Before I could fully grasp the situation and allow myself to freak out over the Anemo currently coursing through my hand, I had to act against the Dendro slimes that were closing in on me.

I held my Anemo-infused hand out in front of my body and watched as Anemo began to wrap itself in a ball in front of me, blades of wind whipping about. The Dendro slimes were slowly pulled inward towards the whirling vortex at my fingertips, and I gasped as their Pyro mingled with the Anemo in a powerful reaction.

So this was what swirl looked—felt like. The teal wisps of Anemo quickly blended into a fiery red, cutting and burning away at the Dendro slimes until they were nothing but ash in the wind. Absentmindedly, I worried that the swirling of Pyro might have resulted in an even bigger fire, but luckily, there was not enough living grass in the area for it to catch.

With the Dendro slimes vanquished, it was just me left standing in a field of burnt grass.

I looked down at my hand in awe. The glowing Anemo faded away, but I could feel the remnant power beneath the surface of my skin, a tumultuous ball of pure elemental energy. The lightness that came with using Anemo disappeared, leaving my limbs feeling heavier than they were before, and the weight of exhaustion settled in.

Glancing around to see if anyone else noticed my miraculous feat, my suspicions from earlier were confirmed. Nobody saw a thing—they were all busy with their own slimes. What felt like a painstakingly long, dire situation to me must have spanned only a brief moment in real time.

My mind was frozen in shock. With just a bare hand, I controlled an element. Me.

No. My breath hitched at the sudden realization of what this development meant. I've been granted a Vision. An Anemo Vision. After all this time...

Quickly, I began to search my body and patted around my school uniform, looking for the small amulet that was my connection to Anemo. There was nothing at my waist. My hands came up empty toward my back. Only flowers decorated my hair. Even the gaps in my shoes contained no such Vision.

I frowned. Where could it be?

"Phew!" Thoma bounded towards me. "You should have seen that large Dendro slime. Those guys can sure put up a fight...Lumine? Did you lose something?"

"Huh?" I blinked out of my mental stupor. "Oh, um, I was looking for a..."

"What happened to your bucket?" Thoma spun around in search of the late wooden bucket. "Can't conquer those Dendro slimes without it."

Or so he would think.

"Thoma, I have a question for you."

"Sure, I can answer anything you have to ask," he paused. "Assuming I know the answer, of course. If not, I'll do my best."

"When you got first got your Vision," I began. "What was it like?"

"When I first got my Vision?" Thoma fingered the Vision at his waist thoughtfully. "Well, it's a bit of a long story. You know how I serve under the Kamisato Clan in Inazuma?"

I nodded. Thoma and I spent hours and hours after school in the library to study for the Vision Studies quiz, but we would sometimes get off track and start talking about other things. I told Thoma all about Madame Ping and living in Liyue with her, and he'd mentioned how he worked for the Yashiro Commission in Inazuma. If I'm being honest, I don't quite fully grasp Inazuman politics nor what it entails to work for the Kamisato Clan. I guess it's something I'd have to see in person in order to understand.

Thoma's been with them for a while, and it seems like he really looks up to the Kamisatos—Ayaka and Ayato. I've seen Ayaka around the Academy in the hallway, and Thoma always points her out and speaks of her highly. I can only assume that he's treated well in Inazuma.

"Life in Inazuma has been quite uneasy for a while now, and it's only recently starting to get a little better," he continued. "Political tensions are high, and it leads to public outbreaks more often than not. I once told you that I'm from Inazuma, but I was actually born in Mondstadt."

I widened my eyes in surprise. I wouldn't have guessed that, but I can't say I'm surprised either. Thoma doesn't look like a typical Inazuman.

"Life in Mondstadt was more...leisurely, to say the least. When Inazuman turmoils kept arising, I was given the opportunity to go back to my old life. I declined. I'd come to realize that the Kamisato Clan gave me so much, they trusted and believed in me—a foreigner—when no one else would. I couldn't bear to abandon them in their time of need. After I made the decision to stay," he lifted his Vision. "This popped up right beside me."

"I had no idea," I murmured to myself before remembering why I asked in the first place. "So, it just appeared out of thin air?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Right beside you?"

"As close as you are to me right now," he smiled brightly. "Like magic."

"Interesting," I hummed and scanned the area around me once more. There was still no Anemo Vision to be found.

"What prompted this question?" he asked. "If this is about you not having a Vision, Lumine, I think you've proven to everyone that you're fully capable without one."

"Yes, yes," I nodded. "But what if I told you I didn't need a Vision?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you."

"No," I whispered. "I mean what if I could control—"

A feminine scream interrupted my words and we both whirled our heads in the direction of its source. Other students around us also stopped their practice to turn their attention to the girl falling over her feet with chattering teeth.

Ellin?

"Please!" she gasped as a gang of Cryo slimes closed in on her. "Cici, do something!"

Her partner snickered off to the side. "Aw, but you can't possibly expect me to do everything in this class. That wouldn't be fair."

"I took down notes for the both of us all last week!" Ellin cried as the Cryo slimes chased her in a circle. "You're the one with the Electro power. Now's the time to use it!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Cici hissed. "But if you really want my help, then fine."

A purple lamp materialized in Cici's hand, and I recognized it to be almost identical to the blue one Cicin wielded. And so, I wasn't surprised to see purple cicins zipping from her lamp; though, I was beginning to question where the Twin Mages got their power, if not from a Vision. Was it anything like how I was able to control Anemo?

The purple cicins shot Electro bolts at the Cryo slimes, but a few of them missed—hitting Ellin instead.

"Oops," Cici chirped with a coy smile. "You should move out of the way next time."

Ellin squealed and sprinted out of the arena entirely, panting hard. The Cryo slimes were taken care of, and the Electro cicins returned back into their master's lamp.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"You...you're detestable!" Ellin spat. "Why are you like this?"

"Why are you in this class?" Cici shot back. "Give it up, Erica. You're nothing but a Visionless nobody."

"You have no Vision! We are the same."

"Oh, but I'm not a burden."

"How can you use Electro without a Vision?" Ellin demanded. "Tell me, and I'll show you! I'll get that power and...and I'll..."

"I hear a lot of fighting." Professor Minci waltzed into the fray. "And not the kind that I instructed for today. What is the meaning of this? Do I need to teach someone a lesson—ah well, that is my job as a professor, after all."

"Professor Minci," Ellin balled her fists. "How can I wield an element without a Vision?"

"You can't."

"Cici can!"

"Cici has been granted a manmade conduit under an agreement that Celestia Academy has with the Snezhnayan Department of Education and Arts. If you observe closely, you will find that it is not Cici who directly controls Electro, but her...what has she named them again?"

"Cicins," Cici provided.

"Right, how creative," Professor Minci carried on. "Ellin, dear, any grievances you have can be taken up with their student representative, Signora."

"There must be some other way," Ellin pleaded. "Is there no historical record of someone using an element without a Vision? Are Visions really the only way?"

"While I cannot say that anything is impossible in this world," Professor Minci folded her arms. "The claims you suggest are highly improbable. Visions are stable conduits to nature's purest elements, bestowed upon individuals by Higher Powers. For an individual to wield an element without a Vision, well, the limitations of such a power are unknown and likely dangerously volatile. They would pose a threat to both themselves and the people around them."

"And if I found a way to do it?" Ellin fiercely pursued the topic.

Professor Minci sighed and said nothing for a moment. "Then you would be confined for the safety and protection of others. A student like yourself, new to the basics of elemental reactions and simple theories...it would be our duty as instructors at Celestia Academy to keep this hypothetical power restrained. To be secured in extreme captivity while under direct observation is the best measure."

I blanched.

Ellin sputtered. "That...That seems a bit extreme."

Indeed.

"It would be necessary." Professor Minci shrugged. "If that is all, then the rest of you should finish rounding up the rest of your cuties. Once the last of them are put away, you may leave."

By put away she meant put to death, but nobody minded as the slime population was incessantly on the rise. I watched as students went back to finishing off their slimes, but I wasn't really seeing anything. My thoughts were elsewhere.

You would be confined.

My palms became clammy as I considered the situation I was in. As far as I could tell, it was me who controlled Anemo. And as far as I could tell, I didn't have a Vision. Based on these glaringly obvious facts, I could be facing confinement if word ever got out about what I could do. No, that wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all.

"Wow," Thoma breathed. "That sure was something. So, what were you about to tell me earlier?"

"Huh?"

"You were saying something about a Vision? Or was it not needing one?"

"Oh," that's right. "Ah, no...what I meant was um, you're right. About the whole 'being strong just as I am' thing. Thanks, Thoma."

"Of course," he smiled. "Are you sure that's all you had to say?"

Thoma's olive eyes stared at me, full of honesty and openness. I trusted Thoma. I really did. And I wanted to tell him about what I just discovered, but...I couldn't—not after what Professor Minci said. Besides, I wasn't entirely sure what was going on with my body and this new Anemo. It could have been a fluke.

It probably wasn't a fluke.

Alas, maybe I should do some research in private before opening up to anyone, just to be safe.

"Yup."

"Alright then," he believed me, and a tiny prick of guilt stabbed into my chest. "I want to go over to see how Ellin is doing. Her partner seems to be very cruel. I don't want her to think any less of herself because of that."

Coming here just one week ago, I remembered Ellin's optimism on persevering no matter what and sticking together to tough it out. I agreed with Thoma, and we decided to approach Ellin together. She was physically fine, for the most part, even after the Cryo slime and Electro cicin ordeal. Emotionally, it took a few words of affirmation and positive coaching before she regained her usual backbone.

Business in the arena wrapped up, and we went back into the building to collect the rest of our belongings. I still had two more classes left in the day and a yawn overcame me just as my stomach grumbled.

I was exhausted.

On my way to History, I looked at my open hand once more. Did Anemo really grace these fingertips? Was I capable of controlling an element all on my own?

With just these thoughts, I felt the beginnings of a breeze tickle at my palm. Panicked, I quickly clenched my hand into a fist and let it hang at my side. I'll have to be careful. No one else can know, for now. My freedom was at stake.

But still...I smiled.

i saw a tiktok talking abt how named chapters are so much more fun than numbered chapters [in reference to real books but ehh], and so i have made the executive decision to name all of my chapters