AN: Wow, this story has been picking up plenty of steam. Guess I gotta pick up the slack then, haha.

Also upon proofreading my own story and text guide, I have realized that it needs some revisions. Aether's "Windblade" line was italicized despite it not being an item name (unless Windblade is the name of the attack, but I'm pretty sure it's Palm Vortex) so I will be revising it slightly. I'll update the rest of the chapters to reflect this as well.

Normal Text - Descriptions, Narration, and Character thoughts

"Quoted Text" - Character Dialogue

Bold Text - Emphasis, mostly used within dialogue.

Bold + Italicized - System UI

Italicized - Items names, both inside and outside System UI

"Internal Dialogue" (this'll make sense later)

Anyways, on with the story!

Chapter 3 - This Party System Makes No Sense

"Paimon doesn't exactly understand what exactly is going on with your ability, but Paimon thinks you should try to understand it more when you have time!"

"Yes, I will. Probably when we get to Mondstadt."

Speaking of which, he should probably start making his way there now, if his quest log was anything to go by.

Go to Mondstadt.

He had spent a full 20 minutes trying to explain to Paimon what happened to his new ability earlier, and he wasn't sure if either of them fully understood the scope of their conversation.

Getting up, he checked the position of the sun. Judging by its position it looked like it was early in the afternoon, so he grabbed a couple of Sunsettias from his Inventory, tossed one to Paimon (who was staring intently at the fruit) and ate the other while walking along the path.

Aether wasn't sure how long it was before his vision suddenly tilted upward (how do it do that?) and he saw what was obviously a big teal and white dragon. At least, he was pretty sure it was a dragon. Maybe the people of Teyvat called it something else. He'll have to ask Paimon.

"Paimon, was that a dragon that flew above us?

"Paimon isn't sure, but it was huge!"

Well, that was helpful.

Checking ahead, he noticed that his quest log had updated.

Forest Rendezvous

Advance to the heart of the forest

If it weren't for the big yellow diamond marking where exactly he had to go, he was pretty sure he would have been lost for the rest of day figuring out where exactly that was. Fortunately, that was not the case.

Unfortunately, he was distracted by something shiny that caught his eye. Approaching it, he was immediately greeted by his UI telling him exactly what it was .

Sweet Flower

Cool. He pocketed it into his inventory and moved on.

Or he would have. He passed by what looked like a makeshift camp, and there were a couple of…tribal creatures? They had a human-like build, but their faces were covered by masks with some decorative designs. Anyways, this was relevant because as soon as he passed by the camp…

"Ya!"

They immediately ran towards him and attacked him.

According to the UI, they were Lvl 3. Slightly stronger than the fire slimes from earlier, but with how easily he took them down these creatures should be no problem.

He blasted the first one with some anemo power, knocking it back. He then turned towards the second one approaching him and proceeded to also blast it to oblivion.

Or he would have, except when he tried to do so, nothing happened, and instead he was promptly bludgeoned in the face with a club. Ouch.

Jumping back, he resorted to summoning his Dull Blade (he still couldn't get over how dumb the name was) and slashing the offending creature to death.

"Huh, looks like there's a cooldown to using my powers."

Sure enough, on the bottom right of his vision was an icon of what was presumably his skill, and to the left of that was an icon of a tornado, halfway filled in teal green. That was probably the tornado he summoned earlier. He could also see the icon of a sword, his attack. Then there were two icons, one of a foot and an arrow to the right, presumably sprinting. The other was the icon of a person jumping, and an arrow pointing up to further emphasize that. Oh hey, looks like the cooldown was ov-

Aether did not get to complete that thought, as he was once more bludgeoned by the first creature he knocked back earlier. Cursing himself for getting lost in his thoughts, he blasted the creature again with anemo, this time concentrating to use the charged version of his skill and kill the sucker.

After that misadventure, he realized he was on fire and promptly stepped out of the fire he caused. Huh, how did the fire get so big?

Just as he was about to wonder how that happened, a sound brought him back to earth (or Teyvat, same difference) and the icon of a treasure chest popped up. Following it, he saw a treasure chest and opened it.

Common Chest

Raw Meat

Wanderer's Advice

Ooh, more food. He'll have to cook the meat though. As for what Wanderer's Advice was, guess he'll have to find out.

Surveying his surroundings in case a third creature decided to attack him, he instead found several broken barrels, probably hit during the melee from earlier.

Apple

So they were here too? Huh. Wonder if they also kept the doctor away in this world too.

There were also some random berries on the ground, so he picked those up before going his merry way.

"By the way, Paimon, are you there?"

Just as he said that, Paimon appeared from who-knows-where. Well, it's not like she could fight, so she may as well watch from above, where nothing could hit her.

"Yeah, Paimon saw you get hit a couple of times. Who stops fighting in the middle of combat? You were literally just standing there?"

"Ah, I was just checking something. It seems my anemo powers have a cooldown. Anyway, what were those creatures earlier?"

"Oh, those were hilichurls. Paimon is surprised that they were so close to the city, though."

Little did Aether know that Paimon just foreshadowed what a certain outrider in red would say. But that's a story for later this chapter.

Aether also realized that he probably did not come unscathed from getting hit by those…hilichurls from earlier. He noted the presence of (yet another) green bar at the bottom of his vision. It wasn't filled all the way, but it wasn't that low earlier. Probably his health bar. He should probably heal.

Oh yeah…how did he heal? He didn't have bandages or healing potions. He checked his inventory to see if he had any when he stumbled into the food category and realized something.

He checked the properties of the food, and lo and behold.

Apple

Crisp and fragrant. Delicious raw or made into wine.

Restores 300 HP.

Well, guess apples did keep the doctor away. Why go to the doctor when you can heal by eating? Grabbing the apple, he ate it and moved on (much to the dismay of Paimon, who also wanted to eat).

The yellow diamond marked on his map led him to a forested area. He spotted an apple tree and immediately ran up to it and jumped to grab the apples, having to literally scale the tree to get the one at the top. There was also a boar, but it ran away before he could catch it.

Wait, so he could heal by eating food. That probably included meat, seeing as he picked up the raw meat earlier. So what happened if he ran out of food and needed to eat…?

For some reason, he immediately thought of Paimon. Weird. She'd probably be the cause of him running out of food in the first place. Where did the food go, though?

Aether realized that he was going down a dangerous line of thought and immediately stopped thinking for now.

He finally reached the area indicated when he heard the dragon roar again.

He silently motioned for Paimon to hide, then put his back against a tree to silently peek on the scene.

Sure enough, the dragon was there, in all its blue and white glory. In front of the said dragon was someone in a ridiculously green outfit, with his (her?) arms stretched out, as if to comfort the dragon.

"It's alright now, I'm back."

Even when the figure spoke, he couldn't ascertain the green fellow's gender.

"Is he talking…to a dragon?"

Well hey, now he knew that they WERE called dragons. Thanks for confirming Paimon. Now what's going to happe- Wait, why is the teal-green part of his outfit glowing?

Panicking, he looked down and saw that yes, that part of his outfit was now pulsating.

At the same time, the dragon started freaking out and roared at the green figure, who, in turn, jumped back.

"Who's there?"

Despite swearing that the dragon made contact with him, the flying lizard eventually just flew away. The green figure somehow disappeared, dissolving into bright, anemo-colored light. Meanwhile, Paimon and Aether were trying to not fly off into the distance and somehow succeeded.

"That was very close! Paimon nearly got blown away! Good thing Paimon was able to hold onto your hair!"

And good thing he decided to keep the braid his sister used to do for him…man he really needs to find her soon. Hopefully the quests led him to her. The game wasn't going to make him go on a massive goose chase to get to her…right?

Much time later, while Aether confronted a certain unknown goddess, he would curse himself for thinking it wouldn't take long.

But back to now.

"Is it normal for people to talk to dragons here?"

"Yeah, Paimon gets why you're confused. Maybe that green weirdo had something to do with it."

Well, in any case, his gaze was immediately drawn to the shiny red thing that was now floating where the dragon once was. Paimon also saw it. Well, he'd picked up many shiny things so far, and all of them have been useful. Surely this wouldn't be any different?

Forest Rendezvous

Investigate what Paimon has found

See? Even his UI agreed. (While he had accepted that he was in the game, a small part of him was still afraid to speak it out loud, but at least he could keep it to his thoughts.)

Approaching the shiny thing, his UI helpful told him what it was.

Crimson Crystal

Yes, it was crimson. Not red or maroon. Good to know.

"Paimon has never seen that crystal before, but Paimon thinks it looks dangerous. Best we put it away for now."

Right. He casually grabbed it and put it into his inventory. Easy.

Forest Rendezvous

Quest Completed

Hooray. What's next?

New Quest

Wind-riding Knight

Keep heading towards Mondstadt

Well that should be easy. All he had to do was keep walking towards Mondstadt and absolutely nothing would interrupt him. This is what Aether told himself as he made his way along the path.

Of course, that did not happen. He walked like 5 steps when he heard a girlish voice.

"Hey you, stop right there!"

A girl in a red outfit came into view, leaping from a nearby hill and doing a tuck-and-roll upon hitting the ground.

Upon further inspection, the girl's outfit had brown and white accents, thigh-high white socks, and was that a bunny ear ribbon?

"May the Anemo God protect you, stranger!"

I mean, he did receive Anemo powers from him, so he was pretty sure he was good in that department.

"I am Amber, Outrider of the Knights of Favonius!"

She said this while doing some kind of pose which Aether could not identify. Was that a knightly pose or was she just pretending to be a knight?

"You don't look like citizens of Mondstadt. Explain yourselves!"

Well, hey, at least she got straight to the point.

"We're not looking for trouble!'

Dammit Paimon, that was the most suspicious thing you could say! Aether had to resist the urge to facepalm then and there.

"That's what all the troublemakers say."

And of course, Amber agreed with his sentiment. Next time they encountered new people, he was doing the introducing.

"Hello, Amber. I'm Aether."

"Doesn't sound like a local name to me. And this…mascot, what's the deal with it?"

Mascot, huh? Well, Paimon made him look suspicious. May as well, if only to serve as a reminder to not make them look suspicious..

"Paimon's emergency food."

"Hey! That's even worse than being emergency food!"

Amber was somehow completely straight-faced at this. Huh, maybe she was a knight. Aether decided to explain everything then and there.

"So to sum it up, you're traveling partners? And you…" she pointed at Aether, "...are looking for your sister?

"Yep. It's been two months and I figured I could get help from the city."

"Hmm…Ok Let me finish doing my other stuff, then I can help you put up missing posters around the city.."

"That'll help, thanks."

"Oh, there have been sightings of a massive dragon around Mondstadt recently. Best you get to the city as soon as you can. I can escort you there."

"Sure. But you should finish doing your other stuff first."

"Come to think of it, Paimon wonders what you're doing out here…"

Paimon suddenly chipped in.

"Oh, I'll tell you when I get there. Since I'm escorting you, we'll be passing there along the way. Plus, I'm still not sure I can trust you two yet."

"Wow, just after you offered to help put up missing posters around the city. I am hurt by your lack of trust."

Aether said this rather jokingly, even putting his hand to his chest like it hurt.

"Ah…my bad. My apologies…strange, yet respectable travelers."

"That sounded so fake!"

Aether inwardly agreed with Paimon. What kind of greeting was that?

"What? Do you have something against the language prescribed by the Knights of Favonius Handbook?"

All the knights were like that? Oh gosh…

And it was about to get weirder.

Obtained Amber

…

What.

How did he obtain a character? And where did Amber go?

"I'm right here! Switch me in!"

Huh?

Switch to Amber by coordinating with her!

"Just imagine switching me in and it'll happen! Come on, do it!"

"Amber, why the HECK are you in my brain?"

"I am NOT in your brain!"

"Then where are you?"

It seemed that Amber could not answer the question.

"No clue, but from where I am I can see your back. Kind of looks like I'm flying. Huh, I've always wanted to fly. Can't control my movement though."

Ah, wait. Was she in the third-person perspective? That made sense. Except it only further reinforced the fact that he was in a video ga- wait. He wasn't getting into that until he was ready again.

Anyways, he had to do what he was told.

"Uhh ok Amber. Switch in, or something."

"You sound so unconvinced!"

Aether could not formulate a response as he suddenly felt like his vision was pulled back. Instead of his usual view, he could see Amber from the third-person perspective she was talking about earlier. It was kind of disorienting. He could see her back, but he couldn't move. Or could he…?

Well, if the system worked by him imagining, he could imagine himself moving, right?

When he tried this, it sort of worked. He was able to move around to see Amber from the front, top, and bo-

Fire at the slime

Oh yeah, right , he had to get that done. Or well, Amber could, since she was actually using a bow. Not like he could throw his sword.

"Amber, you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yup. Fire at the slime, right?"

"How are you not freaking out? There is text in your vision and you think it's normal?"

"Dunno. Anyways, I need to concentrate."

Immediately, Amber fired at the slime, which disappeared. In its place, a chest materialized.

Amber started walking to the chest, and he was brought along with it. It was very disconcerting, and wait, what were those on the bottom right of his vision? No time for that, though. Amber opened the chest and got some stuff.

Silver Sword

Fine Enhancement Ore

Enhancement Ore

Sweet. A better sword. Dull Blade just wasn't cutting it.

"Anyways, let's move. I need to get this done so we can get to Mondstadt."

While she walked to who knows where, Aether took the time to check the new things on his bottom right. He had grown used to the icon indicating jump and sprint. The sword was switched to a bow. Where his elemental skill icon was one of…was that a humanoid bunny doll? And in place of his tornado skill was something he couldn't quite make out. Probably her version of his tornado.

Switch weapons in the Character screen

Right, he wasn't able to open that yet. Imagining it opening, he was immediately greeted with the body of Amber, along with a ton of info.

The background was red, and there were 6 menus to the left. On top were the head icons of him and Amber. To the right was various info on stats. Useful.

The UI was ponting his attention to the top.

Select the character to check

It was pointing at his head icon. Imagining himself switching to it, he was greeted by his own figure, a seriously teal-green background, and different stats.

View available weapons

The UI was now pointing him to the Weapons tab, so he imagined it opening up, and lo and behold, he could see his weapons. Heck, his character even did a pose while grabbing a sword. But back to the sword.

There were two swords. The Dull Blade he had equipped, and the new Silver Sword he acquired.

Select the weapon to switch to

No problem. The Dull Blade served him well, but he had to switch it out now. Silver Sword sounded much more impressive anyway. Selecting it, the dull gray sword in his hand was now replaced by a sword that was not actually silver but was still called as such. Well whey, it looked coller, and was probably more effective, judging by the additional star on its icon.

Anyway, enough of that. He closed the menu and, wait a minute, why was Amber still where she was when he opened the menu?

Right, opening your menu freezes time. That could be useful at least.

Oh, looks like the quest changed.

Go to the location designated by Amber

Well, even if he weren't Amber, the location was marked on his map anyway. But it was Amber who was on the ground right now, while all he could do was watch, so she made her way there.

Turning left, Aether noticed another strange object. Hey, it looked like the teleport waypoint.

"Amber, I'm switching in. Need to do something."

Amber didn't get to reply before Aether suddenly felt himself active again. Stretching, he made his merry way to the teleport waypoint.

"Hey, at least inform me first!"

"I did. I didn't expect it to switch so fast though. It took a while for you to switch in."

Maybe the system prioritized his thoughts and commands. That made sense. He was the first one to encounter this UI. Interacting with the object, it lit up blue, and hey, that Adventure Rank bar increased again. What was that about? Anyway, he could now teleport to that location freely.

"Amber, you can switch back in."

"Alright. Now where was I heading off to?"

As he switched from first person to third person again, he watched as Amber made her way up the hill. Oh hey, the quest log updated again.

Wind-riding Knight

Quest Completed

Going Upon The Breeze

Defeat the nearby hilichurls

Oh great. More hilichurls.

"Ya!"

"So by any chance, does your task involve these hilichurls!"

"Yep, I have to clear out their camp."

Amber said this as she charged up an arrow and let it fly. The arrow was on fire as it struck a nearby hilichurl in the face (or the mask, rather) and pretty soon the hilichurl was dead.

Wait, maybe he could use the party system in combat. I mean, that's the point of having a party system, right? To utilize multiple characters in combat. But why would you only allow one character on the ground at a time…?

As Amber set another few hilichurls on fire (looks like Amber uses fire as her element), Aether got a crazy idea.

"I'm switching in!"

"Wait, what-"

And so Aether dropped into the battlefield, leaving a very perplexed Amber wondering what the heck Aether was thinking,

Aether dashed into the battlefield. Remembering how his wind powers (well, anemo, but it was easier to call it wind) spread the fire earlier, he charged up another elemental skill and promptly set the place on fire. Needless to say, the camp and its inhabitants were destroyed instantly.

"That was easy."

"Yeah, I can't believe that wor-"

Wait a minute, why was Amber physically present again?

"Though that's partly thanks to you. You surprised me with your moves."

"Hey, I was the one who started the fire! All you did was spread it!"

"Wait, I thought you went back to reality?"

"What do you mean? I'm still here!"

"Then why is there an Amber physically in front of me?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

As Aether's mind descended into uncontrolled chaos, Paimon and Amber were discussing how the hilichurls were indeed closer than usual to the city. As he scrambled to figure out why there were two separate Ambers, one within his mind apparently, the two were still talking until…

"Uhh, Aether? Paimon thinks you're making a weird face. Did something happen with your ability again?"

"What ability?"

"Ohh, uhhh…"

Dammit Paimon.

Welcome to Author's area! As you can see, chaos has begun. How will Aether explain his ability to Amber? How will he navigate the party system? Questions which will (probably) be answered in the next chapter, which is who knows when.

On a side note, I want to try adding some original content, since I've been basing the story heavily off of canon. I'm trying to balance having Aether experience the genuine Genshin experience with adding an original story and also the crack elements. Feel free to leave a review if you think I'm leaning too much towards one side.

And also, wow this story has gained some traction. I did not expect this. Well, thanks for the support! I'll try to update this story but I am VERY busy so don't expect regular updates.

And as always, have a nice day.

-Author