(13/05/2024) This chapter includes additional notes at the end

Once outside Albedo's lab, Phos walked out of the Knights' Headquarters. The gem could feel more of those curious glances directed towards them, it seemed they might as well begin to get used to them. Outside the Headquarters, the knights guarding the entrance greeted them, Phos wondered if they might remember them as the clumsy individual who almost fell from the stairs. Considering how many stairs the city had, they should remember to be more careful from now onwards.

It wasn't until he had descended a fair amount of stairs that Phos realized something. While, yes, Grandmaster Jean had insisted that Amber would teach them about the adventuring thing, she never told Phos where to find the outrider. It wouldn't be such a big deal if they knew how to move around Mondstat without needing a guide, unlucky for him, it wasn't the case.

Just as Phos considered heading back to the Knights' Headquarters to ask for Jean's assistance, a now-familiar voice called their name.

"Phos! There you are!" Peeking downstairs, they recognized Amber's characteristic red bow and clothes, she was waving her hands above her head as if wanting to catch Phos's attention. Besides her, another familiar face mimicked her actions, it was Bennett, the first human Phos met when they arrived in this new world. Relieved, the peppermint-colored gem rushed downstairs, waving back at both of them.

"What a relief!… I forgot to ask Grandmaster Jean where to find you." He explained, adjusting his uniform and giving an awkward smile. The young outrider rubbed the back of her head, letting out an embarrassed giggle.

"O-oh, don't worry about that, I should've approached you as soon as Jean assigned me to your training". The outrider gave another slight chuckle before getting back to a more professional stance. "As I'm going to teach you the basics of adventuring, I thought it would be appropriate to have the extra help of someone from the Adventurer's Guild…" Seeing Phos's confused expression, the pyro archer hawked "I'll tell you more about them later, but they're an organization that works all across Teyvat. I wanted to bring a more experienced adventurer… but it seems you're already familiar with Bennett and that could also come in helpful." The gem could feel some hesitation in Amber's words as she explained why Bennett was the adventurer going with them, why was it, though?

"Well, I might not be a renowned adventurer yet, but I've got plenty of experience on my own! So don't worry, I'll be the best guide you could ask for! Hehe". The blonde boy rubbed his neck before giving Phos a thumbs up. "...I'm also sure that, with Amber's guidance, my bad luck won't hurt anyone during our field trip." The latter sounded more like a plea than an affirmation.

"So, are we all ready?" The outrider asked while looking at both her now teammates, focusing again on the gem. "I see the uniforms did fit you! What a relief…" The girl tilted her head as she noticed the claymore hanging on Phos's hips. "Don't you have a pocket dimension too, Phos?"

"What is that?" They blurted out, genuinely confused as they looked back, making sure the claymore was well-secured on his belt. Bennett gave an awkward chuckle.

"Every vision holder can store their weapons in a pocket dimension… I dunno how it works, it kinda just happens." The blonde teen tried to explain. "But I don't remember seeing one when I first met Phos… that must mean you're already incredibly powerful!" The adventurer beamed, his whole presence was so bright that Phos wondered if he was a diamond, like Dia… but it wouldn't make sense, Bennett was squishy and his brightness seemed to come from something completely different than Diamond.

What's more, Bennett had explained how a pocket dimension worked, it somehow reminded them of how the Lunarians came from sunspots, did that mean sunspots were some sort of "pocket dimension" for them? It made no sense, they came from the moon, right?

They became slightly worried as the outrider hit her forehead with her palm. "My bad! I forgot you didn't have a vision, Phos!" Amber shook her head, an apologetic look on her face. "What a mess… we might have to begin on a different spot from what I planned." She said, letting out a deep sigh. Both Phos and Bennett waited as the member of the Knights mumbled something. Finally, the Pyro vision wielder returned to her confident stance. "Alright, this might work better for the time being."

…

"Are every organic creature so… fluffy?" The gem asked after they saw the fifth wild boar of the day, sure the animal scared them the previous day when it bumped into Bennett, but now they felt quite harmless, they could also be almost considered kinda cute now.

"I don't know if calling a boar fluffy is the right term, except for those nearby Spinedragon…" Amber made a pause as she took around once more. "But not every animal is covered in fur, some aren't even pleasant to touch, teehee." The girl gave a slight smile, walking up a slope, the path felt familiar for the gem, and they soon recognized it was probably the same one where they arrived at Mondstat by Bennett's guidance. The city could be seen from across the lake, it still awed Phos to see such a colorful place in the middle of the water.

"Hold on." The adventurer's voice made Phos return from their absent-mindedness. "Why are we on the road between Springvale and Wolvendom? I thought we were going to teach Phos how to be an adventurer." Although not mean-spirited, Bennett's observation felt sharp, or so thought Phos as they saw Amber working her way out to make a good explanation.

"Well… you see, I thought, as Phos is still unacquainted with Mondstat (and probably our world, at all), taking them to a further place like Spinedragon or Dadaupa Valley could not only be quite reckless but also dangerous." The outrider explained, showing the map she was carrying along. "I also thought about teaching them how to plane using the wings, but Albedo mentioned Phos was made of some… mineral thing, and I'd hate to learn in a bad way if they can bear a fall from very high places or not." For a moment both humans stared at each other before Bennett gave a thoughtful nod. "So, if we keep our first lessons nearby the city and other settlements, such as Springvale or the Winery, we can look for the Knights' aid quicker."

The blonde teen clicked his tongue as he gave thumbs-up to the brunette. "Alright, that's pretty cool! You really thought about all the possible outcomes, Amber, just like the best outrider in the knights!" He beamed, once again his smile so kind that Phos felt somewhat more confident, even if, just minutes ago, they were wondering how these humans might react the moment they witnessed how a gem could get broken. It was curious, though, how easily had Bennett accepted the fact that Phos was not a human, but a gem, instead; it seemed as if the boy was already used to all sorts of oddities.

As they kept walking, the small settlement that Amber said was named Springvale became smaller until it was hidden behind some bushes, the trees became bigger and more abundant until they were surrounded by them. Yet they kept walking until the brunette made a signal with her hand, making both Bennett and Phos stop behind her.

"What's it, Amber?" The young adventurer looked around him, only to be struck by a pebble flying out of somewhere. "Ow!"

"Hush, I'm sure I heard something…" The outrider cautiously approached a bush, leaning to take a better look. Soon Phos followed her.

"What are those… things?" The gem asked, peeking from behind the bushes, giving brief glances behind to make sure Bennett was still there, who knows when another wild boar may appear? "They look… fluffy, but not like a 'boar thing'..." Not to mention their oddly human-esque look.

"Hilichurls" Phos heard Amber's concern in her voice "They're not supposed to be camping so close to a human settlement… that's odd" The girl frowned, taking her bow and preparing an arrow. "I wanted to keep our first lesson as easy as possible, but it is my duty as a knight to take care of these tasks." Sighing, Phos saw her tensing her bow and shooting an arrow at one of the creatures on the other side of the bush.

"Yah!" The Hilichurls yelled in unison, startled by the surprise attack. They soon spotted the three youths hiding and took their weapons, ready to attack.

"There's only three of them… this should be easy" Amber took a step backward, looking at Bennett, then at Phos. "Try to keep them occupied! I'll shoot them from afar!" Then, much to Phos's surprise, the pyro vision user threw something toward the Hilchurl. "Baron Bunny! go for them!"

The thing Amber threw had an odd form, it made Phos think of that fight against the dog-like Lunarian, not in its huge beast-like form, but instead when it got split into many fluffy pups. They were about to question why would Amber would throw a fluffy thing toward the creatures when it exploded, startling the Hilichurl even more.

"What…?"

"Let Amber tell ya' later!" They didn't even have time to ask, as now Bennet rushed towards the Hilichurl, sword in hand, he swung his weapon in quick movements, bringing one of those creatures down. Another growled, lifting a heavy-looking stick to hit the blonde teen.

"Watch out!" Phos stretched one of their golden arms, taking the club out of the Hilichurl's hands while accidentally pushing it against a tree. The monster shrieked and squirmed to be set free. Everything felt so quick, perhaps it was the distance, besides Shirou, the Lunarians would normally attack from a long distance and wouldn't engage in face-to-face combat. "Bennett! Amber! Do something!"

"Already on it!" The adventurer seemed to prepare for a stronger attack, his sword turning a bright, fiery red as he took a leap to attack the Hilichurl that was being pinned against the tree. Phos opened their eyes in disbelief, how did Bennett light his sword? They quickly retracted their arm before it could also get stabbed by accident.

A bright, orange light erupted from the collision, causing Bennett to fly away just to collide against another tree, it seemed painful, but the boy was alive, the same could not be said about the Hilichurl, as it disintegrated into a black mist. How curious, Phos thought, as the mist reminded them of how Lunarians would disappear once they were attacked by their swords.

"Phos! Watch out!" Amber's voice made Phos return from his train of thought, and they quickly moved aside as a Hilichurl tried to attack them from behind. An arrow pierced the creature's body, making it disintegrate, too. Now there was only one left, it seemed stunned by the explosion caused by Bennett. Pulling out his claymore, the gem rushed to finish off the creature with a heavy, wide swing. The weapons made a heavy 'thug' as it crashed against the ground, leaving nothing but a trace of black mist from what used to be a Hilichurl.

After the fight, the forest seemed to return to its usual calm, birds chirping from afar could be heard, and the soft wind moving the trees' branches brushed off whatever was left of the monsters. Amber descended from a rock nearby, putting her bow back into her pocket dimension.

"Phos! You did a great job!" The girl beamed, pulling the gem into a hug, causing Phos to get a stiff posture, they weren't used at all to such a level of physical contact, yet it seemed most humans there were rather… touchy.

"I… suppose I'm an easy learner, thank you" The gem awkwardly got freed from the iron-like grap that the outrider had them trapped in, quickly looking for any probable crack on his body, surprisingly there was none, it seemed it was safe to get hugged by squishy beings…

"Yeah! And my bad luck didn't get in the way this time, ha!"

Just as the blonde said that the three of them began hearing heavy 'thumps' from the distance, while Phos couldn't point out what that sound was, judging by Amber's and Bennett's expressions it seemed those sounds meant something serious. Moreso as they seemed to become clearer and stronger.

"A Mitachurl?"

Additional notes:

Wooh, honestly, I didn't expect this story to get such a nice reception here, but it has been nice to see it getting more reads :D Now, I'll say it again that the fanfic is being published firstly on AO3 where it currently has 9 chapters, I'll keep updating chapters here until I catch up with AO3, then I'll try to update simultaneously on both platforms.

It's been literal years since I used fanfiction, so I am a little unsure on whether I should answer reviews here or via DM, so I'll do it here. I have considered to include more gems in the story, although I haven't really considered Dia, I did consider making a shorter fic with Bortz arriving to Teyvat. we'll have to see ;)