Chapter 11: Train to Prepare

'Now, Subaru, don't take that step. You shouldn't, not when you need to get to work.'

Subaru groaned as he found his foot up a step out of instinct. He was just about to climb up the steps to the Church, trying to start his Radio Calisthenics with the other people in front of the cathedral. However, not only did no one know him as well in this timeline, but he also needed to get started on his 'training'. That's why he's trying to not go the same route that he had in the last run.

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but bemoan the loss of such a fresh and beautiful morning. His sleep was nightmare-riddled as it was wont to be, yet now that he had some aim, he was able to get some rest regardless. Natsuki Subaru should have enjoyed this morning and made some new friends in Mondstadt, but he couldn't. Not with Stormterror approaching in only three days.

"I need to get started studying," Subaru said, taking his foot off the steps to the Cathedral. "Looks like I'm going to the library first thing."

"Hey, why?!" Paimon yelled at him from over his shoulder, not being privy to his thoughts. "We've got a whole year and a half! We can certainly slack off a little, right?!"

Subaru sighed. "Paimon, we're Outlanders. We've got to get to work as soon as possible. I mean, how can I become a knight without knowing any of the histories of Mondstadt in the first place?"

This was the excuse that Subaru gave to the enquiring Paimon. He had long since stopped believing the words coming out of his mouth. His prime intention had become to protect Mondstadt from Stormterror in any way possible. And if that meant lying to Paimon, Subaru was not going to hesitate.

"Yeah, okay, Paimon understands," the fairy replied. "But I still don't get why you're becoming a knight?! Did you forget about Rem already?"

"Please don't think I forgot about her, Paimon. Please understand that I have a reason behind why I want to become a knight instead of something like an adventurer. I still want to find Rem, but there are some things that we've got to do here."

Despite his resolution, however, Subaru was finding it harder and harder to lie to Paimon. Paimon had been with him since he decided to start travelling Mondstadt. She had known everything about his waking memories, except his life back in Japan.

That being said, Paimon had still only known Subaru for a couple days. She has no idea who Subaru really is, meaning that he was able to use that to his advantage.

"Fine, fine, Paimon will save the questions for now," she replied.

"Thank you. Really, thank you, Paimon. I'm gonna be at the library. If you want, you can go ahead and do something else?"

"Yeah, Paimon guesses she will!" Paimon said. "Ah wait, Subaru! Can you even read?"

'Ah. Not that question.'

As of now, that was a question that Subaru couldn't prepare for. One that could only be asked by Paimon or Amber, since he would meet everyone else for the first time after a loop. Out of the two, it was more probable that Paimon would be the one to ask.

"Ah, well…" Subaru muttered, trying to come up with a reason. "Memory flash?"

"Hm? Paimon didn't see you puking – ohhh, that's what yesterday was about, wasn't it? You puked then too!"

"I don't need to puke every time I remember something, you damn fairy loli!" Subaru rebuked. "And yeah, that was pretty much what happened back then. I remembered something, and that included how to read in this language. For some reason, the language in that other world is the same as the one here. Found out by reading the titles on Master Jean's shelves."

'Thank you, past me, for losing your memories!'

For someone like Paimon, who'd be by his side all the time, his memory loss made the perfect excuse for his odd behaviour. While it was true that he wouldn't forget anymore, he could still use it to excuse his knowledge of future moments and his actions.

"Yeah, that makes sense! Okay then, Paimon will be around. Paimon will see you back in the room tonight!"

"Yeah, go for it, you pixie loli!"

"Hey! Stop calling me that, Stinky Space!"

With the sound of Subaru's laughter, Paimon sparked out of existence. Subaru sighed as he found himself alone.

"Well, that worked. Now to go to the library."


Upon entering the library, he immediately found a disturbing lack of purple. Having had gone to the library for reading classes by Lisa exclusively, it jarred him to enter the library and not find her at all.

'Is she out or something?' Subaru couldn't help but wonder. 'Nah, that doesn't matter. Just use whatever knowledge you have of this language and start reading.'

Wanting to explore the topics a little bit, Subaru decided to roam around the library for a while. He began stopping before certain shelves, wanting to take closer looks at different available books.

"Leg… end… of… Vane… sa?"

Subaru was still struggling with reading since he was not used to it. Not minding it, he still decided to pull out the book and check out its description.

"Excuse me, do you require any assistance?"

Subaru almost threw the book away upon suddenly hearing the voice. Looking back, he beheld someone he hadn't met yet.

The girl before him was dressed in what seemed to be a cross between a knight's armour and a maid uniform. She wore a frilly red skirt with a waist-hooked black and white apron as every maid would wear, but was then accompanied by an armoured corset, gauntlets, knee guards and boots along with a lone pauldron on her left shoulder. She additionally wore a red cravat and a white priestess's hat, further accentuating her lavender-shaded grey hair and her mild olive-green eyes.

"Ah, I'm so sorry for scaring you!" the woman stepped back, covering her mouth in shock and embarrassment. "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. You seemed to be struggling with reading that book."

"Ah, um, yeah," Subaru muttered out, feeling his cheeks warming at the sight of the unexpectedly attractive woman before him. "I don't know how to read properly yet, so I'm struggling with understanding these books."

"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that!" the woman remarked. "If you need me to, I can certainly read out loud whichever books you need for you!"

"Whoa, you don't need to go so far! I need to try and learn to read myself anyway, so I'll be fine!"

"Okay, but you certainly will need someone to help you with confirming if you are correct, don't you? I can certainly help with that!"

"I'm starting to feel like you're actually slacking off from your own work…"

"Oh no no! I could never slack off! The duties of a Maid of the Knights of Favonius are far too many for me to simply slack off! I'd already completed my morning duties, so I decided to spend my free time studying. But if you need help, you can always count on me!"

"Ah, um, okay… wait, did you say Maid of the Knights of Favonius? So, are you a knight too?"

The woman blinked in surprise, then immediately shook her hands at Subaru in rebuttal. "No, I'm not! I mean, I've been trying a lot, but I'm going to become one soon! No matter how I've already failed 14 times!"

"14? Whoa, that's some dedication there. And here I am, wanting to become a knight in my first try…"

"Oh, you want to be a knight too? In that case, please let me introduce myself." The woman curtsied before him. "It is a pleasure to meet you, kind stranger. My name is Noelle. As a Maid of the Knights of Favonius, please let me know if you need any assistance during your stay in Mondstadt. Even the smallest things are of no concern to me. Just leave it all to me!"

Subaru nodded in approval. "That's a good introduction. But not enough!" Immediately, Subaru pulled off his pose. "Natsuki Subaru, first name Subaru! I barely know how to read and write, and I'm an amnesiac, but I'm gonna be a knight in the future!"

Noelle stood stunned at his introduction. "Ohhh, that's impressive!" she remarked, curtly clapping her hands. "But I think I've heard your name before. Where have I… ah! You're the new talk among the knights, aren't you? The man who single-handedly defeated a mitachurl and saved the Outrider?"

"Eh? Where'd you get your facts from?!" Subaru rebuked. "Just to let you know, while it was true that I held pretty well against that thing, Amber did help me quite a bit. Don't discredit her from her effort!"

"Ah, there might be a reason for that…"

"Huh? A reason?"

"Ah, you seem to be friends with Amber, so I don't think I should say anything… After all, these are just rumours…"

"Rumors? What do you mean? Come on, you can tell me!"

Noelle gaped for a moment, then slowly gulped. "Okay, fine. This is not a particularly well-kept secret in the first place. But, that being said, please bear in mind that this is just a rumour. Please do not change your perception of Amber in any way due to this."

"Ah, don't worry! Amber's bigger than some rumours to me, so don't worry about it!"

"Sigh, very well. Word among the knights is that Amber, among all the Vision-bearers and some of the standard knights, is rather… weak."

"Huh? Weak?" Subaru blinked in surprise. Thinking back to when they had fought, he remembered how she had been able to handle so many more hilichurls than he had. Even though he had held up against the mitachurl a lot better, Amber had done really well against the masses of hilichurls.

Aside from that, he still couldn't accept those words because of something else.

"Yeah, those guys don't know what they're talking about," Subaru scathingly replied. "Amber's a great archer; she hardly ever misses her shots. Sure, I'd done more against the mitachurl than her, but would any of those guys so eagerly go into that fight as she had? Even though a stranger like me, saying outrageous stuff like how I can attract hilichurls to myself, almost put her in danger that she willingly accepted? The one that kept fighting despite – "

He had to stop himself there, forced by biting his own tongue. He was about to talk about how Amber kept fighting despite her mortal wounds and sheer difference in power against both the mitachurl and Stormterror. However, for fear of activating Return by Death's miasmic conditions while within castle walls, he chose against saying it.

"All I'm saying is, Amber is a lot stronger than they give her credit for," Subaru concluded. "If they can't see that, then that's too bad for them. I mean, I don't see any of them becoming Outriders like her, no one hunts down hilichurls and heads into danger as eagerly as her."

Looking back up, he noticed Noelle beaming at him. "You must certainly be a good person to know that much about a person despite having just met them," she pointed out, briefly bowing at him. "It's good to hear such a thing from a stranger. Especially one with the power to defeat a mitachurl. Subaru, right? Let me help you study for the knight's exam."

Subaru blinked in surprise at the compliment he received, then smiled at the girl. "Yeah, thanks! Noelle-san!"

"A-Ah," Noelle muttered, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. "That honorific… is completely unnecessary. We're not in Inazuma, after all. Is that where you're from?"

"No, I'm just from a similar place."

"I see. Very well, then. I'm in the middle of my 54th revision, so I'll help you this time!"

"Fifty… four? I'm starting to think this exam is a lot harder than it seems."

Shaking his head, Subaru decided to follow Noelle through the library. The two of them made their way down the stairs within, entering the lower floor of the area. Surprisingly enough, no one else was there, meaning that they could talk as much as they wanted. Looking ahead, Subaru noticed that aside from the shelves of books layered around them, there were a grand set of doors that were bolted shut with a padlock.

"What's that?" Subaru couldn't help but ask.

"That," Noelle explained. "Is the Forbidden Section of the Library. Only Lisa and anyone she permits can enter that section, no one else."

"What could be in a place like that?"

"No one knows, of course. People say that the knowledge there is as forbidden as they come. Every negative way to use elemental energy. Ways to use Abyssal Energy. People keep saying that this library is why Lisa can work with Abyssal Crystals as well as she does."

"Right, Abyssal Crystals…"

Subaru had forgotten about that little tidbit. Looking back, he imagined that having a bonafide inventory system would really help him in the fight with Stormterror. However, he'd already decided to prioritize his education, so he stuck with where he was.

"Say, Noelle," he started. "What are you working on at the moment? I'd like to hear about it."

"Oh? I'm reading up on the Archon War. I'm guessing that you don't remember about it, yes? Then, would you like for me to talk about it?"

Subaru nodded, eager to hear more.

"Okay then, I'll do my best! The Archon War… it's an event that happened several thousand years ago. No one really knows the reason why, but the Archons of that time all got into a war against each other. Several books state that the Archons were fighting over land; their right to claim their land as their own, such as Barbatos for Mondstadt and Rex Lapis for Liyue. Others state that this was a war mandated by Celestia itself, allowing its Archons to fight for their right to grant Visions. This could be why despite having so many Archons, we only have 7 Visions known to us. In the end, every book has some conflicting elements to its stories, and it is not very clear what exactly had happened at that time. However, there are numerous reports on its aftereffects.

"Obviously, the death of so many Archons had led to rebel amongst those that worshipped them. The war itself had forced landmasses to change, one such example being the formation of Guyun Stone Forest due to Rex Lapis throwing spears of rock to pin down the god Osial. Numerous people had died as collateral from the war itself. Aside from that, there were more deaths due to the effects of war; unclean water sources, infertile land, toxic fumes in the air. It was the eventual union of the remaining 7 Archons that tied this world together into the one we know as Teyvat. These 7 worked together to re-establish the world as we had once known it, then went their own ways to follow their own goals."

"Huh," Subaru responded. "I feel like I'm still missing a lot of details."

"Well, I can read the books out for you if you like? Oh, and there's so much more I can talk about! The fall of Decarabain, the dual cataclysm, many of Mondstadt's own national figures, such as Vanessa and the Four Winds - "

"Okay, okay, calm down," Subaru interrupted, finally letting Noelle catch a breath. While all those topics seemed interesting, there was only one that Subaru truly wanted to know about.

"I, uh, heard about something from the knights as well," he said, wanting to form an excuse for his knowledge of its name. "Well, it was more eavesdropping than anything – "

"You shouldn't have eavesdropped!" Noelle immediately chided. "What if they were talking about something personal?"

"Ah, no, they were talking in public, out loud," Subaru immediately rectified himself. "They mentioned that they were looking for some Storm's… Terror?"

"Ah, you must mean Stormterror," Noelle verified. "Yes, Stormterror is a rising issue among the knights. Do you wish to know more about Stormterror, then?"

"Yeah, sure sounds interesting."

"Okay then," Noelle nodded. "The first thing that you should know is that Stormterror was originally one of the Four Winds, the apostles of the Lord of Anemo, Barbatos."

"Huh?!" Subaru couldn't help but react as such. Something as devilish as Stormterror used to serve the God over Mondstadt?

"The Four Winds consist of the Falcon, the Wolf, the Lion, and the Dragon. Stormterror was the Dragon in this list, as well as the only one left alive among them."

"What happened to him? Why is he no longer one of those 'Four Winds'?"

"No one truly knows. When it comes to the Archons, we tend to know frighteningly little. If you were to ask of someone human, such as Lady Vanessa, I could have given you a much more verbose answer. But, alas, it always comes down to the Archons.

"However, for the issue that you mention, there are two stories. First, Stormterror felt betrayed by Barbatos due to his long periods of sleep. Finding himself unable to protect Mondstadt, he finally turned against it.

"The second story is a much simpler one. It states that Stormterror now suffers from Abyssal Infection."

"Eh?" Subaru responded "Abyssal Infection? Does that have anything to do with Abyssal Crystals?"

"They do, in fact. Abyssal Crystals originally house an incredible amount of Abyssal Energy. It is only when they are depleted can that energy be used for summoning contracts. Abyssal Energy, on the other hand, is highly toxic to any living being, exhibit different symptoms ranging from motor loss to madness. When a being is infected by Abyssal Energy, they are said to have an Abyssal Infection, which embodies those symptoms."

"Man, those 'Abyssal's just roll off the tongue, don't they?"

"Hehe, yes, they do. But the condition is rather severe. There is only one known cure for it, and that too, from the Fatui."

"Hm? What's the Fatui?"

Noelle blinked in surprise. "I'm sure you would have seen them by now. Have you seen anyone around wearing masks that cover their eyes?"

Subaru thought back to last night as well as the last loop. He did remember seeing people in some weird clothes and wearing masks.

"I thought those guys were some kind of cosplayers or participating in one of those masked dances," he confessed. "They're some kind of cult?"

"I… don't know what you meant by those first words, but the Fatui certainly is not a cult," Noelle replied. "The Fatui are representatives from Snezhnaya, another land in Teyvat. They are here for diplomatic relations, but nobody truly trusts them."

"Why? What's so weird about them?"

"Well, there have been a lot of issues that have revolved around the Fatui. Many rumours speak against them, branding them as criminals. Obviously, if we had any evidence of any such activity, we would cease relations with the Fatui at once. Since we don't have any solid evidence, we have to let them stay in the country. Well, this is at least what everyone else says about them. Personally, I never think of them in such a way, since they are our esteemed guests!"

Subaru hummed in understanding. "Seems like you're the kind of person who accepts anyone for whoever they are, huh?"

"That is something I strive to do as a maid! However, there are times when people aren't as appreciative of my actions. I still remember a time when a man ran away from Mondstadt, claiming that he feared me to death because I tried to help him too much…"

"Something tells me there's more to that story, but never mind."

"A-Anyway! The Fatui! And Abyssal Infection! The Fatui are the only ones to actually have a cure for the illness, but… it's very expensive."

"Ah. That's kinda scummy of them."

"They have said that the treatment does take as much money as they demand. However, since the treatment is one of their most closely guarded secrets, there is no way to confirm whether this is the truth."

Subaru sniggered. "After hearing those rumours about them, it could always be that they're just overcharging the prices. I wouldn't even be surprised if they're the ones who started spreading this infection either."

"Oh, that's a very bold claim!" Noelle exclaimed. "Please don't let the Fatui hear you say that!"

"Hehe, of course, I won't! And don't worry, it's just my own reasoning for it. In any case, I'll make sure to stay away from them."

"A-As a maid, I-I would not suggest that either, but I can't make any demands of you, so that's fine."


After their discussion, Noelle had started to read out several books to him. Subaru made sure that he would read as well, so they ended up having to share the book between them. This did leave Noelle nervous initially, but as they got into it, she calmed down and her words stopped breaking apart into stutters. Subaru was glad for that; it really helped him hear her properly.

"Ah, Subaru Natsuki, you're – oh? Don't let Amber catch you both like this."

"Huh?" Subaru responded to the new voice, then looked up. "Oh, Kaeya-san! What brings you here!"

"Kaeya!" Noelle responded too, gently closing the book before here. "What do you need today?"

"Ah, not much," Kaeya responded. "You can just hand that playboy over there to me."

"Eh? Playboy?" Subaru blinked in surprise at the offhanded remark. "Kaeya-san, don't tell me that you think sitting close to a girl is grounds for a relationship of all things."

"Maybe not, but Noelle would certainly disagree with that."

"Oh, come on, Noelle!" Subaru teased, casually slapping Noelle on the back, making her blush. "You can relax! I'm really not gonna do anything to you, you know that?"

"R-R-Right," Noelle started stuttering yet again, now looking away from Subaru.

"Well, once again, I'm sorry to interrupt this little session between you both, but I would like to borrow Subaru Natsuki for a moment."

"Hm? What do you need, Kaeya-san?"

"Subaru Natsuki, you realise that you cannot become a knight by only studying, right? Remember what we had mentioned yesterday night?"

"Hm, yeah. Improve my public opinion, train with a weapon and learn history, right?"

"Exactly. I'm here to help with another one of those."

"Oh, what's it gonna be? I should tell you, I can make a positive impression on my own already."

"Relax, it is not for socialising. I'm asking for you to help you choose your weapon. Remember that you should have met me at noon?"

Subaru blinked in surprise. "Oh shit, I'd completely forgotten about that!"

"I can see why."

Disregarding his comment, Subaru couldn't help but feel pumped about what was going to happen. He was going to train with another weapon, one that wasn't the whip!

"Now, please follow me."


Subaru was surprised to be taken out of the HQ. He imagined that the armoury would be within one of the rooms in the HQ, but there he was being led by Kaeya to another area. They descended through Mondstadt, going through the Market Square to reach the entrance to Mondstadt. Just as Subaru felt a fear that he would be asked to leave Mondstadt, Kaeya had taken a turn to the right, stopping right before what seemed to be a smithy.

"What can I do for you?" the man at the counter asked. He seemed to have regular features, with dark brown hair, beard and moustache and hazel eyes. However, he was very buff, as denoted by how he was casually working a heated blade on his anvil. As he spoke, he hadn't bothered taking his eyes off his craft.

"Wagner, we'd like to have an inspection on one of our potential knights," Kaeya said. "Do you have one of each of the four weapons?"

Wiping his head, Wagner took the blade out of his anvil and hung it behind him, not bothering to cool it. "A copy of all four weapons? I'm guessing you don't want catalysts, so yeah, I can provide them."

"Excellent. Please meet Subaru Natsuki. He's the one you'll be conducting the inspection on."

"Oi, Kaeya-san!" Subaru quickly interrupted. "It's Natsuki Subaru! Last name first!"

Wagner curtly nodded at him, not bothering to change his expression. "Whatever. Come on, kid. I don't got all day."

"Well, you seem pretty gruff."

Despite his rough words, Subaru still followed him into the smithy, briefly nodding at another person working nearby. Looking back ahead, he noticed Wagner handing him a simple sword.

"Try swinging this," he said, gesturing at a small straw dummy behind him that was already old and torn up from use. It was hard to even make out the humanoid shape it held.

Subaru felt his heart pounding as he accepted the sword, feeling the weight of the blade applying a moment on his hand. Looking at the slight blue sheen of the silver sword as well as the engravings on its body, Subaru couldn't help but relish the fact that he was within a fantasy world.

"Alright then!" Subaru yelled out, gripping the sword and raising it above his head. "Training montage begin!"

In his excitement, Subaru ended up closing his eyes and missing the dummy entirely. Upon hearing the rattling clang of the silver sword as it hit the floor, Subaru couldn't help but wince as the reverb shuddered his arms.

"Yeah, no," Wagner concluded, swiftly snatching the weapon back. "And what is a 'training montage' supposed to be?"

"Hey, come on! I can try again!"

"No, it's not that you missed the dummy, even though that's ridiculous enough on its own. It's your form. It's shit. Sure, you can train, but I doubt you want to spend years in training just to become a knight."

"A-Ah, right."

Wagner's words managed to snap Subaru out of the small illusion he'd built for himself. He had hoped that he'd be able to use a sword like a traditional knight, but he'd just remembered that he wanted to try and get this done in half a year or a year and a half. Or rather, three days, just before he could meet Stormterror. He couldn't be stuck in training the entire time.

"Next up, a claymore," Wagner introduced, hefting out a large blade almost double the length and thickness of the last one. "Meant for physically stronger candidates. Are you sure you want this?"

"Subaru Natsuki here is the one who defeated that mitachurl," Kaeya further introduced.

"Oh? I see, and you want to be a knight?" Wagner asked. "Very well. I've heard the rumours, you matched it in a tug of war, yes? That means that a greatsword like this one shouldn't be too hard."

Nodding, Subaru accepted the blade, only to immediately let the blade hit the floor. Wincing, Subaru improved his grip and hefted it up. Subaru could feel the blade weighing his limbs down. He really doubted how he'd be able to keep the blade upright if it weighed this much. However, giving it a few experimental swings, he could certainly see himself using it.

Looking back at the dummy, Subaru lugged the blade into it. With a loud yell, Subaru thrust the sword downwards.

"Ah. That's another one. Seriously, I hate having to restock these things."

Subaru cleaved straight through the body of the dummy, destroying it completely by halving it. However, upon attempting to pull the blade back to celebrate his victory, he found that the blade was stuck. Looking down, it seemed that the tip had embedded itself into the tiled ground as well, making it harder to pull out. Yelling out again, Subaru yanked the bade out of its hold and succeeded, only to have the weight of the blade drag his arms back over his head and start making him go back.

"Oh. Shit."

The weight of the greatsword over his body managed to force Subaru to fall onto his back, immediately making him let go of the weapon. Wagner facepalmed yet again as he supported a wincing Subaru back into a stand.

"That last bit… was not good to watch. It seems that while your strength is an asset for you, you still have very minimal control over anything sword related. This means that we're setting the greatsword as your primary for now, and the sword for the next."

"Huh? It's decided?" Subaru couldn't help but ask.

"No, you idiot!" Wagner chided, lightly knocking Subaru on the head and making him yelp. "Those are just tentative. You still have two more weapons to inspect."

Turning back, Wagner opened up a case that was sitting nearby. He pulled out yet another familiar weapon.

"Next up, we test your mettle with a bow."

"Ah! Like Amber!" Subaru couldn't help but realise.

"Hm. Yes, like Amber. One of the few Knights of Favonius who does not wield a sword. If you're affiliated with her, then you might be good with this."

Picking up the bow, Subaru decided to fiddle with it for a moment. He plucked the string, feeling the tension on it. He tentatively pulled the string back, trying to bring it back to his ear.

Subaru could immediately tell that he hated this one. The whip-trained calluses on his hands did not apply to his fingertips, making the string dig into his flesh as he tried to pull it back. Because of the pain, Subaru could only pull the string up to the middle of his chest.

"Further. Use more strength," Wagner suggested.

Gritting his teeth, Subaru decided to follow. With a short yell, he used his whole fist to grab the string and vigorously pulled it back to stop the pain it gave him.

*TWAP!*

Subaru reflexively jumped out of the way as he felt the string give way in his fingertips. Looking down, he sighed in relief that he survived despite the string of the bow breaking in front of his face. He was really lucky there.

Wait. The string, no, the bow, was now broken. The bow that was loaned to him.

"Uhh…" Subaru couldn't help but gape. Wagner just let out another sigh.

"Well, now we know what you should never use. I'm guessing that your strength makes handling something like the bow very inefficient. And don't worry about the bow, I'll just charge the Knights."

"Ah, sorry, Kaeya-san."

"It's okay, Subaru Natsuki. However, I'm certain that a certain girl would be disappointed that you couldn't learn her weapon."

Deciding to ignore Kaeya's remark, Subaru turned back to Wagner. He had finally come back to him with what seemed to be the last weapon.

"The polearm," Wagner said, weighing the spear in his hands. "This is the last weapon."

Nodding, Subaru gingerly accepted the weapon. Feeling the grip of the lime-green body in his hands, he experimentally thrust the weapon ahead.

"Well, that was easy enough," Subaru said.

"Try slashing instead," Wagner said, knocking Subaru's faith down.

Nodding, Subaru held the end of the polearm just like he'd done for the sword. With a double-handed grip, he raised the spear over his head and –

"Stop!" Wagner interrupted him, making Subaru turn back at him. "What are you doing?"

"Umm, slashing?"

"Like that? Why are you wielding a polearm like a sword?"

Widening his eyes at Wagner's observation, Subaru promptly brought the weapon back down.

'He's right,' Subaru thought. 'I was using it wrong. Then how do I…'

Looking back down at the spear in his hands, he started to grip onto the body once more.

'Wait, what if I…?"

Subaru gingerly raised the spear over his head yet again with the same double-handed grip as before.

"Didn't I tell you? That's – "

"HA!"

Subaru yelled as he swung the weapon down to just his chest level, not wanting to damage it by making it hit the floor. Looking ahead, Subaru smiled at what he saw.

"The tip…" Subaru noticed it. The tip of the polearm was wobbling. "It's slightly flexible. It's not the same, but maybe it can use the same principle?"

Nodding, Subaru let go of one of his hands on the spear. Dropping the point to the ground, he ensured that he had a good grip on a far end of the spear, letting his calluses do the work.

"Alright then, HA!"

With a jolt, Subaru pulled up the spear behind him and slashed it ahead single-handedly. Feeling the flat end of the spear dangerously approaching his torso, Subaru immediately stopped it with his other hand.

However, he'd accomplished what he wanted.

"That sound…"

"… A whip's crack?"

Subaru train of thought was that the polearm was somewhat similar to the principles of a whip, a weapon he'd more or less mastered through muscle memory. While it was true that there were a lot of differences, he understood that the initial motions of both weapons would be similar.

The product of this understanding was that Subaru was able to move the slightly flexible spear in his hands the same way he did for his whip, and as a combination of his ridiculous strength, he had somehow made the head of the spear crack in the air like a bullwhip.

"… I think we all know what weapon is most suited to you now."

Subaru couldn't help but agree, a grin forming on his face.

'Stormterror… I'm one more step closer to stopping you.'


A/N: Merry Late Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Thank god I finally got that out. Seriously, I'd uploaded this early all so I could wish you guys.

There's not much to really talk about in this chapter. I don't feel like I've done enough justice to Noelle's character as of now, but with time, she'll become a key member of the Mondstadt crew. Oh, also, I'm planning on developing her character as well.

I hope I'd gotten my Genshin facts right during those descriptions! Sure, I'd come up with a lot of it myself, but that was just theorising on my end. Let me know if there are any errors. If they're major enough, I'll update the chapter with a correction. (Note that the 'dual' is intentional, for those that noticed it.)

Also, I'm currently suffering. My internship seriously has me in a bind. I have to wake up at 4:30 everyday so I can get ready for my bus at 6, after making my own lunch as well. I return back home at 7 PM. The job is a simple 9-5, but travel time is what modifies this so. I really wish I worked for my license sooner.

Onto reviews!


kerrowe: Okay, yeah, it's a lake, not an ocean. It's called Cider Lake, after all. I messed up the wordage there. I'd also had every intention of introducing Noelle in this chapter, and I'm certainly not letting Subaru forget the whip. It's the reason why I wanted him to use a spear; in my eyes, its motions is the most identical to a whip.


Scuffedsenku09: Eh, yeah, you're right. But once again, Albedo built up his reputation by being the head Alchemist. You can say that that was how he'd earned his position in the knights. And on the other hand, we have candidates like Eula, who's hated by everyone. She's the main reason why I included that bit.


Faldorian: Hmm, that's a good point. I'm too lazy at this point to go back and change everything, so I'll just include new weapons as they come. Also, crossbows in Genshin? Never heard of that, but it sure sounds fun. I'd hate to use it though, the time between attacks would be dreadful.


pokemonrot377: We'll see. Sorry, I can't answer for the sake of spoilers.


000: Yeah, I hadn't bothered checking the heights of the characters. Makes sense that I'd messed that up. Thanks for pointing it out, though! As for the weapons, you can see that I picked the polearm. My second option was a greatsword, but I felt that the girth of a sword like that would only cause Subaru problems later on.


Piero: Oh yeah, that certainly will be the case. However, I'm not leaving Subaru all alone, however. I'm going to let him get stronger still. It'll take a lot of trauma to get there, though.


And that's that! I'll see you next chapter!