The Alien Hero of Teyvat

by TheDJwriter

Ben is transported to the world of Teyvat because he severely underestimated a technology that belonged to Dr. Psychobos. What sort of adventures would be in store for the extraterrestrial hero in this strange new world?

5. Wolf's Gravestone

I do not own anything related to Ben 10 or Genshin Impact

Ben 10 belongs to Man of Action

Genshin Impact belongs to miHoYo

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The Alien Hero of Teyvat

Chapter 5 – Wolf's Gravestone

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As of right now, Ben is participating in the entrance examinations for the Adventurer's Guild since the hero believes that it would be beneficial for him to work as an adventurer in Teyvat. He can help people with all the commissions they request, along with earning some Mora for him to survive on while still being stuck in this dimension. Amber tagged along because she wanted to provide her friend moral support and encouragement while he was taking his exam.

Ben's first instinct was to just turn into an alien for the duration of the test and sign himself up as "The Shapeshifter." However, in the end, the hero made the decision to just enlist himself as Ben because he thought it would be less of a hassle to do so.

Right now, Ben's situation isn't looking great because he bombed the first section of the exam but luckily aced the second. Even though the hero was thrilled that he had been allowed to continue on to the next round, it appears that his friend did not share his sense of optimism.

"Seriously?! What the heck was that, Ben? How did you fail the first part of the exam? I searched high and low for books that would aid you in this task, and the next thing I knew, you had answered "Jare Mivani" as the most terrifying domain in all of Mondstadt." As soon as Amber learned about Ben's performance on the tests just today, she sounded as though she was completely flabbergasted.

"Hey! They were all pretty much the same, so I went with the one that stood out the most. Amber, take it easy. I still passed and moved on to the next part of the exam, which is combat skills." Ben had done everything in his power to defend himself from the dismal performance he had shown on the examination so far.

The alien hero did not want to tell Amber this, but he did not care to study for this exam because he anticipated that all of the questions would be simple ones like "Why do you want to be an adventurer?" He was unprepared for questions of no relevance, such as where in Wolvendom one might not find a particular type of flower. Ben voiced his displeasure by remarking that the question sounded more like one pertaining to agriculture than it did to adventuring. In spite of this, he did score a lucky answer in the exam about survival abilities when he said steak.

"Are you going to start telling everyone about your powers now?" The Outrider was eager to learn if today was the day that the hero would at long last exhibit his aliens to the general public.

"That's the easy way out, but I always go the challenging route. Plain old me without any aliens should get the job done." Ben did not want to disclose his transformations to the general public just yet because he enjoyed his privacy and the fact that he was not being stalked by others.

"Does that explain why you requested a polearm? Were you trained to fight in a situation where you couldn't use the Omnitrix?" Amber was curious as to the reasoning behind Ben's decision to use that particular weapon. Since this morning, Ben has been asking her where he could locate a weapon that he could wield. In response, the knights have given him the Beginner's Protector spear to use.

If you're wondering why Ben opted for a polearm instead of something more conventional, he had good reason. The hero has wielded a sword before but decided to just settle down with a spear. He reasoned that, based on what he'd observed, swords are fairly common, and since he wanted to be unique, he decided against using one. It also shouldn't be that difficult for him to use it because he didn't do too badly when he utilized a long thorn that came from Pierce as a staff when he fought off against him while holding back.

"Nope, I just wing it. Being a hero has given me a lot of valuable experience." In point of fact, Ben is not a pushover when he is in his human form. When it comes to his battles, he is incredibly inventive and is able to adapt really well to new situations. In addition to receiving some fundamental training from the Plumber's Academy, he was also trained in some type of hand-to-hand combat by his cousin Gwen and his grandpa Max. Ben is also acrobatic and has sharp reflexes, like the time he was able to easily dodge Manny Armstrong when the hero was faking himself to be a villain.

"Ad astra abyssosque, welcome to the third and final part of your exam. Are you ready?" Cyrus, the Branch Master of the Adventurers' Guild in Mondstadt, who is in charge of supervising the examinations for newcomer applicants, was the one who posed the question.

"Bring on the challenge!" Ben exuded an air of self-assurance as he approached this portion of the test because it was the one he had been looking forward to the most.

"That's great that you're so positive and confident! It really reminds me of our boy Bennett in the adventurer's guild. Even your names are nearly identical! If the two of you ever met, I think you'd get along great." Cyrus couldn't help but bring up a specific member of the adventurer's guild.

"Hmm? Bennett... It sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before... Oh! Yes, he's that hot-blooded guy from the Adventurers' Guild, right! Sometimes I'll find him out out in the wilderness; he seems to have a passion for treasure hunting." Amber appeared to provide her thoughts about the character of Bennett.

"Sounds like a fun guy to get out with." Ben was looking forward to seeing this guy, but for some reason, he can't shake the feeling that if he's in the same room as this "Bennett," some bad luck will occur to him.

"Good. Let's get back to the exam at hand. You didn't do very well on the first test, but you scored well enough on the second to move on to the third and final part. Now the final part is about the most important skillset for an adventurer, which is, of course, combat skills! Ferocious monsters, dangerous machines... Only in the heat of battle against your enemy does that surge of adrenaline really kick in! This is usually done with Ruin Guards or Hilichurls, but I've chosen that those creatures over there will be your opponent in this test of your talents." Cyrus guided Ben in the direction of what he will have to battle. The hero observed the situation and realized that his task would be to eliminate a small group of slimes that were located in the vicinity.

"That shouldn't be too bad." Ben was relieved to learn that slimes would be his adversary because they are the most manageable of all enemies. Hilichurls were also fine, but if it had been another Ruin Guard, he would have had to change into an alien in order to defeat it.

"The neighboring slimes must be vanquished as soon as possible. I'll be keeping an eye on things from here. Don't hold anything back, Tennyson!" Cyrus encouraged Ben by giving him a thumbs up and assuring him that he would succeed.

"You got this, Ben!" Amber cheered for her friend by extending her right palm skyward in a joyful gesture of support. The Omnitrix wielder smirked at their motivational phrases, and he began to confidentially start the combat skills exam.

Ben quickly went up to the slimes while holding his Beginner's Protector, and he immediately began swinging at them. The hero was able to hold his own fairly well against the slimes as he delivered a number of stabbing blows to them. In addition to this, he added some flair to the move by twirling the spear around while crouching and swiping at the lower portion of the slime. It was a cool combo that he witnessed in the Sumo Slammers fighting game that inspired him to come up with this move. Ben put on a show of his acrobatic prowess by climbing the tree in order to avoid being surrounded by slimes. Then, in order to finish things off, he performed a diving plunge strike on the remaining slimes.

"Let me know how I did, okay?" Ben confidently stowed the spear behind his back and turned to face Cyrus and Amber. By the looks of their faces, the branch master had a satisfied nod, and the delighted expression that the Outrider wore.

"Ben, you put up a good performance there! You know that if you had more training, you would have the potential to be a skilled knight." Amber was the one who started off by praising her friend. Even though Ben was engaging in freestyle combat, the Outrider was impressed by how much more adept he appeared to be than regular people when they were using their own weapons.

"Excellent work, Tennyson! So, without further ado, I'd like to share with you the outcomes of your adventurer entrance exam... Your hard work has paid off, as you have passed the test!" Cyrus approached Ben and slapped him on the back in a kindly manner, causing the hero to flinch somewhat.

"Congratulations on being an official adventurer, Ben!" Amber raised her hand for a high five, and Ben returned the gesture and was relieved she wasn't going to hit his back, either.

"It was no big deal. The exam was pretty easy." Ben showed that he wasn't particularly phased by the challenge of the examination by nonchalantly waving his hand.

"And yet you still failed the survival skills part." Amber was unable to resist bringing up the first blunder that Ben made while he was taking the adventurer's exam.

"Oh well, I couldn't care less about a flawless grade. It doesn't matter to me how I do, so long as I pass." Ben simply shrugged it off because, unlike his cousin Gwen, he wasn't trying to achieve a perfect score on every single test.

"Permit me to add my congratulations on your passable performance on the exam! I will have Katheryne handle the admission process for you right away..." Cyrus made his way back to the Adventurer's Guild in order to complete the remaining requirements for Ben's application. The hero and the Outrider both followed him back to watch the confirmation unfold in real time.

---

"Ad astra abyssosque! Well done on passing the adventurer's exam and beginning your new career in the exciting world of exploration. Welcome to our ranks!" Katheryne, the receptionist for the Adventurers' Guild, handed over Ben's official adventurer's license to complete his process of becoming an adventurer.

Amber believes that this is a significant accomplishment for the hero of this section because this is one of the most well-known and sought-after positions throughout the entirety of Teyvat. As a way to congratulate Ben on his new position, the Outrider suggested that they have a lively lunch at Good Hunter once more. Naturally, the bearer of the Omnitrix agreed to this right away, and then the both of them set off in the direction of the eatery.

"Oh yeah. I could really use some more of that Sticky Honey Roast right about now." Ben couldn't contain his excitement at returning to Good Hunter. The Sticky Honey Roast dish has made it onto his list of the top 10 best foods he has ever eaten.

"U-um… A-a friend of mine told me that today they are serving a unique dish... Perhaps you'd like to give it a shot?" Amber was tapping her fingers together and looked enthusiastic and hesitant when she talked about the special of the day.

"Today is a really special day for me. I'm game to give it a shot, sure." Ben had no objections to it. The food in this dimension has been delicious thus far, and the more, the merrier.

"R-right! I'll ask Sara to make one right now!" Amber stuttered out and immediately raced off to the front desk of the store, while Ben went off to find a seat for them.

It has been an hour, and there is not a single piece of food that has been brought to the table up until this point. Even Amber has not yet made her way back to the table to engage in conversation with Ben. The hero was just sitting there by himself, holding a cup of Sunset Berry Tea while he tried to quiet his growling stomach and calm his hunger.

"What happened to Amber?" Ben was wondering about his friend, and he speculated that she had probably been summoned away on an urgent assignment. If that is the case, then why didn't she ask him to come along with her? Or why did she neglect to place an order if the matter was so time sensitive?

"Sorry about the wait! S-so, uh, eat your heart out." The missing Outrider came at that very moment, and when Ben turned around to inquire as to what had delayed her arrival for so long, he was instead taken aback by what he saw in front of him. Amber was beginning to perspire, and her outfit was a little bit sloppy due to the presence of oil all over the place. Still maintaining her wobbly grin, she laid the special cuisine that she had pledged to serve down on the table.

"What is this?" Ben gazed at what Amber had brought him with an odd expression on his face. It was a steak that was sitting on top of a dish that had red and checkered napkins underneath it. The hero was baffled as to why one side appeared undercooked while the other had been overcooked to the point of being practically charred. The only redeeming thing was the neat-looking toothpick that was wrapped in red linen and resembled an accessory that Amber wore.

"It's my Outrider Champion's Steak! Since I had no prior expertise in the kitchen, my buddy Noelle offered to assist me out yesterday when I decided to give cooking a go. Although… the culinary lesson was a failure." Amber let out a soft and bashful chuckle as she thought back to the calamity that had occurred the day before at the knight's kitchen and how they had been forced to evacuate it.

"You made this?" When the hero questioned his friend, all she could muster was a feeble nod. Ben quickly grabbed the fork and knife and took one bite, after which he was completely blown away... Blown away and perplexed as to how in the universe this steak could have been both raw and overcooked at the same time

"Do y-you... find it to your liking?" Amber asked Ben this question because she was anxious to hear what he had to say about the signature steak that she had just prepared.

Ben didn't really know what to say; if he were blunt like a British chef, he would have complained that it was raw and burnt. However, Amber spent the time to make it for him, much like how his Grandpa Max cooks food for him, and he was grateful for that. He decided to provide his opinion while maintaining the nicest smile he could muster. "It could use a few tweaks. But other than that, I'd say it's pretty great for a beginner."

"It makes me happy that you find it appetizing, Ben!" Amber was touched by Ben's compliment and expressed her thankfulness to him. After that, the two friends proceeded to eat and enjoy the Outrider's Champion Steak, all the while carrying on a conversation about how their lives had unfolded up to that point and all of the potential future missions they may work together on.

---

It was Ben's first day working as an adventurer, and he received the list of commissions he needed to complete from the guild with a sense of excitement. The hero considered all of the different courses of action that he could take, such as destroying Hilichurl camps, interfering with meetings of Abyss Mages, or even engaging an army of Ruin Guards in combat. But sadly for the bearer of the Omnitrix, his dreams were dashed when he was handed nothing more than a collection of fetch quests due to the fact that he was just starting out.

"You've scared all my pigeons off!" His first ever commission came from a kid named Timmie. Ben rushed over to help him out so as to provide a good first impression. The hero reached his destination in record time, but was reprimanded by the youngster for frightening away his pigeon pals. Whether it was good luck or bad, Timmie was understanding enough to simply switch Ben's commission. As a consequence for not accomplishing the primary aim, his first assignment was suddenly altered from providing food for pigeons to searching for wheat and preparing meals for ducks. The Omnitrix user found wheat in minutes and started feeding it to the ducks while wearing a bored attitude. Since Timmie was pleased with Ben's efforts, he decided to forgive him, in addition to paying him commission fees and providing him with a complimentary hash brown.

"Mondstadt is rumored to offer excellent hash browns, and I'd love to have one." His second commission came courtesy of Bruno, a recent arrival in the Mondstadt neighborhood. He reportedly just moved in two days ago, with the help of Jean and some of the knights. This time around, Bruno was determined to sample some classic Mondstadt dishes, and he figured he'd kick things off with some hash browns. Ben wanted to inform him that Good Hunter was only a few blocks away from his place, but he reluctantly handed him the hash brown that he had hoped to preserve for a snack later on in the day instead. Bruno was so satisfied with the flavor of the meal that he immediately paid Ben the required commission fees.

"Could you take this Calla Lily Seafood Soup over to Springvale for me and find out who ordered it?" In reference to Good Hunter, Sara gave him his third commission to do. Early on, the waitress was swamped with takeout orders, and unintentionally, she misplaced a label for one of the meals. Luckily, she recalled that it had come from a Springvale resident, so she enlisted an adventurer's help in identifying the sender. The alien hero was in no mood to dilly-dally, so as soon as he exited the gates, he changed into XLR8 and raced out to Springvale. Once the Kineceleran arrived at the location, he immediately reverted back to Ben and started asking the locals who ordered this food. It turned out to have been a hangry man named Hopkins who placed the order.

"It's inexcusable that you'd manage to botch something so elementary." Unfortunately, Ben was a few minutes late, mostly due to Hopkins ordering this very early, and Ben wasted time in trying to guess who ordered this food. As a result, Hopkins only paid Ben half the price for being late, and this annoyed him a bit.

When Ben got back to Mondstadt, he immediately went and apologized to Sara for being late. The waitress was understanding, admitting that it was also her fault that he was late due to the customer's ticket being lost. As a token of her appreciation, Sara remunerated Ben by covering his commission fees and providing him with a complimentary crab, ham, and veggie bake. Due to the fact that it was almost lunchtime and he hadn't eaten in a while, the hero was quite appreciative of the free meal.

Following a delectable meal, Ben left for Wolvendom, as it is where he will be working on his subsequent and last commission. This is the one and only commission that Ben is looking forward to, as it involves stopping a swarm of slimes from going amok. The hero doesn't have anything personal against slimes, but they were the only ones there when he needed to let off some steam after such a dull day.

"So this is the area responsible for making me flunk the first part of the adventurer's exam. Probably all the wolves are out looking for the three little pigs." The appearance of Wolvendom was identical to that of any other location in Mondstadt, each of which was covered in verdant foliage and exuded a refreshing feeling of freedom. Though the hero could see why it was named this way, he encountered multiple scratch marks that looked like they belonged to wolves in the area.

Without warning, Ben was surrounded by the slimes he'd been searching for, all of them were suddenly running straight at him. "Finally! Don't hold this against me guys but I need to let loose from this boring day."

The situation is made more worse by the fact that one of the slimes was able to enhance his size and now stands at nearly 20 feet tall. Normally, ordinary people would run for help here; Ben, on the other hand, was anything but ordinary and seemed thrilled by the prospect of this challenge. "Wow, so you can get rather huge yourself, huh? Well, you know what they say—the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And let me have an alien of mine tell you something else, too."

Ben was ready to slam the Omnitrix when a sudden burst of purple lightning arced across the slimes and struck itself in the middle of the alien hero and the slimes. The lightning strike gradually subsided, and in its stead emerged an elderly-looking individual with long, spiky grey hair, vivid red eyes, and pale complexion. He has scars on his face and arms. The guy wears camouflage leggings, a poncho-like orange shirt, dark boots, and a belted hooded coat. A tooth necklace, orange thumbless gloves, and a gold earring are his accessories.

The unknown individual brandished his enormous claymore: the Ferrous Shadow in front of the slimes in an effort to terrify them, and it worked since the slimes felt threatened and ran away in the opposite direction soon after seeing the weapon.

The newcomer whirled around to face Ben. The alien hero was going to respond that he was capable of handling the situation on his own, but then he noticed a band of hungry wolves following him. Ben brought his guard back up and hovered his palm over the Omnitrix while he did so. "Alright buddy, did you come here to help me or are you and your pack of furballs here to add me to your menu?"

"Do not worry. Wolves friends. But, you are...?" The young man with the silvery hair gestured with one hand to signify that they are not intending any harm, and then he asked who Ben is.

"Huh. Lucky me, usually I encounter the aggressive types first. I'm Ben Tennyson, an adventurer completing commissions, and hopefully I get more combat-based ones." Ben introduced himself but maintained his position with his hand near the Omnitrix in case there was a surprise attack.

"Adventurer? Don't smell adventurer. You smell... *sniff* familiar..." The person wielding the enormous claymore proceeded to take a deep sniff of Ben after realizing that his nose was picking up on something.

"I smell? Listen, pal, I don't lick myself clean; I take a shower every day." Naturally, the hero stared at him in a peculiar manner because of the random deed he had taken.

"You smell like Knights of Favonius. They are friends." The stranger continued by explaining to Ben his intentions behind sniffing him and attempting to determine his odor.

"The Knights of Favonius? Hold on, so you're also in their brigade, right?" Ben then pondered whether or not this individual was yet another oddball member of the knights.

"I am Razor. I am no knight." At long last, Ben learned the identity of the mystery stranger. Good at heart, Razor was raised and still resides with his wolf pack. He possesses excellent senses and speed to match his canine friends, but his Electro Vision puts him distinct. Even if Razor's life is going well for him, there is one mystery that he has always been curious about: is he a human or a wolf?

Ben was about to ask Razor a question when he suddenly heard a piercing howl coming from afar, followed by another howl from the wolf pack that was standing behind Razor. "Guess this is the part where the boy who cried wolf is off to town while his sheep are getting devoured."

"My wolf pack... they are my family." Razor made the decision to explain to Ben the significance of the wolf pack that was following him.

"They're your family?!" Ben started staring at Razor in bewilderment as he turned around. As far as he was concerned, Razor was obviously not a wolf boy since he looked too much like a human.

"Yes. They raised me. We live together. We are family." Razor gave a small nod of his head and then petted one of the wolves who followed close behind him.

"That gives me more questions than answers." Ben was still suspicious of Razor being a wolf, and he just believed that he probably confused himself for one. This was comparable to how Manny and Helen first did not believe that they were aliens.

"They are angry with me. I help you, exposed our ambush, boar ran away." Razor shed light on the mystery surrounding the strange howling that emanated from his pack.

"Sorry about that, but if someone should get the blame, it should be that humongous slime. If you want, I can help you go hunting." Ben made the generous offer to assist with their hunting. Despite this, he would simply cheat by transforming into XLR8, running back to town, purchasing meat from the shop, and then distributing it among the wolf pack. Due to the fact that he lacks experience in hunting, there is a chance that his endeavors may be unsuccessful.

"N–No need. When knights try to help, wolves go hungry..." In response to Ben's offer, Razor promptly raised his hand to indicate his refusal. Even his wolf pack was hesitant to accept assistance from an outsider when it was offered.

"Technically, I'm not a full-fledged knight. Also, with extra hands on deck, there's no way you'd starve to death." Ben was curious as to the reasoning behind their refusal to accept his assistance. He can only wonder if the wolves follow a secret code that ensures only members of their pack are allowed to hunt within their territory.

"Because… The other knight friend... the red one, burny girl. If she was here, whole mountain is fire. Can't catch even one boar." Razor felt a little chill run down his spine as he was still able to recall that memory and how he had to order his entire pack to put out a potential forest fire as quickly as possible.

"Burny girl? Two of the knights I know suit that title." Ben came to the conclusion that a certain Outrider and Spark Knight matched this description. Perhaps he hasn't formally met this member of the knights just yet.

"I must go now. Here is not safe. Careful. Always watching." After saying his farewell, Razor and the other members of his pack went back to looking for prey in order to sustain themselves.

"Uh yeah… Talk to you soon again. I guess." Ben simply gave an awkward wave of goodbye since, to put it mildly, it had been a very strange experience. The hero simply groaned to himself and started walking back to Mondstadt so that he could collect his final commission payments.

---

Another day spent as an adventurer, and this time it consisted entirely of quests that required nothing more than delivering items to various persons. Ben was more than pleased to lend a helping hand to those in need, but he also yearned to participate in some exciting adventures. Initially, he had the intention of going on an expedition with Lumine and Paimon; however, they informed him that they would be plucking Mist Flowers the entire time.

After he had collected his commission awards, he made the decision to simply stroll about Mondstadt in order to determine whether or not there was any hidden trouble somewhere. As soon as Ben stepped foot outside the gates of Mondstadt, he was given a friendly nudge by someone. When the hero turned to find out who had done it, he was greeted by Amber's cheeky grin.

"Hey, Ben! Why are you so glum on such a lovely day?" Amber asked with a smile and her hands by her sides. The first time she'd ever seen Ben looking so down, she was determined to find a solution that would get him smiling again.

"Hey there, Amber. *sighs* To be honest, being an adventurer up until this point has been quite dull. My rank prevents me from even being considered for the most dangerous missions. And today more than ever I need to get involved in something exciting." Ben murmured in his boredom, looking up at the sky as if he might jinx something into happening.

Amber paused for a moment, placing her fingers in a contemplative position below her chin. The next thing she did was make a snapping motion with her fingers as she came up with a fantastic solution to the problem of Ben's ennui. "Today is your lucky day, Ben. For a while now, I've been looking into a certain matter. The wolves of Wolvendom have been acting rather boldly as of late. Recently, they've been attacking people around Drunkard Gorge, despite rarely venturing outside their region. Wanna come with me and have a look at what's going on?"

"Put me down as a yes!" Ben's mood did a complete about-face, and all of a sudden he was pumped up about the challenge.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's head off!" Amber started to run off and waved back at Ben to follow her and keep up. The challenge was accepted by the hero with a smirk before he dashed off in her direction.

After catching up to each other, Ben and Amber went back to walking, as both of them didn't run all the way to Drunkard George since they wanted to conserve their energy for the investigation. While in the middle of the road, Ben remembered his interaction with a certain spiky haired boy yesterday, and he wanted to know the identity of the "Burny Girl" Razor was referring to.

"Speaking of wolves. Yesterday, I finally got to meet your buddy Razor." Ben decided to inquire Amber as she was the lead person he assumes is the true identity of "Burny Girl"

"Huh? Who's Razor?" Amber was puzzled by the fact that she did not recall ever coming across anyone else with that name.

"What, you have no recollection of him? He told me that you and him hit it off while hunting for his wolf pack, and your antics almost started a fire." Ben thought maybe Amber accidentally ate some weird magical mushrooms lately that caused her amnesia.

"Does your alien transformations also make you loopy? I don't even know what you're on about." The haphazard description that Ben had provided to Amber caused her to look at him as if he had lost his mind.

"That means "Burny Girl" could also be Klee." Ben spoke to himself in a murmuring voice.

"Look up ahead! Something is afoot." Amber indicated the direction that was in front of them. A group of five Hilichurls attacked a woman while she was pushing a cart. The described woman was so afraid that she simply held down and closed her eyes while the beasts systematically dismantled the cart.

"Did you get the wrong information, or have wolves mutated into Hilichurls?" Ben honestly didn't care, and he started scrolling through the Omntrix in order to find the alien to utilize.

"As soon as we assist her, we'll discover the answer." Before he could slam it, Amber raced forward and took the initiative to launch the initial assault. The Outrider instantly pulled out her bow and fired five arrows in rapid succession in the direction of the Hilichurls. Each and every one of them accurately scored a headshot, which ultimately resulted in the elimination of all of the attackers that were within the cart.

"That was a piece of cake!" Amber withdrew her bow and congratulated herself on a job well done while clapping her hands together.

"Seriously. You didn't even think to save some for me." Ben's expressionless gaze was meant to serve as a reminder to Amber about the action she had promised him.

"Sorry about that, Ben." Amber's eyes widened as she turned to face Ben with an embarrassed smile on her face, explaining that the adrenaline of combat had gotten the better of her.

"Bless you." The victim of the incident, Siegfria, eventually regained her composure and proceeded to express her gratitude to Amber for rescuing her.

"You're welcome. Now, were those rumors untrue? Is it possible that you mistook the Hilichurls who assaulted you for wolves?" After that, Amber proceeded to ask some questions in an effort to obtain a new lead in the investigation.

"No. There is some truth to the rumors. Hilichurls are a vicious bunch, but the wolves have been ramping up their attacks recently. They… This morning, they even went as far as to attack Springvale." When Siegfria thought back to the horrifying event that had occurred earlier, she let out a small shudder.

"Springvale?! That's crazy!" Amber was startled to learn that the wolves were even more brazen in their assaults on the human settlements.

"Maybe they were all there to lodge a complaint about being underpaid for their delivery services." Ben couldn't help but crack a joke about the situation.

"When the wolves were done having fun, I decided to take my chances on the road... Never did I anticipate that the Hilichurls would turn up as well." Siegfria provided an explanation regarding the reasoning behind her decision to go out today despite the potential dangers.

"We need to get over there and see how dire the situation really is." Ben looked over at Amber, and she acknowledged his proposal with a nod.

"But first things first: inspect the damage to your cart." Given that the cart doesn't appear to be in the greatest of shape, Amber posed the question.

"I'm going to look into that." Siegfria came over to her cart and knelt down to examine it more closely to determine what the problem was.

"Need some help with repairing it?" Ben made an offer since he felt bad about leaving this woman with only her damaged cart and he didn't want her to remain in that position for long.

"It's fine. Focus on aiding the others affected by the wolves." Siegfria declined the offer with good manners and then moved on to examine the state of the repairs that need to be made to her cart as Ben and Amber sped out to get to Springvale as quickly as possible.

---

Springvale is a tranquil and picture-perfect suburban town that has a long history of hunting, spring water, and legends about the benevolent spirits that are said to reside inside the waters. The majority of its inhabitants are hunters, and as a result, they are the principal suppliers of fresh meat for the majority of the prominent restaurants located across the entire city of Mondstadt. Tourists are drawn to the area due to its antiquated charm, and it is home to a restaurant that has earned a reputation for serving meat of the highest possible quality.

"Given that I already performed most of the fighting earlier, how about you do the legwork in terms of investigating and finding evidence while I chat with the locals?" As soon as Amber proposed this suggestion to Ben, he immediately agreed with it without any reservations.

Ben's first instinct was that he should transform into Wildmutt in order to hasten the process a little bit. However, he quickly decided against this course of action when he saw that the people were still shaken up from the attack and that the unexpected appearance of an alien canine may make their condition worse. Therefore, Ben went about this the old-fashioned way and surveyed the surrounding area. He only hoped that it wasn't the wolves, because Razor and his pack didn't strike him as the kind of people who would engage in behavior of this nature.

However, the more Ben dug into it and uncovered evidence, the more likely it became that his worst worries would come true. There were three different residences that held important pieces of evidence that may be used to determine who was responsible for the attack. After Ben had finished gathering the evidence, he grouped up a wooden board that had claw marks on it, a wolf tooth, and wolf fur.

Ben's mind was racing as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation, especially considering the fact that Razor's wolf pack could very well be the major suspect. Amber suddenly emerged and patted him on the shoulder, which jolted him out of his thoughts. "How's your investigation coming along, detective Ben? Observe anything out of the ordinary?"

"Eh, just a bunch of junk like this plank with claw marks, a broken tooth, and wolf fur." Ben made a thorough inventory of everything he discovered.

Amber examined the fur and came to the conclusion that it had an unusual appearance. "From what I've read, this is not the color of Mondstadt wolf fur. Could it be that they're from somewhere else entirely?"

This sparked Ben's curiosity since he realized Razor might not have been the attacker after all. "Maybe, some wolves from other nations felt it was a good idea to relocate here."

"But take a look at this–" Amber continued her examination into the fur and discovered an important detail.

"It's just hair again." Ben was confused as to why Amber was making such a big deal over something because he doesn't notice anything being different.

"Not only does it have hair, but a seed as well! More specifically, a wolfberry seed." Amber showed Ben the thin slice of a seed that was sticking out from the edge of the fur.

"I guess they grew tired of the negative effects of eating meat and decided to make healthier choices." Ben has not yet grasped the significance of this discovery.

"It's not just any old seed, either. Both Wolvendom and Brightcrown Canyon are the only areas in Mondstadt where it may be found growing naturally." Amber divulged the one and only location in which these fruits can be discovered. It seemed as though the evidence was really pointing in Razor's direction.

"There's also the possibility that they chased away a wolf pack from somewhere else that happened to be in their territory." Ben provided a counter to this point so that he might deflect attention away from the wolf pack led by Razor.

"That's a possibility, too. This doesn't tell us everything, but it's a good starting point. Let's head back to the entrance of the village. There is an injured witness who could be able to testify and offer us a better lead." Amber insisted that Ben accompany her so that they might interview the witness she had mentioned. The hero did nothing more than follow the outrider, but he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever they were going to confront would not end well.

---

"Good news. He has made a full recovery." When they arrived, Draff, a member of the Katzlein Bloodline who is also the head hunter of Springvale, was there to greet them. Although Ben considered adding him to his lineup via Omnitrix scan, he finally decided against it because he didn't find his addition particularly useful.

"Whoa, that happened quickly! At least we know he is safe and sound at the moment." Amber was taken aback by the fact that he was able to make a full recovery, but then she recalled that he wasn't physically hurt, he had only been extremely frightened.

"Fortunately, I'm feeling much better now. I survived the pits of Hell and managed to climb back up." The victim about whom Amber intended to question for a testimonial was the source of the voice, which sounded haughty and superior.

"That voice… Oh no." Ben didn't like the sound of this voice because it reminded him of an unhappy customer from the day before, whom he hoped to never see again.

"So, Knights of Favonius– It's you!" The hero's stomach dropped when he realized that it was none other than Hopkins the Marvelous. The very same consumer voiced that their dissatisfaction with their delivery commission the day before. He, too, was not looking forward to seeing Ben again.

"Great. Just great. I should have known that if I came back to Springvale, I would run into you again." Ben rolled his eyes and let out a sarcastic grunt as he observed the obnoxious guy.

"Hmph. It would appear that the service boy is also a knight. This is a fatal blow to the investigation. As it is, he is always running behind schedule, whether it be in terms of delivering meals or locating the perpetrator, which means that other people will be victimized before the real culprit is apprehended." Hopkins did not hold back his words and once again started the verbal belittling that he had been leveling at Ben. Even now, he has not moved on from the lukewarm food that he was given the day before.

"Hey! Considering the backlog of orders, it's not hard to guess that Good Hunter is a popular dining destination. You should have expected I'd be late, and at least you got your food." Ben asserted his stance forcefully and provided the best defense he could for the occurrence.

"Really, who cares. I think it's best for Jotun and I to handle this situation on our own. Our advancement will outpace that of this bumbling teenager." Hopkins didn't seem to care and proceeded to insult Ben throughout the conversation. The possessor of the Omnitrix was seriously contemplating changing into Rath and demonstrating to him what true trash talking is all about.

"Leave my friend alone! You can rely on him more than you realize." Next, Amber was no longer concerned with the investigation and instead continued to defend Ben. It rubbed her the wrong way when Hopkins continued to berate her friend in that manner.

"Avert my amusement at all costs! A lot of you Favonius folks probably aren't used to the way we do things. As a result of their actions, they will suffer consequences. Goodbye!" Hopkins turned around, and he and Jotun set out on an adventure to travel to Wolvendom in order to handle this situation on their own.

"I really cannot stand being around him." Ben mumbled something to himself and couldn't hide his relief as Hopkins disappeared from his line of sight.

"I'm sorry about that. They have a truly terrible perspective for the future. Sometimes young individuals are very careless with their actions. I'm hoping you can keep an eye on them and keep them out of trouble if that's not too much to ask." Draff tried his best to convey his apologies for Hopkins' behavior, which he found to be embarrassing.

"There's no need to worry about it. We must always stand up for the defense of others, no matter how much of a jerk someone may be!" Amber eased his concerns by assuring him that he was not responsible for any of this.

"Thank you." When Draff heard that Ben and Amber would continue to aid the same people even after their assistance was rejected, he felt a sense of relief.

"Before we head to Wolvendom… Does anyone here sell meat?" Out of the blue, Ben made the most random request. Everyone decided not to question it as Draff just handed him one of the meats he got from his hunt today and the hero paid for it.

---

"What's the deal with your meat purchases?" Amber couldn't stop herself and had to inquire about the meat that Ben had purchased. At first, she thought he was hungry; however, even though they have arrived at Wolvendom, he has not yet consumed the food that he brought with him.

"It would be rude to visit a friend without bringing a gift, right? Razor! I need your help! It's me, Ben! The cool guy from yesterday!" Ben immediately started yelling at the top of his lungs in an effort to get the attention of the wolf boy. Amber stared at him as if he were insane, perplexed as to what bizarre scheme the hero had in mind. Suddenly the bushes started rustling, and to Amber and Ben's surprise and delight, Razor appeared right in front of them.

"Ben. Why are you here. And… you are also knight?" Razor couldn't help but wonder what had prompted the hero to return to Wolvendom.

"Isn't this the friend you mentioned to me yesterday?" Ben took this as further evidence that Amber was not the person he was referring to when he made the statement. At this point, he is under the impression that there is a good possibility that Klee is Burny Girl.

"No. This girl is also red, but no so burny like other girl." As this was Razor's very first encounter with Amber, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"Things are beginning to click into place here. Does he happen to be the wolf boy you mentioned?" When Amber thought back to what Ben had asked her earlier, she understood that he wasn't completely off his rocker.

"Bingo! You might remember his name from when I told you about him at Mondstadt, but let me refresh your memory. This guy's name is Razor." Ben handed Razor the meat and then introduced him to Amber, at which point the two of them waved to one another in a friendly manner.

"Thank you for food. But. Help me out." The relaxed expression on Razor's face transformed into one of grave concern.

"With what?" Amber was interested to learn the nature of his request.

"No time. I sent lupical away. People coming, bad people." Razor wasted no time in providing an explanation to each of them regarding the circumstance.

"I'm going to make a wild guess and say it's those dummies we saw previously." If Ben was being completely honest, he would admit that a part of him kind of wanted to watch Hopkins's terrified expression when he ran into the wolves.

"I understand. But first, I have a few questions–" In spite of the fact that Amber wanted to be of assistance, she insisted on obtaining information regarding the investigation first given that Razor was a possible suspect in this matter.

"sniff* I smell blood. Quick." Razor didn't have time to waste, so he started running as soon as he noticed his nose picking up a scent in a certain place.

"Blood? I hope the wolves didn't attack those idiots..." Amber turned to glance at Ben, and he simply shrugged as they both hurried off to assist Razor in his time of need.

---

The three of them came to a halt in the middle of the road up ahead when Razor stopped sniffing the air and discovered what he had been seeking for in the vicinity. Amber bent down to look at it more closely, and as soon as she seen the red dots, she became alarmed. "Blood droplets!"

"Not human blood, wolf blood. Lupical blood..." Razor was upset and enraged, and he couldn't help but wonder who had done this to his other family member.

Even though witnessing the blood made Ben uncomfortable, he couldn't help but wonder about one of the things Razor had mentioned. "And could you explain what a lupical is?"

"Lupical is family fate gave me. When wolf accepts human as its own. Or human accepts wolf. That is lupical." Razor offered a condensed explanation to both of them regarding the significance of that meaning.

"Sounds like gibberish to me." While family was swell and all, Ben couldn't help but think they had just complicated the term even more.

"That's peculiar; could you perhaps explain the origin of the word? The wolves didn't make that up, did they?" Even Amber, who reads a lot of books, has never come across this particular term before.

"It's just the name he gave." Razor only provided a vague explanation of where it came from, and no other information was provided.

"Who's he?" Amber was not content with the response and wished to acquire further details.

"Guardian of this land." And Razor continued to only provide another hazy answer with no additional information.

"That guy must be the Anemo Archon, right?" Ben was aware that Razor would not give a response that was straightforward, so he simply created an assumption on his own.

Before he could elaborate, Razor's nose was once again able to detect something, and he dashed off in the direction he could sense it coming from. "Enough. Another clue. Follow me."

"Wait a minute! This is your chance to prove your innocence!" Amber made another attempt to stop Razor, but she was unable to get up to him in time.

"Guess we're playing follow the leader." Ben did not squander any time and immediately began to chase after Razor, with Amber not far behind him.

---

Everyone ran up the slope in the hopes of finding the next piece of information. When they arrived, they were confronted by a sight that was much more revolting than the blood drops that were already there. It turned out to be a wolf that had been severely hurt. When Razor saw the condition that one of his family members was in, he tightly closed his fists and clenched them. "This is him. We find his blood. Bad men did this."

"Those guys didn't need to go this far." After observing the wolf's condition, Ben expressed his displeasure with a frown. Even if there is a possibility that this wolf was the one who carried out the attack, in his opinion, they did not have to punish it to this extreme degree.

"It is terrible, I agree with you there. However, this does not alter the reality that–" As soon as Amber began to reach the end of her sentence, she was abruptly cut off by Razor's furious retort. "We didn't attack village! Not us!"

"Okay Razor, cool your jets. I believe in you. But if you want Amber to change her mind, can you give us any evidence to support your claims?" Before things got even worse, it was Ben's responsibility to do all he could to diffuse the tension in the room.

After hearing Ben's recommendation, Razor paused for a few moments to take some deep breaths before continuing. "A black wolf and his pack, not from here. They try to take over land. They broke the code."

"What code did they exactly break? The secret button command on getting more meat?" Ben, too, was growing impatient with all the euphemisms and jargon that Razor kept throwing around.

"Guardian of this land." The elusive name was brought up once more by Razor. After hearing it again, Ben and Amber had the feeling that they wanted to make a comical fall to the ground.

"That's now the second time you've brought that up. Tell us who that is." The annoyance that Amber was feeling increased, and this time she was nearly pleading Razor to simply explain everything in full.

"I take lupical further in. Follow me, maybe you see." The request was once again disregarded by Razor. Instead, he gently slung the injured wolf onto his shoulder and made his way toward the enormous arena in a deliberate manner. Both Ben and Amber let out a collective sigh of resignation as they realized that they had become accustomed to the current situation.

---

In the very center of Wolvendom was where the enormous arena of the Wolf of the North stood. The walls and flooring inside of it contain a variety of antique markings surrounding them. Even for those who aren't easily frightened, the fact that the environment is so deep and gloomy can cause them to get the chills. In the background, you may also catch a fleeting sound of wolves howling at each other.

"One word: massive. But I expected there would be wolf mechs in the mix somewhere." Ben was comparing this location to the Thousands Winds Temple that he had visited, and he had to concede that this appeared to be far more amazing than the other location.

"Ben, help me. Collect seeds." After carefully setting his canine friend down on the ground, Razor turned around to show Ben the particular seed he had instructed him to look for.

"Isn't this the same batch of seeds we saw in Springvale?" Ben recalled this seed from one of the pieces of evidence he discovered earlier.

"This would be useful. Wolfhook seeds have a liquid coating that not only functions as a mild painkiller, but also has a hemostatic effect." Amber provided a concise but enlightening description of the varied and unique uses that can be found for wolfhook seeds.

"Where did you hear that?" Ben was surprised when he found out that the Outrider was a bibliophile.

"… I like reading books." Amber quietly told the hero the truth about it.

"Correct. Hooks help seeds move. Liquid stops pain and bleeding. Animal doesn't feel hooks, they take seeds far away ...Purple teacher told me so." Razor also provided his own interpretation of what wolfhook seeds are and brought up another moniker that was left undefined. Ben and Amber made the decision not to inquire about it because they were aware that the wolf boy would not provide any further details.

"I take it that you'll also not explain who purple teacher is?" Ben reconsidered his decision, despite the fact that he was aware that this was a pointless question, but he chose to try and ask it anyway.

Razor simply shook his head since he believes that revealing the identity of his instructor won't be all that significant to them. After that, he turned around to proceed with the next stage of his plan. "I stay here, take care of this one. I answer red girl's questions."

"Right. Even if they do return, I seriously doubt any of them will dare test their luck against a Knight of Favonius." Amber gave her approval to this proposal, but it appears that Ben was less than enthusiastic about it.

"Back to another fetch quest?" Ben sighed and groaned as he thought about the upcoming task, which would be the fifth one he would have to complete that day.

"Look Ben, I need to talk to Razor and see if his name will be cleared from suspicion. And those seeds still need to be retrieved. I think that would be more appealing to you than sitting through a lengthy discussion." When Amber had finished explaining her reasons, Ben had the need to respond, but he restrained himself and kept quiet instead. It dawned on him that Amber was correct since he wasn't the kind of person who would just sit there and have a long talk. The hero left the arena reluctantly in order to search for some berries as the Outrider and wolf boy continued their conversation.

---

Ben proceeded to move up to an area that was just a few feet away from the dome because this was where he located the bushes that contained the wolfhook berries. The hero had to be careful because the berry had a lot of sharp thorns, and he was also pretty sure that he heard the howls of wolves in the distance. Nevertheless, it was not sufficient to change his annoyance, and once again he returned to simply fetching items as an adventurer with no action engaged in the process.

"Come on, alternate dimension! Can't you at least send me something? How about sending those wolves against me?" Ben vented his frustration to the sky because he believed that the day would pass without him experiencing any excitement. However, it would appear that his wish has been granted since a pair of glowing golden eyes stared directly at him from among the bushes as it waited for the ideal moment to attack him like prey.

After emerging from its hiding place, the unexplained anomaly made its way toward Ben with the intention of devouring him. Fortunately, it appears the wielder of the Omnitrix recognized its arrival, and he was able to narrowly avoid being struck by the enormous claws that it was exhibiting.

"What are these things? Like a Ghostfreak crossed with a Blitzwolfer, I suppose." Ben made some observations on the creature's physical characteristics. As he stated, it shares some elements similar to the aliens; he mentioned the beast having a wolf appearance with some ghostly effects. It has a golden brown mane with golden brown highlights over its body, and its body is shaped like the bones of a wolf. The bones that make up its body are gray and black in color.

The Rockfond Rifthound is a dangerous foe that is native to the Abyss. Legend has it that an alchemist by the name of Gold was responsible for their creation. In the past, they served as an advance guard for other elite monsters; but, as a result of a calamity, their population has drastically decreased. They have lately reemerged and are currently wandering around, working toward eroding the boundaries that separate the world's regions.

The Rockfond Rifthound that had initially attacked Ben was joined by two others of his kind, which suddenly materialized from behind it. When the hero saw that he was finally going to get some action, he celebrated by pumping his fist.

"Okay, now we're talking! And I've been itching to use Rath ever since yesterday!" Ben was so ecstatic that he did not realize that he had overscrolled his pick in the Omnitrix before he slammed it down as a green light encompassed him.

"Ook-ook! LEMME TELL YA SOMETHING GHOSTWOLFER THI-Huh?!" The hero was taken aback to learn that he had not become Rath but was instead a different kind of alien. The alien looks like a small monkey with four limbs, two legs, three fingers and three toes on each hand and foot, blue fur over a dark blue center, and a white-striped tail. He has three green eyes, a nose on his forehead, and spiky fur with white stripes. Lastly, the Omnitrix emblem is connected by green sashes worn on his chest.

This alien creature is known as Spidermonkey, and its DNA was taken from an Arachnichimp and stored in the Omnitrix. A new group of aliens, including him, were added to Ben's Omnitrix after he had the old one calibrated. As his name suggests, Spidermonkey is quick and nimble like a monkey, and he boasts a diverse set of skills like a spider. In addition to that, when he is on the battlefield, he has a demeanor that is witty and quick with a wisecrack.

"Would it have killed you to give me the right alien for a change today?" After realizing that he had once more received the incorrect transformation, Spidermonkey gave himself a facepalm using all four of his hands.

The Rockfond Rifthounds were not fazed in the least, and the first one surged forward to administer vicious claw cuts towards the Arachnichimp. The Rifthound's strikes missed as Spidermonkey sprang into the air and struck it with an axe kick. Rifthound number two tried to bite Spidermonkey, but he was ready for him and webbed his lips shut before landing a swift punch with all four of his limbs. The final Rifthound made the decision to launch a long-range attack against the Arachnichimp, and it did so by shooting Rock Spit in his direction. Spidermonkey fashioned a web line from his tail and attached it to the boulder before hurling it back at the monster, which caused it to recoil.

"Remember to always spit your gum into the trash, and as the good law-abiding citizen I am, I sent it back for proper disposal. Ook-ook!" Spidermonkey cracked a quip and then began jumping up and down in an attempt to make fun of the wolves.

The Rifthounds slowly stood up, and in response to their failure to kill Spidermonkey, they all let out a deafening roar at the same time. Following their concerted howl, all of their golden brown highlights began to radiate, and at this moment they appear to be more angry and even more powerful.

"Guys, how about cutting yourself off from eating raw meat? It's making your breath smell worse." Spidermonkey acted as though he was repulsed by what was being said by flapping his hands in front of his lips. However, that didn't continue for long because he soon recognized that one of the Rifthounds had vanished. Before he had a chance to respond, the first Rifthound abruptly teleported up next to him out of nowhere and delivered a devastating tail strike that sent him flying towards a tree.

"Ow! Little Red Riding Hood never said anything about Grandma Wolf being able to teleport." The Arachnichimp scratched his head before slowly rising and nearly dodging another rock spit from the third Rifthound. He sent another web line to a tree with the intention of swinging around it and use the momentum to deliver another kick to one of the rifthounds. But before that scheme could be implemented, Spidermonkey suddenly let go of the web and fell to the ground, gripping his body a little bit as he did so.

"Why does it feel like every bone in my body is aching?" Spidermonkey clenched his teeth, resisting the uncomfortable feeling. Unbeknownst to him, this was the corrosion effect that the Rifthounds applied to him. This affect makes their adversaries feel as though their health is steadily waning away, which throws them off during the course of the fight. Due to its short duration and the fact that it does not cause significant damage to the user's DNA, the Omntirix is unable to neutralize this effect.

When the opportunity presented itself, the second Rifthound dashed forward at full speed to tackle Spidermonkey, and it succeeded in knocking him flying such that he collided with a group of rocks. It appeared as though he was finished, but Spidermonkey fought his way to his feet, groaning somewhat from the effects of the assaults, showing that he still had some fight in him. However he was forced to admit that in order to win this fight, he is going to have to switch aliens.

"Looks like Spidermonkey can't handle this, ok Omnitrix give me NRG!" The Arachnichimp slammed the Omnitrix dial that was on his chest, and a green glow began to encircle him once more.

Instead of becoming NRG, the alien he transformed into had the appearance of a humanoid stone that was lime green in color. He is covered in a variety of markings all over his body, including two spikes on each arm and leg, as well as one spike on each shoulder. Moreover, he has three fingers on each hand. The item of clothing he is wearing has a collar that is green and black and connects down to a waistband that has the same colors. He also has a pair of black pants. Finally, the emblem of the Omnitrix is imprinted on his upper chest.

This was a brand new alien transformation that Ben utilized, and according to the information that it possesses in the Omnitrix, it is the DNA sample of a Basalt that originates from the planet Andesite.

"Woah. This is a new one." As a result of the amazement he felt upon discovering a new kind of alien, the Basalt was fixated on his hands. He did not have much time to appreciate this new transformation before the third Rifthound abruptly tackled him to the ground and knocked him down.

The monster continued his attack, making repeated attempts to bite off the rock alien's head. At the same time, that alien used his left hand to try to stop its jaws from crushing him. His right hand suddenly became harder and larger, forming a large stone fist, and the Basalt used it to throw a devastating punch at the Rifthound, knocking it unconscious in the process.

The stone creature whistled in admiration after seeing his hand and speculated that his powers may involve the construction of weapons using his own body. After that, he became aware of the second Rifthound that was getting ready to launch another rock spit at him. The Basalt did not want to be on the receiving end of that strike again, so he instantly stamped the ground hard, which resulted in a massive rock boulder flying out of the ground. He aimed it towards the spitting Rifthound and hit it in the face, dispatching it instantly.

"Earthbending powers? This guy Rocks!" With his excitement at using a new alien, Ben unintentionally named this transformation Rocks, the alien who can manipulate the earth.

Pop-Up Trivia: Rocks first and only appeared in the non-canon live-action stage plays Power of the Omnitrix and Ben 10 Live: The Rise of VilEon.

Rocks observes that the lone remaining Rifthound has gotten more primitive and enraged as it readies its enormous claws for more destructive slashes. To end the fight, Rocks conjured two massive stone walls and used them to sandwich themselves between the monster, knocking it out cold.

Rocks reverted back to Ben just as the Omnitrix began beeping to indicate the end of the time limit, and Ben appeared to have a satisfied grin on his face as a result of finally getting some action and making use of a new alien.

"Man, I'm lucky Khyber does not have this wolf thing in the Nemetrix. It would be annoying to deal with them all the time. These wolves seem to be the bad guys responsible for attacking Springvale, no doubt about that. And they've been framing Razor and his wolf pack. I need to get back and fill Amber in on what's going on." Ben gave off the impression that he was thinking things through at this moment, and he sped out in the direction of the dome that housed the Wolf of the North to clear Razor's name.

---

Amber didn't realize she had a wolfhook in her pouch, so she decided to give it to Razor so that he could use it to heal the wolf since Ben was taking too long to do it. After breaking up the fruit, Razor applied it to the wound of the injured wolf in an effort to staunch the animal's bleeding. Once that was taken care of, the wolf miraculously recovered, and as it stood up to leave the arena, it expressed its gratitude to the two people who had helped him.

After a lengthy discussion between the two of them, Amber acquired new and interesting information regarding the wolven code of conduct. As their discussion stretched on, the Outrider gradually came to the conclusion that Razor's wolf pack might perhaps be innocent.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Hopkins the Marvelous and Jotun unexpectedly showed up in the arena in search of other wolves to exact their vengeance upon. After seeing Razor for the first time, the two of them were repulsed by him and quickly began leveling allegations against him.

"So, it was you. I should have known wolves aren't smart enough to be behind this. I can't believe you would help wolves plot against humans! They throw you some scraps, and you treat them like kin? Have you lost touch with who you really are?" Hopkins immediately began to blame Razor of being the one responsible for all of the recent assaults that had taken place.

"Enough! Stop talking about Razor like that!" Amber was angry after hearing Hopkins' accusations against Razor. After hearing Razor's testimony while Ben was gone, she felt like he was innocent, and it rubbed her the wrong way

"And why should we? This primitive boy and his worthless pack are responsible for all the attacks happening to us innocent humans." Hopkins showed that he was not going to back down from his accusations by crossing his hands and demonstrating an arrogant attitude.

"Because they weren't responsible for the attack." Someone spoke it out loud, which caused everyone to turn their heads to see Ben who had just returned from gathering wolfhook berries.

"Explain yourself fool. Are you making up these wild, ludicrous claims?" As Hopkins observed Ben approach closer to Amber and Razor, he narrowed his eyes and gave a stern scowl.

"I fought the attackers earlier, and they didn't look like ordinary wolves. They were glowing and had crazy ghost-teleporting abilities." Ben recounted all that had occurred earlier, and Razor appeared determined to track out the wolf pack that had wronged him and exact his vengeance on them. In addition, he gave Amber a Concealed Claw that he had discovered clinging to a tree.

"It sounds as though you've faced up against a horde of Rifthounds. But they only roam around Inazuma and are nearly extinct. How did they get to Mondstadt in the first place?" Amber looked at the claw, and she was stunned to discover what Ben had been up against.

"Why does it matter if it's a different wolf pack? They are all just primitive beings that will attack without thinking. You Knights of Favonius are gonna let this guy off?!" Still pessimistic, Hopkins and Jotun did not have faith that Razor and the other members of his wolf pack were entirely innocent.

In spite of the proof, Ben and Amber were unhappy with Hopkins' ongoing verbal assault of Razor. The wolf boy, on the other hand, appeared to be on the verge of losing his cool and was clenching his fist. "We. Not. Part. Of. Outside. Pack."

"What is this disturbance to which I awaken? This is no offering to Boreas... Not only do you come for my kind, so too do you fail to recognize your own transgression... I will not tolerate such brazenness!" It was uttered out loud in an ominous tone by a harsh, threatening voice. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around to see what had suddenly formed in front of them. It was a massive wolf-like creature made of ice and wind that was blue and white in color.

This large wolf is Andrius, also known as Lupus Boreas, the dominator of wolves. In the land of Mondstadt, he was a mighty god who was engaged in conflict with the Decarabian. At the conclusion of the era, he made the decision to allow his physical body to pass away while he remained alive in spirit to keep vigil over the region. These days, at the behest of the Anemo Archon Barbatos, he has been elevated to the position of one of the Four Winds, which gives him responsibility for defending the nation.

"A giant wolf!" Hopkins' reaction to the sight of Boreas caused him to feel so uneasy that he was on the verge of wetting his pants.

"We must leave this place immediately!" Jotun instantly issued a call for a strategic retreat, and he, together with Hopkins, made their escape from this location as quickly as they could.

"Heh. So long, Hopkins the Marvelous coward." Ben was unconcerned about seeing the wolf deity and instead turned back to make fun of the most obnoxious person he had encountered in this dimension up to that point.

"Look out!" After Amber's yell, everyone turned to see Boras launching himself into the air, with the intention of crashing on top of them. The Outrider, Ben, and Razor were only able to escape the assault by the skin of their teeth thanks to the early warning provided by her.

"Please! Calm!" After that, Razor howled very loudly in order to call forth The Wolf Within, which is a big wolf that formed behind him thanks to the use of his Electro Vision.

"You seek to protect these outsiders, Razor? My wrath is beyond your control. You must use your sword to vindicate their honor. Display the skills your humans have taught you. Bare your claws of steel." Both Boreas and the augmented version of Razor surged forward to fight one another in a furious combat against one another. Boreas' claw slashes impacted Razor's claymore and Lightning Fang's claw attacks as they both attempted to counterattack. In spite of the fact that the power boost allowed Razor to compete more effectively in the fight, his guardian was still victorious and knocked him away.

After that, a Pyro arrow was used to shoot Boreas in the head, and as the wolf god turned to see who had done it, Amber was there, shooting as quickly as she could while simultaneously charging up her Pyro Vision. As a result of this, Boreas became enraged and surged forward in an attempt to take down Amber. However, the Outrider was swift, and she narrowly escaped the attack while simultaneously retaliating by blasting another Pyro arrow in his face.

This had little effect on Boreas because he instantly countered back by sending in an ice projectile by sweeping his tail in order to project and send it in. Amber was not able to avoid the ice assault this time, and as a result, she was sent flying and slammed head-first against the wall of the arena.

"Ow." Amber grimaced and clutched her right shoulder in a feeble attempt to alleviate the pain that had been caused by the blow from the wolf deity. Boreas approached Amber without giving her any prior warning, and he maintained the frightening presence that he had displayed earlier.

"This is your end." Boreas bluntly said as he raised his claws to ultimately end Amber, whose eyes widened as she realized the situation she was in was hopeless.

Just as Boreas was ready to administer the crushing blow on Amber, his assault was suddenly interrupted when suddenly green sonic howls interfered, causing the gigantic wolf god to flinch in surprise. Boreas let out an angry growl as he whirled around to confront the one who had attacked him, and he was taken aback by what he saw when he did so. Razor appeared to be in the same state of shock as his guardian, gaping open his mouth, while Amber sported a confident grin as she understood who was standing before her.

The unexpected visitor had grey fur, a long flowing mane, a big bushy tail, and four sharp claws on each hand and foot. He sports spikes on his elbows and shoulders, and his outfit, collar, and wristbands are all green. The Omnitrix logo sits atop his furry collar.

This alien is known as Blitzwolfer, and his DNA was taken from a Loboan and stored in the Omnitrix. Originally named Benwolf, a Loboan dubbed the werewolf scratched the Omnitrix, causing it to sample its DNA and have Ben slowly transform into its species over time. His main gimmickis his ability to produce powerful sonic howls powerful enough to harm Petrosapiens, the species of Diamondhead.

"Leave her alone! If it's a dogfight you want, then come and face me." Blitzwolfer let out a resounding roar as he took up a fighting stance and prepared to engage the deity in close combat.

"You must be the lone wolf causing problems on the outside of my domain, and you have the nerve to stand before your god?" When Boreas spotted Blitzwolfer, he became even more enraged since he believed that the Loboan was the troublemaking outsider wolf.

"First of all, I can say that I am not to blame for the attacks on innocent people. Second, it's not the most dangerous thing I've ever done." As he made his points, Blitzwolfer raised two of his claws and then carefully set each one down one at a time.

Boreas had no interest in engaging in idle chatter as he roared loudly and began to race fast towards the direction of Blitzwolfer. The Loboan was able to narrowly avoid the attack, and in response to it, he opened his mouth to release another strong, green, ultrasonic howl point blank at Boreas' face, which sent the wolf god flying away.

After Boreas got back up on his feet, he promptly began to perform the identical attack that he had previously used to knock Amber out. He swiftly lifts his hind legs in order to swipe his tail at the Loboan, which simultaneously launches many ice shots at it. Naturally, Blitzwolfer anticipated that this attack would be repeated, so he utilized his sonic howls to deflect it away from himself and towards Boreas.

The wolf god did not try to sidestep it; rather, he ran straight up and slashed it down before continuing on to direct his lethal claw slashes at Blitzwolfer, which caused the latter to sustain injuries. However, the Loboan was determined, and he fought back against Boreas by using his own claws to slice at him. After exchanging blows several times, the two combatants ducked out of the way of each other in order to get some distance between them.

"I'll give you credit, outsider. You aren't someone who can easily be pushed around." Boreas made a remark about how the fight that Blitzwolfer was putting up was a little bit impressive to him.

"I was never one to give in easily. The problem is that most people don't realize how awesome I really am." Even though the Loboan was putting on a confident front, he knew in his mind that this form would not be sufficient to defeat this god.

"Be glad, for you have merited the privilege of seeing my transformation." He was convinced that his base form would be more than enough to take on Blitzwolfer; yet, he decided to exhibit more of his strength against the Loboan in order to let him know how hopeless his predicament is.

Boreas let out a deafening roar; the air all around him turned a bluish-green color, and he himself started to glow in that color as well. The margins of the arena began to be pelted with ice pillars that froze to the ground, effectively freezing the arena's surface.

Boreas let out another mighty roar, which triggered a quick burst of Anemo energy to erupt from him. This caused Blitzwolfer to be launched in the direction of one of the ice pillars, which exploded as soon as he made contact with it.

"Ow. What, he has an ultimate form or something?" After being knocked to the ground by the impact of the ice explosion, Blitzwolfer attempted to get up; however, he was suddenly struck by Boreas' devastating ice waves, which caused him to fall back down to the ground.

The Wolf of the North then hurled blitzing wind blades in the direction of Blitzwolfer, but he was able to roll out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by them. Following that, Boreas called forth some phantom wolves with the objective of gradually inflicting damage upon Blitzwolfer prior to charging in for the kill. The Loban was already annoyed, but the gimmicks in Boreas' new form infuriated him even more, so he rapidly let loose with additional green sonic howls to destroy the summons.

Boreas suddenly materialized in front of Blitzwolfer and began unleashing a barrage of devastating combos on the Loboan fighter. The attacks began with a series of fierce claw slashes, and they culminated in a crushing tail strike that sent Blitzwolfer flying across the arena and crashing heavily on the opposite side.

---

On another side of the arena, where not many attacks are happening because it is a semi-safe zone, were Amber and Razor, who moved to this area to not get caught in this brutal crossfire. Razor was paying close attention in what was going on in the fight, but Amber was becoming increasingly anxious since she did not like what she was seeing.

"We stay back. Master will kill outsider." This was uttered with hatred directed towards the Loboan by Razor, since he still believes Blitzwolfer to be the real outsider wolf responsible for destroying everything.

"But that wolf isn't an outsider! It's Ben trying to hold off Boreas, one of the Four Winds of Mondstadt! He may not even make it that far!" Amber was experiencing a state of panic, and she intended to enter the fray in order to assist Blitzwolfer. It made no difference to her if there was a strong likelihood that she would perish from trying to fight off a god. Her friend needs some support.

"Ben isn't here. Outside wolf must have killed him. If we kill wolf we get revenge." Razor voiced his regret that he was unable to help Ben in time during the unexpected onslaught that Boreas launched against all of them.

"Because Ben is the wolf!" Amber yelled at Razor in the hopes that she could get him to reconsider his position over the matter.

"Don't understand?" Now Razor was all of a sudden perplexed, and he cocked his head in the direction of Amber's revelation.

"Look, he has a special vision where, instead of harnessing an element, he can transform into different creatures with different powers. Right now, we need to intervene between Ben and Boreas before one of them causes serious physical harm to the other." While at the same time ensuring the confidentiality of the Omnitrix, Amber did her best to explain Ben's abilities to Razor.

"Are we sure he is real good?" Razor showed some degree of belief in what Amber had to say, but at the same time, he appeared to be rather suspicious.

"He's a good person! Where he's from, he's a great hero. When he first arrived in Mondstadt, the first thing he did was assist the knights in repelling an Abyss invasion. He helps me when I go around to do missions. He even went out of his way to help and become friends with people he didn't know, like what he did with Klee. And don't forget how he defended you by clearing your wolf pack's name by finding the real culprits of the incident, which were the Rifthounds." After saying the last word of her long speech about all of Ben's admirable characteristics, Amber needed a moment to catch her breath because she had gone on for so long.

"Ben is friend with Klee?" In light of all the statements that were made, Razor was taken aback when he heard the name of his Spark Knight friend.

"You know Klee?" Amber was similarly taken aback when she learned that Razor had recognized Klee. On the other hand, Klee has a habit of sneaking off on daring expeditions, so it is not completely out of the question that she makes acquaintances from the outside.

"Klee is good friend. If good friend to Klee gets hurt, Klee will be sad. And if she is sad, I am also sad." As soon as Razor had a complete understanding of the situation, he quickly grabbed his claymore and ran toward the conflict to put a stop to it.

---

"This guy's tough. He really lives up to being a god. That means I need to step up my game also." Blitzwolfer was reluctant to acknowledge it, but he knew that if he didn't make some adjustments, he was going to come out on the losing end of this battle. He should have expected much when fighting a god. The Loboan plans to take things a little more seriously before quickly morphing into one of his powerful aliens and turning the tide of the fight in his favor.

It appeared as though Blitzwolfer's plan was about to be carried out as Boreas began to charge forward quickly toward him, and the Loboan prepared to slap his Omnitrix to quick change. But before any of them could meet and fight head-on again, Razor abruptly jumped in the center of them. This caused Boreas to power down so that he wouldn't brutally kill him, and it caused Blitzwolfer to cease changing into a new alien.

"Please! Calm! Please. Calm down." Another attempt at calming Boreas down was made by Razor when he raised his claymore in front of him.

"Razor! He is part of the outside wolf pack coming in and breaking the rules. He will reap what he has sown." Boreas's anger was fueled by his confusion regarding the motivations behind Razor's attempt to defend the outsider who was causing issues for the entire group.

"He is not bad! He is friend." Razor wasted no time in providing Boreas with an explanation of everything, with the expectation that the latter would comprehend it all right away and put an end to their pointless fight.

"Friend?" The scowl remained on Boreas' face as he continued to be confused by the situation. Suddenly, everyone heard a loud beeping noise that emanated from Blitzwolfer, and then a green light flashed, and in his place stood Ben.

"Yeah, friend! I already told you dude, I'm not part of those rag tag of losers." Ben huffed and ranted angrily in the direction of the wolf god's massive head. Even though Razor had already learned about Ben's change from Amber, he was nonetheless taken aback when he saw it for himself in person.

"A shapeshifter?" Boreas was only moderately taken aback because this wasn't the first time he'd faced off against a shapeshifter. It is highly conceivable that he engaged in combat with one during the past wars.

"Your true enemies are Rifthounds. Ben explained to me and Razor earlier about how he fought a pack of them." Amber quickly approached the group and offered the Concealed Claw to Boreas in front of them all. When he finally saw it, the dominator of wolves realized he had made a grave miscalculation in his assessment of the situation.

"Then you have my apologies. I attacked you without any reason. However, if you are indeed a shapeshifter, why did you transform into a wolf where you could be easily mistaken for the true enemy?" Boreas had, at long last, regained his composure after becoming aware of all the misunderstandings. After becoming interested, the god questioned Ben on the reason he had chosen to take on that form.

"See, sometimes my powers give the wrong transformation, and I just have to make do with what I've got." To tell you the truth, when Ben saw how quick and powerful Boreas is, he really wanted to dial in Four Arms. But sadly, it was inevitable that the Omnitrix would provide him with the incorrect alien once more.

"Still. It is surprise. You are special." Razor remarked that he was impressed by Ben's wolf form due to the fact that it could talk and had a strong sonic howl.

"This is something I am concerned about. The Rifthounds' arrival in Mondstadt begs the question: how did they get there? They should have been pushed to the brink of extinction already. I need to do some more research into this." Boreas was on the verge of turning around and starting his investigation as soon as possible.

"I'll come to help." Razor had run up in front of him and was anxious to participate in whatever was going on.

"No. The situation is too delicate for you to get involved, Razor. This is for the wolves to settle between themselves." Boreas declined Razor's insistence that he assist in this matter.

"Why?!" Razor had no intention of taking a passive role in the conflict and was puzzled as to the motivation behind Boreas' actions.

"You fight not with claws, but with the sword. You strike not with teeth, but with lightning... You are human, Razor." Boreas was obligated to bring Razor face-to-face with the brutal realities of his true identity.

"Impossible! I am not like them! I don't belong." Razor was in denial and refused to acknowledge the fact that he was not a genuine wolf.

"Psst, Ben! Maybe you can try and scan Razor to see if really is human." Amber leaned over to Ben in order to whisper an idea that she had.

"Razor stand still—there is a way to confirm you are human. Omnitrix, activate scan mode, Code 10." Razor had no idea what Ben's plans were, so he did what the hero instructed him to do and merely blindly followed Ben's orders. Without warning, Razor was blinded by a bright yellow light.

"Error. DNA cannot be scanned due to its similarity to the user's DNA." The artificial voice of the Omnitrix spoke out loud before gradually becoming less audible as the core of the device contracted.

"What. Is. That. Yellow. Light?" As a sign of his displeasure with the recent events, Razor aimed his claymore at the Omnitrix.

"Basically, I can scan different forms of life to add them to my library of potential transformations. It is unable to scan any DNA that is human-like and is similar to mine. Razor, I'm sorry to break it to you, but that demonstration shows you're not a wolf." Ben filled Razor in on the whole story. The Lupical was going to deny it once more, but then he realized that yellow light contains a wolf form, and if it doesn't accept him as a wolf, then perhaps he isn't one. However, this resulted in Razor experiencing an even more miserable feeling.

"I'm curious about you, shapeshifter. Make an effort to scan me." Boreas informed Ben that he needed to scan him in order to determine whether or not a hypothesis he was working on was accurate.

"As a matter of fact, I was planning on doing just that. Omnitrix, activate scan mode, Code 10." Ben gave the Omnitrix permission to scan the deity with great enthusiasm since he knew that the addition of Boreas' species to the Omnitrix would be very beneficial to him.

"Error. Unable to find any trace of uncatalogued DNA." Unfortunately, once the yellow light had done scanning the deity, it reported the identical results that it had previously gotten from scanning Razor.

"Huh?!" Ben was flabbergasted because he anticipated that his Omnitrix would go through an additional transformation rather than reject the DNA.

"As I had guessed when I heard it trying to scan Razor's DNA. You can't scan mine since this is a spiritual form, and I abandoned my physical form a long time ago." Boreas provided some insight into the reasons why it was unsuccessful.

"Aw. Transforming into you would have been awesome." Ben sat there with a frown on his face as he realized that he would not be able to add another formidable alien to his ever-expanding list of transformations.

"Don't be so down, Ben. I'm sure you still have a lot of cool forms at your disposal." Amber comforted Ben by patting him on the back and remarked that his aliens were up to the mark.

"As that contraption stated, you are no wolf, Razor. This is a matter for the wolves, and the wolves alone. And you, my friend, are Razor's lupical among humans. When compared to others of your kind, your noble qualities stand out. I invite you to train with me whenever you like. Putting an end to this impasse between us is something I'm looking forward to, shapeshifter." The hero was issued an invitation by Boreas to come back to this place whenever he felt the need to do so.

"Ring me anytime and I can go for a whole match." Ben took up the invitation with great enthusiasm. If there is ever a second bout between them, he will transform into Atomix and do the exact opposite of what happened today.

"I have nothing further to say. May we meet again, Razor, and company..." After that, Boreas faded away from the arena to conduct an investigation and locate the Rifthounds that had invaded so that he could eliminate them.

---

After Boreas had left, it was just Razor, Ben, and Amber standing in the center of the arena, pondering their next course of action. But getting back to Razor, after hearing the harsh reality check, he was feeling more down than he ever had before, which caused Ben and Amber to be concerned about him.

"Hey... Razor, what's that look for? Why don't you come to the city for a few days? Your friend Klee is in Mondstadt." Amber tried all in her power to make her new buddy feel better, and she even presented a compelling offer.

"So Klee is Burny Girl! And I agree with Amber. You're not safe in the wild anymore. But I know that you don't wanna hurt them." Ben, too, contributed to the effort to comfort Razor and make him feel better by joining in on the activity.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. But I'm not city human... But also not wolf... While you can be wolf." Razor may have tried his best to put on a brave face, but the others are able to see through his act since they are aware that it is simply a mask to disguise his insecurities. Now, Ben wishes that he hadn't changed into Bliztwolfer, because that was one of the things that drove Razor's spirits to such a low point.

"Razor…" Amber uttered these words in a sad tone as she sadly gazed at Razor after coming to the conclusion that they had not been successful in boosting his spirits.

"It's not that bad to be a human. Despite all my transformations, I always choose to stay in my human form most of the time since that's how I like it. Amber's cool also, and I've bet you've met other cool humans in the past." Ben made one more effort in an effort to succeed in raising Razor's spirits. After giving it further consideration, the Lupical came to the conclusion that the bearer of the Omnitrix might be correct. All of his new friends from today are wonderful people. If he thinks back any farther in time, he realizes that the tall man, who is the very first human being he has ever come into contact with, was the one who taught him human language as well as other fundamental things.

"Thank you. Ben and... Other red girl." Razor shook off everything that had happened and made an effort to smile sincerely at two of his new found friends. That was all that was needed for Ben and Amber to return his smile.

"Hey?! We've been with you all this time, and you still don't even know my name?!" Amber was slightly annoyed that Razor still didn't know her name despite Ben having clearly spoken it out loud before.

"Yeah, her name is Ambunny." Ben thought it would be funny to make a joke about this situation, so he intentionally misinterpreted Amber's name. The Outrider stared at the hero with a mix of disbelief and a "don't you dare" expression on her face.

"Sorry. Thank you. Ben and Ambunny. Goodbye." Razor considered this exchange to be humorous, and he let out a small laugh before waving goodbye to Ben and Amber. The hero gave a confident wave in return, while the outrider also waved back and gave Ben the stink eye for making that joke.

---

With the investigations coming to a close and knowing who the true suspects are, Ben and Amber decided it would be a good time to head back to Mondstadt. After the sun has set, the two are now illuminated by the light coming from the night sky. On the other hand, it seems as though Ben is continuing the joke he started earlier about how he botched Amber's name by the time they are talking about it now.

"Are you serious, Ambunny?! You couldn't have told him my real name!" Because Amber had not yet moved on from the situation, she was acting glum and pouting.

"But it was funny. One day, I'm sure he'll figure out your real name. Though, knowing Razor, he'll definitely keep calling you that." Ben quietly snickered to himself as he envisioned all of the occasions on which Razor would come across Amber and refer to her as Ambunny.

Amber was planning her retaliation against Ben and considering her options. When the Outrider thought back to the hero's conversation with her when they had first met, a light bulb went off in her head as she recalled some of the fascinating details he shared with her. She turned her attention to Ben while wearing a sly grin on her face. "Fine. When people ask me your name, I'll tell them you're Kirby, Benjamin."

"You wouldn't dare." Ben gave an appalled expression to Amber, as if he deeply regretted revealing his entire government name to her.

"It will be really funny." Amber repeated word for word what Ben had just stated to her earlier. A brief staredown ensued between the two parties before it was finally broken when they chuckled at each other's jokes.

"I never knew you had a teasing side, Amber." After he had finished laughing, Ben had no choice but to confess that he enjoyed their lighthearted banter.

"There are moments when you just have to let loose and laugh with your friends. And you know you were cool back there. Few people can claim to have held their own against one of Mondstadt's Four Winds." Amber shared Ben's sentiment that this was a fun and humorous exchange between the two of them. They were both taken aback when, out of the blue, they were exposed to the deafening noise of an explosion. When they went to investigate, they saw what appeared to be an ongoing battle at the front gates of Mondstadt.

"I take it there is no annual explosion festival in Mondstadt." Ben couldn't help but get the impression that this is very much like how he initially arrived in Teyvat.

"No. No, we don't." Amber reached into her pockets and pulled out her binoculars in order to have a better look at what was going on. But her eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight of a colossal flaming phoenix flying directly toward them.

"Get down!" Amber immediately ran and tackled herself and Ben to the ground to narrowly avoid getting charred by the phoenix. After the tackle, Ben and Amber found themselves in a strange situation, though. Both the Omnitrix wielder and the Outrider were on the ground, the latter on top of the former. The two of them blushed as they glanced at one another, recognizing that their faces were barely an inch apart.

Both of them jumped to their feet at the same time to clear the air and prevent any misunderstandings from occurring. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence between them, Ben finally broke the ice by starting a conversation. "I-I guess you returned the favor when I saved you awhile ago."

"Y-yeah." Amber was a crimson mess and just meekly agreed with it despite her blushing. Then there was a second explosion, which threw them off balance and caused them to lose their train of thought.

"We should probably see what's going on down there at the front gates." Ben directed Amber's attention to where the conflict was escalating.

"Y-yeah. Let's do that." In order to spare themselves any further embarrassment, Amber simply readied her bow and went to join the battle that was already in progress. Meanwhile, Ben slammed the Omnitrix core as a green glow surrounded him.

---

An entire horde of Hilichurls was rushing forward at a breakneck pace, armed to the teeth with shields and clubs, and getting ready to engage in combat with a target that had been given to them. However, despite the fact that the odds were stacked against him, this man did not show any sign of fear as he slowly walked and readied his enormous claymore, known as The Wolf's Gravestone, for combat.

The man gave off an impression of being quite tall and lean, with very fair complexion. Not only that, but his ponytail hair and eyes are a vivid shade of red. A long white vest, a black acolyte, and a red jewel adorn his black dress shirt. Over this, he dons a dark brown coat. His Vision is clipped to his belt, and he wears a pair of black pants with chains on the right thigh.

This nobleman right here is Diluc, the wealthiest person in all of Mondstadt and the owner of the Dawn Winery. Diluc was a former member of the Knights of Favoious, but he decided to leave the faction as a result of an occurrence in the past that has left him feeling resentful toward his former allies. He still, of course, continues to protect Mondstadt in his own ways by becoming a vigilante and having people dub him the "Darknight Hero."

In an attempt to launch an aerial assault, three Hilichurls leaped to great heights, but Diluc easily dispatched them with a mighty blow from his claymore. In a change of strategy, the Hilichurls chose to attack Diluc one by one in an effort to wear him down as more of them came at him. The Darknight Hero was unfazed by this tactic as he proceeded to infuse his claymore with pyro and proceeded to slash each and every one of his opponents with repeated searing onslaughts.

When they realized they needed more reinforcements, two Cryo Mages arrived to try to slow down the blazing streak of Diluc. However, the Darknight Hero didn't care and instead used brute force to push his way towards the remaining Hilichurls to take out all the small fry first. The Cryo Mages moved in front of Diluc once more in an attempt to impale him with spikey ice constructions. However, this plan failed once more when the Darknight Hero swung his claymore forward, causing a massive fiery phoenix to fly at the mages and bring them down.

The Darknight Hero was suddenly surrounded by a greater number of HIlichurls and Mages as they began to materialize on the battlefield. However, he was not alone as his sidekick Lumine leapt into the air and dealt a plunging strike with her blade to many Hilichurls.

After getting to her feet, Lumine immediately continued her onslaught, effortlessly eliminating all of the Hilichurls with graceful sword strikes. In addition, the Traveler was able to use her vision to conjure a wind vortex, which she used to scavenge any surviving Hilichurls and then eliminate them.

When nothing but the two Cryo mages are left, Lumine sends a massive tornado in their direction. As it approached, the tornado sucked in the flaming shields that were left behind following Diluc's strike, which caused it to be infused with pyro. Because of the lethal combination, the shield of the Cryo mages was unable to defend itself and cracked upon collision. This occurred just in time for all of the mages to be swept into the tornado.

After the combat was over, Paimon was about to congratulate Lumine and Diluc on a job well done when suddenly more Hilichurls appeared, ready to fight another round. Accompanying them were three mages, one with the element of Pyro, one with the element of Cryo, and one with the element of Hydro.

"Geez. This feels like overkill to go after just one person." Paimon voiced her complaints aloud as she floated on the sidelines and watched Lumine and Diluc fight off the last wave of the enemy force.

"It makes you wonder if they also planned to attack another person during this assault." Lumine used her Anemo powers to blow away more of the Hilichurls, and while she was doing so, she theorized that this attack could have also been designed for a specific someone, and she had a hunch about who that someone might be.

"Absolutely none of this makes a difference. It's only Hilichurls, nothing more. As long as we take care of them quickly, we should be able to return to the tavern before Huffman shows up." Diluc proceeded to slice away at all of the additional troops that the Hilichurls had brought in.

Once more, one of the Hilichurls leaped into the air in an attempt to bring the Darknight Hero to the ground. Diluc was getting ready to slash it away when all of a sudden, a Pyro arrow struck it directly in the head, stunning it. When Diluc turned around, he saw that the one who had launched this attack was Amber, who had at long last made it to the battleground.

"Amber?" Paimon was aware that now was not the best moment for their friend to show up because it could make it more difficult to conceal Diluc's identity.

"Tsk. This could get complicated." The Darknight Hero had the same thoughts and expressed them with a click of his tongue. Almost instantly, he started coming up with a strategy in his thoughts to figure out how he could make this situation work in his favor.

"Are you here alone, or is Ben with you?" Lumine was perplexed and questioned the whereabouts of her alien friend during the assault. She became aware that one of the Hilichurls was getting ready to launch a surprise assault on the Outrider.

Lumine was getting ready to go in and try to stop this from happening, but someone beat her to it with an electric-powered fist that knocked the Hilichurl away before she could get there.

Someone with the physique of a Sasquatch but with yellow and black fur and grey fingers and toes landed the knockout punch. His wrists have two bolts and four fingers. His horns are yellow and formed like a lightning bolt, and his eyes are green with black pupils. Finally, he has a green and white belt with the Omnitrix insignia on it.

This alien is known as Shocksquatch, and he is a Gimlinopithecus DNA sample stored in the Omnitrix. He was first used by Ben when he was accidentally sent to Generator Rex's world to help him fight Alpha. Shocksquatch was named as one of the aliens that Ben encountered who have the ability to manipulate electricity and release it from his body. In addition to it, he possesses some measure of strength, speed, agility, and durability.

"Well, duh, I'd be missing out if I didn't show there! Without Shocksquatch, the celebration isn't complete, eh." This was proclaimed out loud by the Gimlinopithecus with a Canadian accent just before he was struck in the back by a fireball. As soon as he turned around, he saw that it was the only surviving Pyro Mage, who was accompanied by his comrades, the Cryo and Hyrdo Mages.

"Hahaha! If it isn't the same shapeshifter. We knew you'd come here with the Darknight Hero. The Abyss has taken an interest in you; you're a nuisance who's thwarted our goals in the past, so now we've been sent to wipe you and him off the face of the earth." As the Cryo Mage began to conjure some ice structures in front of Shocksquatch, he boasted about his superiority to the alien.

"To be the one to put your plans in the toilet is an honor for me." Shocksquatch was unaffected by the danger, and in fact, he smiled when he found out that they had been unsuccessful in their goals because of him.

"Our army may have fallen, but do you even have the slightest chance of beating all three of us? As a group, we're an elemental trio with devastating attacking powers and protection against each other's weaknesses. Hahaha!" The entire group of mages raced forward, ready to kill the Gimlinopithecus with the deadly combo they had crafted.

"And yet, are you prepared for the shocking revelation, eh?" Shocksquatch let out a thunderous roar as he unleashed tremendous bolts of electricity from his body in the direction of the mages. Their shields were shattered when the tremendous bolts impacted with them, and despite their best efforts to protect themselves, they were eventually unable to withstand the onslaught of lightning and were penetrated. The strike shocked every wizard and blasted them away from the gates in a direction far away from the city.

"Woah. Electricyeti sure packs a punch." The power that Shocksquatch possessed stunned Paimon, and it was only natural for her to give him a fitting nickname in response.

"So who's your friend? Is he the brooding member of the Knights of Favonius?" The timer on the Omnitrix ran out, and Shocksquatch transformed back into Ben. Walking up to Diluc, the hero expressed interest in learning more about him.

"Don't ever put me in the same category as them. For convenience, you can call me Diluc, and I'm assuming you're the mysterious shapeshifter everyone has been talking about." In contrast to the majority of others, Diluc's reaction to Ben's aliens was one of momentary bewilderment followed by a return to his usual stern demeanor.

"Yeah, the alien hero of Mondstadt!" Ben gave a confident gesture in the direction of himself, and Diluc's expression remained unaltered in response to the announcement of his title.

"What are you doing here, Master Diluc? Have you rejoined the Knights?" Amber asked Diluc this because she was surprised by the fact that he had returned to the battlefield.

"I have already told you I will never return to their ranks, and I don't have time to chit-chat about what's happening. Follow me back to the tavern, and I'll explain everything." Immediately after giving an answer, Diluc dashed back to Angel's Share.

"Is he always like that?" Ben cocked his head to the side to gaze at Lumine since he was unsure what to make of Diluc's gloomy mood.

"Not really. Once you get to know him, he's a pretty nice guy." Lumine shrugged, and then everyone else did what Diluc had asked.

---

Angel's Share is a tavern established and funded by the long-standing Dawn Winery. You may get all of the beverages and some food items, just as you would at any other conventional tavern, which is what you would anticipate from such a place. The party of five was successful in making it back to the tavern in time, and upon their arrival, two specific individuals were waiting to hear some answers from Master Diluc.

"It appears that Huffman is still missing. We were able to make it in time." Diluc came back to the bar in order to go behind the bartender station and clean some glasses.

"Ok, "Mr. Darknight Hero." Just what is it that you're keeping under wraps, like a masked vigilante watching the streets below from a rooftop? And why do you dislike knights so much?" Ben took a seat on one of the wooden stools and waited patiently for the answers while resting one of his palms on the surface of the table.

"The knights and I have different views. Ask your friend Amber for more information if you're curious. After all, you heard everything behind a cupboard, didn't you?" Diluc looked at Amber, who was obviously caught off guard by this discovery.

"Y-you noticed my hiding spot?" Amber wasn't sure how she should react to the news that Diluc knew she had listened in on the previous talk while she was eavesdropping; she should either be astonished or afraid.

Pop-Up Trivia: The events that Diluc mentioned may be found in Chapter 8: Final Clue (Part 1) of the official Genshin Impact Manga.

"Please, only an amateur would choose a cliché hiding spot for a game of hide and seek. I'll be honest: Amber, you, Jean, and Lisa are the only members I could respect and tolerate. You all work hard to help people rather than for personal gain. Jean knows of my covert endeavors, but she understands and supports my need for confidentiality. I have faith that you will follow suit." In order to prevent Amber from divulging his secret to the knights, Diluc devised a convenient white lie implicating Jean in the previous line of dialogue. He then turned to gaze at Lumine and gave the signal to continue lying about the situation.

"This is correct. During the Stormterror incident, Master Diluc was one of the people who assisted Jean and I in putting a stop to it." Lumine then added her two cents by disclosing who else was there to help her and Jean during that ordeal.

"Ok." Amber did nothing more than give a slight nod when she was told that the other knights were not to be notified about the operations that Diluc was conducting and that these matters were to be kept a secret at all costs.

"Now with you, "Alien Hero of Mondstadt." From one person wanting to keep a secret to another, can you also not tell the knights about my secret identity?" Diluc turned to Ben, expecting that he would also comprehend the requirement to maintain the confidentiality of the information.

"I don't really mind if people knew who I was, but I know how annoying the paparazzi are. So yeah, sure, dude, I'll keep it a secret." Ben was aware of what Diluc desired, and in response to his worries, he just waved them away.

When the front door of the tavern suddenly burst open, Huffman, who had just finished defending the other gate of Mondstadt from the attack that occurred there, could be seen standing there looking exhausted. "*panting* ... Everything has been taken care of at this point. To think that the Abyss Order's army would consist of nothing but slimes was beyond my wildest imagination."

"What a surprising turn of events. Maybe the Knights should just follow their hearts and become professional slime exterminators. Who knows, domestic pest control may turn out to be a more valuable use of your resources." Diluc did not hold back his taunts and continued to hurl them at the knights as he normally would.

"Master Diluc, please, have you no respect at all..." Huffman let out a sigh, showing his displeasure at Diluc's unending stream of critical remarks regarding the knights.

"Master Diluc, I understand that you have little regard for the knights, but there is no need to disparage my colleagues." Even though Amber promised to keep the information a secret, that does not mean that she will just sit back and watch while her fellow knights are treated disrespectfully.

"Oh! Outrider Amber, I wasn't expecting you to be here." Huffman was surprised because he couldn't remember seeing the Outrider in the tavern before.

"Don't worry about it, Huffman. While I'm taking a break, all I want to do is sip some of this place's world-famous grape juice." Amber worked hard to conceive up the most plausible deception she could come up with.

"By the way, did Master Diluc stay and not depart the building?" Huffman viewed this as a perfect opportunity to question Amber, and he did so.

"He was here the whole time, of course! If there weren't any available bartenders, I would have left." The Outrider attempted to hide her deceit with an uneasy smile, hoping that he would take her words at face value.

Still not convinced, Huffman reasoned that Amber must have arrived at this location only a few minutes before he did because he had just returned. When he noticed that Lumine was sweating for no apparent cause, his suspicions grew even stronger. "Hmm. Lumine, how come you're sweating so much? You didn't leave, did you?"

"Nah. She just ate a lot and needed to do some squats in the tavern to burn off some of that fat, you know." Before Lumine can come up with an excuse, Ben chimes in first by giving his lie while patting his stomach. However, Lumine didn't like the lie Ben came up with, and she looked slightly offended.

"What he said." Given the subdued manner in which Lumine expressed her opinion, it would appear that Ben can expect some quarrels from her.

"Is that so, Mr. Tennyson? But why now of all times, for the love of Barbatos..." Huffman still had a strong feeling that Diluc was the Darknight Hero, and he was racking his brain for other lines of evidence to support this theory.

"Uh-oh, Huffman is getting suspicious!" When Paimon saw that Huffman wasn't buying any of their excuses, she began to have a heightened sense of worry.

"Pardon me, please. If I may venture such a question. Have you seen today's bartender, Master Diluc, er, Master Diluc... Did you see him leave just now?" As a last ditch effort, Huffman decided to inquire with one of the customers who had been an eyewitness.

"Yikes! He's asking other customers!" Due to the fact that they had not planned for this contingency, Paimon's level of anxiety increased significantly.

"We're done for!" Amber placed her hands on her head, and Ben was trying to remember if there was an alien that could help them in this situation.

"Master Diluc? Why no, he's been behind the bar this entire time." The response from the consumer did not go in the direction that anyone had anticipated, with the exception of Diluc, who was not surprised.

"I see…" Huffman seems disheartened upon learning that his suspicion was incorrect.

"Your Dandelion Wine, Mr. Huffman. When this is over, you need to return. Share my best regards with the rest of the Knights." Diluc presented the knight with the glass of wine that he had previously requested to drink.

"Oh... Never mind, I must be going, I should report back. Here, take this as a token of my esteem. Hmm... How odd..." As Huffman left the bar, he knew he needed additional information and a new lead in order to identify the Darknight Hero.

The group of comrades let out a sigh of relief as they realized that their performance had been successful and that they had successfully managed to conceal Diluc's identity. There was harmony in the air until Lumine smacked Ben on the noggin. "Ow! Why would you do that!"

"For saying I'm fat! You're really insensitive you know that, Ben." As a sign that she hadn't forgotten about the comment Ben had made earlier, Lumine shot Ben a friendly glare.

"I just came up with the best possible excuse on the spot!" Ben struck back by providing an explanation for why he chose to make that particular statement.

"Couldn't you have said something different, like that it was really hot in here?" Lumine explained to Ben in a relaxed manner the alternative justification he could have provided, and the hero did nothing more than close his lips after understanding that she was partially correct.

"But that was too close! Paimon was positive that we were doomed..." Paimon wiped the sweat from her brow with the corner of her sleeve. It was really nail-biting for her to see how close Huffman was to figuring everything out.

"Do you have a clone that stays here when you're out for your hero duties or a trusty butler that dresses up as you here?" Ben was unable to hold back the desire to talk about some of his strange theories.

"Nothing like that. I had anticipated this outcome... Other than the four of you, all of the guests here tonight are employees of my Dawn Winery." Diluc informed everyone else about his other contingency plans in case this doesn't work out.

"Sheesh, you have a winery too? You're really fitting the "gloomy rich boy" hero trope." Ben made a cross with his arms and looked at Diluc's positions, which left him feeling a little bit impressed.

"It's safe to assume everyone here is on board with the plan now." Lumine thought this to be the case as she took a look about at the other patrons.

"Certainly not everyone... Or perhaps I should rephrase it and say that not all of us." After hearing a voice that was instantly recognizable make its presence known, everyone raised their heads to see Cavalry Captain Kaeya approaching towards them.

"Kaeya?! Where did you come from?" Paimon was gobsmacked and quickly recognized that they had been caught. Everyone else reacted in the same way, including Diluc, who was caught off guard by the turn of events.

"I found a comfortable seat and settled in to watch the show in silence." Kaeya indicated the discreet seat that he had chosen to occupy so that he would not attract anyone's attention.

"For some reason, I'm not surprised by the fact that you spend much of your leisure time here." Amber stood there with a blank expression on her face as she looked at her captain. She knew he would be drinking alcohol someplace, so she wasn't surprised to see him in that state. When Kaeya saw the Outrider, he couldn't help but crack a little smile.

"Simply put, Amber, the wine served here is superb. Now "The Darknight Hero's Alibi"... Personally, I think this is the best chapter so far. Certainly more fascinating than the finest wine." Kaeya smiled and switched his attention to Diluc, curious to see the reaction the latter would have now that he was aware of the Darknight Hero's greatest secret.

"Hmph... So? You plan to report everything to the Knights of Favonius?" Despite the fact that Diluc was irritated, he made it clear to Kaeya that he did not respect or fear him in the event that he divulged the secret.

"Haha... Come now Diluc, you know me better than that. Disclosing secrets is not something I care to do. Just wanted to see how far Mondstadt's Darknight Hero could go. As expected, you came through admirably." Kaeya resumed his efforts to agitate Diluc to an even greater degree.

"I don't need to prove myself to you." Diluc gave his retort in his usual extreme manner.

"Oh, naturally." Even though Kaeya tried to keep his smile on, it was clear that he was forcing it rather than using his charming smile.

"Do these two have history with each other?" The situation made Ben feel like he was witnessing a real-life episode of a soap opera, so he whispered to Amber.

"I think so… Jean and Lisa filled me in on some of the details at one point, but they were always quite hazy. Still, it's really weird to see Captain Kaeya this serious." The Outrider had no choice but to acknowledge to herself that she wished Kaeya would approach mission briefings with the same level of seriousness all the time.

"I must say, though, that one thing I didn't see coming is that the mighty Darknight Hero would actually need help from other people... even with a full-time Knight of Favonius." Kaeya glanced around for the four individuals in question; while Amber's name caught his ear, he was more interested in the news that Diluc had already met the alien shapeshifter so early in the season.

"Sorry, we're closing. Please see yourselves out." Diluc had had it with this discussion, and he was ready to kick Kaeya out of his tavern as soon as possible.

"Alright, alright... Whatever else happens tonight, I won't need any more wine to keep me entertained. Just one last thing before I go." As Kaeya stood up and started walking toward the entrance of the building, he whirled around to face Diluc for one final exchange.

"It had better be the very last thing." Diluc directed an even harsher gaze in Kaeya's direction to convey the notion that he ought to hurry up and get this over with.

"Strangely, Diluc, the presence of your new helpers provides me with a sense of comfort." That was the only thing that Kaeya had to say, and Diluc did nothing except maintain his silence. The Cavalry Captain then gave everyone a final wave as he left the premises. "I hope you all a wonderful night."

Everyone waited a few more seconds in case another shadowy person who had been following them decided to make their presence known at that moment. However, as time went on, they were eventually granted the opportunity to take a break now that the goal had been successfully accomplished. The question that had been on everyone's mind was eventually posed by Lumine, who was the first to do so. "Is there something going on between the both of you?"

"Just ignore him." Diluc brushed off the curiosity of everyone else right away since he simply wasn't in the mood to address their questions. Instead, he went behind the counter and grabbed two bottles each of the highest quality apple juice and grape juice. "Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated. This is a token of my gratitude."

"Woooow! Thanks Master Diluc!" Paimon soared through the air as she enthusiastically accepted the apple juice.

"Is this the world-famous grape juice you mentioned earlier, Amber?" Due to the fact that Ben enjoyed grapes so much, his eyes got a little bit brighter.

"It is. As far as beverages in Mondstadt go, I'd put this one right up there with the best of them! Though it's a bit expensive for me to buy it frequently." Amber was thankful for the gift since, despite the salary she receives from the knights, she is not sure that she would be able to fit something of this nature into her budget.

"I'm crossing my fingers that it tastes just like the grape juice smoothy I used to drink before the universe was remade." Ben kept his fingers crossed, wishing fervently that this might have a delightful flavor. Ever since that day, he has been filled with remorse over the fact that he was unable to duplicate Mr. Smoothy's signature flavor in its entirety.

"I'm in the habit of working alone, but I did enjoy having your assistance this time, along with finally meeting the shapeshifter of Mondstadt." Diluc smiled ever so little, but it was so subtle that no one else seemed to see it.

"Same to you too, dude." Despite his gloomy personality, Diluc was a good person in Ben's eyes.

"In the future, if there's anything you ever need, you can come to me for help." The Darknight Hero has returned to prepare for his regular responsibilities as a bartender, since he anticipates that a large number of people will arrive and need to get drunk on this fine evening.

---

The only things that could be seen shining over the lovely city of Mondstadt were the glittering moon and the sparkling stars. There was nothing happening that was particularly intriguing because the citizens had gone to bed for the night, and only a few knights were out and about patrolling the streets. On account of this, it was an ideal moment for the group of four close friends to be strolling through the neighborhoods that were illuminated by the glowing lampposts.

"This grape juice is amazing! I really need to suggest that Diluc blends these up into some sort of smoothie. I'm getting heavenly nostalgia. *Gulp-gulp*" Ben was going through the grape juice as if there was no tomorrow, savoring every mouthful of its exquisite flavor and coming very close to crying tears of joy.

"Don't rush it, Ben. This juice isn't exactly cheap, and it looks like you'll be the first person to ever get drunk from grape juice." Amber finds it fascinating to observe Ben's childlike wonder over drinking grape juice.

"So how did you find us in our fight with the invading Abyss members against Master Diluc? Were we that noisy?" While she was questioning Ben and Amber, Paimon took a few sips of the apple juice that she was drinking.

"Nah. Me and Amber were doing an investigation in Springvale and Wolvendom. We met a new friend and fought some wolves. Just a normal day for us." Ben took a little break from his drinking and then casually recounted the exciting day that they had both shared together in a condensed and concise manner.

"Yeah, that sounds really normal." Lumine sarcastically said, although she was intrigued that Ben fought a wolf god. She had considered paying him a visit, but ultimately decided that it would be more productive for her to look for the next Archon.

"How about you, guys? How did you meet Master Diluc and get roped into his activities?" Amber wanted to satisfy her natural inquisitiveness and learn more about Lumine and Paimon's day.

"Lumine and Paimon were supposed to start preparing to leave Mondstadt before we heard rumors about the Darknight Hero. We checked it out and had a big adventure working as sidekicks for Captain Pyro!" Paimon gave her explanation a bit more pizzazz by throwing in a few punches and kicks here and there. Ben and Amber probably thought it was funny, but the very first statement was the one that stuck in their minds the most.

"Wait. Both of you are going to leave Mondstadt?" Amber wished for some clarity regarding the veracity of what they had been told.

"Yes. Tomorrow, Paimon and I plan to leave Mondstadt and travel to the next nation in search of my brother." While a burst of wind blew across the group, Lumine shared her plans for the future.

---

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I decided to add some of the iconic Ben 10 Pop-Up Trivia's to this story, and I might keep them in the future. And of course, thank you for supporting this story; I really appreciate it.

AjBudang2005: It is within my plans for the future.

ExoticIdiot: Theoretically, yes, he can scan the Archons since it should fit the criteria of the Omnitrix.

StormKing138: As with the previous question, it should be possible. However, Ben may be stronger than them because the Omnitrix will always give him the most powerful version of any species to which it is introduced. The advantage the Archons would have over Ben is their long experience.

Legendary Destroyer Ice: Happy New Year to you too! I have no plans to bring them to Teyvat at this time. So far, the only way they'll show up is if I write a flashback or a point of view set in Ben's dimension.