It was such a long time ago that he last met her. But on the other hand, he wanted to listen until the end to know what she was planning. He couldn't just abandon the people, could he?

However, the planning was dragging on and Aether was bored. He was about to stifle a yawn when he heard some footsteps behind him.

He immediately side-stepped, and whoever was trying to stab him missed.

Aether looked around and saw that it was Lumine. She was glaring at him with cold eyes.

"You've heard everything, haven't you?"

Aether smirked. Instead of answering her, he created an ice wall with the power of Cryo, which stunned Lumine for a bit. Still, being the experienced fighter she was, she instantly regained her cool and broke through the ice wall with her sword.

When she scanned the area, Aether was nowhere to be found.

"That was close."

He was outside of the cave. After defeating the Raiden Shogun, he found an ancient book inside underneath the Tenshukaku's floorboards. It was written in a language he didn't know, but after briefly looking through it, the book glowed brightly, and a sound resonated in his head.

[You have acquired the skill "Teleportation"!]

When Aether first came to this world, he was woken up by a sound in his head. The sound came from the "system" called Paimon that had somehow fused with him when he came to this world.

[Don't worry, host! I will try to help you to the best of my ability!]

Thanks to Paimon, he, for the first time, saw his "Stat Board".


Host: Aether
Level: 73
HP: 37125/37125
Mana: 45600/45600
Stamina: 2651/2651
Weapon: Skyward Blade
Elements: Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, Electro, Geo, Anemo, Dendro
Titles: The Traveler, Honorary Knight.
Stat:
Strength: 257
Stamina: 212
Dexterity: 186
Agility: 239
Perception: 294
Mana: 500
Unallocated Stat Points: 0
Skills:
1. Basic Healing [E-Rank] [61.72% proficiency]:
Heals injuries like scratches or bruises instantly. Can be applied to another being by touching the wound. There is a 20% chance that it will leave scars after healing.
2. Inspection [C-Rank] [100% proficiency]:
Allows user to look into the information of all living beings and items. More information will be displayed when proficiency rises. However, the host can only see brief information if the person/creature being inspected is higher in level.
3. Storage [SS-Rank] [32.84% proficiency]:
Allows user to create a storage space. The higher the proficiency, the bigger the space.
4. Weapon Mastery [S-Rank] [5.34% proficiency]:
Easily use any weapon. The higher the proficiency, the easier it is to use them.
5. Teleportation [SSS-Rank] [20.45% proficiency]:
Allows user to teleport to anywhere that has been traveled. The higher the proficiency, the farther they can travel. Consume 30 stamina peruse.
6. Elemental Mastery [SSS-Rank] [9.03% proficiency]:
Allows user to wield any elements. The higher the proficiency, the faster the casting time. Power also increases with proficiency. Consume 300 mana every time the host uses an element.
7. Elemental Sight [S-Rank] [39.13% proficiency]:
Allows user to track the recent use of any element. Consume 200 mana every 5 seconds.
Unique Skills:
- [Locked] -
- [Locked] -
- [Locked] -
Unique Titles:
1. Beloved Child of Mana [SSS-Rank]:
The titleholder is favored by the natural mana. Allows the holder to use the mana already existing in the air, which reduces the mana cost of all mana-consuming skills by half. Also, reduce the time of being affected by abnormal conditions and reduce the damage.


It was simply amazing to see his stat. He never even knew that "level" was a thing.

He thought that he had stopped growing, but it seemed like that wasn't the case. He just couldn't see his progress.

However, he also realized that after he started spending his time working on himself, he had finally (temporarily) forgot about Lumine, which is great considering the fact that just the thought of what Lumine was doing drove him to distraction. One time he nearly fell into a ravine because he was thinking about Lumine's birthday. Although that meant he wasn't really focusing solely on finding her anymore.

After seeing his sister inside that cave, Aether was relieved that she was still doing fine.

'Wait, she's the princess of the Abyss, what could possibly go wrong?'

And Aether scolded himself after that thought. It was true. What could possibly happen to the Princess of the Abyss? Even if all of them rise up to stage a coup d'etat, Lumine would still be able to hold her ground. She was brought here 500 years earlier than Aether, afterall. That meant she had a long time to improve her skills. Not to mention their experience in other worlds.

'Wait, this is not the time for unnecessary thoughts. I have to warn Jean about the attack.'

A flash of light after, he was gone.


'Ahhh, what to do?'

Jean was currently absent from her office. Even Lisa and Kaeya. No, what was strange was that he couldn't find any knight at all. Not a single one.

What was happening?

He teleported to the church but saw no one. He teleported to the gate, no one also. He walked to Angel's Share, no one. Even Katheryne was gone, and that was truly alarming. Not even the Fatui was in sight. It seemed that somehow, everyone in Mondstadt was just, gone. Disappeared into thin air.

Aether decided to use [Elemental Sight] to track the use of elements. But after 10 minutes, he stopped. There was no sign of any elements being used.

Aether teleported to Dawn Winery just to check if there was anyone there. Thankfully, he bumped into Diluc on his way in.

"What are you doing here, Aether?" Diluc asked. "You look like you're in a rush."

Aether stopped for a moment, wondering what to say. Would Diluc believe him if he says all the people in Mondstadt are gone? Would he call him crazy?

In the end, Aether decided to speak the truth. "Diluc, you might not believe me, but all the people in Mondstadt have vanished."

"What?"

"All the people in Mondstadt. They're gone."

Diluc rubbed his face. All the people are gone?

Seeing that Diluc didn't seem to believe him, Aether spoke up again. "Diluc, I'm totally certain that they have vanished." He looked at Diluc with a pleading look. "I need you to come with me."

Diluc thought for a bit, then he went back inside the Dawn Winery to say something to his people, then he came out.

"Let's go to the teleport waypoint."

"There's no need. It's right here."

"Where?"

No matter where he looked, Diluc couldn't find any teleport waypoint right where they were standing. What was the Traveler talking about?

Aether clicked his tongue, then grabbed onto Diluc's arm, and he teleported back to Mondstadt.

"I didn't know that you could teleport." Diluc looked at Aether with a questioning look. "Were you hiding that ability all this time?"

"Well, I just recently learned it from the Electro Archon." Aether lied.

Diluc already knew that he was lying but didn't ask any further, and for that Aether was eternally grateful. It wouldn't do if he had to explain to Diluc about the "system" Paimon. Not that Diluc would believe a single thing.

After walking around the city in silence, Diluc finally spoke up. "It seemed like everyone really is missing. But the question is: Where did they go, and who or what forced them to move?" Diluc then paused for a bit before continuing. "It might be the work of the Fatui, but we're not sure yet."

Aether was also contemplating this. He wondered if the disappearance of the people in Mondstadt had something to do with the "attack" that Lumine planned. She could easily have done that if she wanted, with all those underlings under her wings.

Suddenly, there was a cracking sound.

"Did you hear that, Diluc?"

"Hear what?" Diluc asked, not knowing what he was talking about. "I only hear the sound of the wind and the leaves."

Ah. He had 294 points on his perception stat, that's why. This sound may be small but it couldn't escape Aether's superhuman hearing.

He could hear footsteps. And not from one, but many.

'Maybe it's Lumine?'

And he was right. Finally appearing before them was Lumine. Behind her was a pair of Abyss Herald and Abyss Lector. There were also some Stonehide Lawachurls.

"We met again, my beloved Brother."

Aether was not smirking this time.