I've noticed that I do a lot of character monologuing. I mean, sure, even if I do say so myself, I say it's good monologue; the last few chapters encapsulated the perspectives of characters and all… but what I'm saying is that it's kinda turning into my crutch.

It's hard to explain. The last few chapters is on and on about characters going 'Oh my god guns will bring change to Mondstadt bla bla bla.'

Something like that. Sure, it's interesting, but it's getting repetitive is what I'm saying.

Considering that this fanfic is a way for me to practice writing, this is a bit of a testing ground to explore myself as a writer and stuff, so I've experimented a bit with this chapter as there are fewer monologues and more hands-on… discussion, interaction, action, etc.

May 4, 2024

Start

On the fourth day, he woke up.

Fuck.

He's still in Tevyat, he realized. The hard mattress notioned him that. There was a small part of him that wished to wake up back on Earth where none of this ever happened. Every day he wakes up in this world wouldn't snuff that desire. How could anyone? He pushed himself upright and sat - he gestured his hand in a way as if he's holding an invisible pistol.

Harmless yellow sparks swirled on his hands as he willed his hand cannon into existence. He didn't know how it works, it just does. It's one of those things best pushed to the back of his mind left unanswered. He now has a pocket dimension when he got his Vision. How cool and convenient limited as it may be. He unsummoned it, then resummoned it, again and again. So damn weird… and cool.

And lastly desummoned it.

His back fell to the mattress as he recalled skimming through the update last night just before falling to sleep - something about a new mechanic, detailing the mechanisms of 'godhood.' Reading the intentions of his mind, the System displayed text windows each fighting for his attention like pop-up ads going out of control. No. Get out. I don't want to think about it.

If the System is having trouble parsing through information and presenting it in an easy-to-digest format, that says a lot about what his Vision brought to the table. He didn't want to bother. At least, not for now. No crazy shit so early in the morning. The notion of being a god felt strange to him, but in the first place, you're not exactly human when you can use magic. For Jean, she can manipulate wind. That's not what people can normally do. Does that mean that everyone with a Vision is… some demi-god?

Yeah… he'll have to study the ins and outs later. The idea of achieving godhood felt… not as exciting as it would've been. All the things on his plate got him jaded; like learning your house got blown up when your country is surviving a nuclear war.

Right now he's hungry. Sating his hunger seemed the most important.

…

"… Noelle." John looked at the maid serving behind the serving table. "Do I have something on my face?"

He looked down. He had his clothes thrown in the laundry. In replacement, he wore the spare uniforms of the knights just without the armor.

"I… Uh." Noelle became flustered, "My apologies. It surprised me that you woke up so early. Haha."

He turned around. One-third of every table in the mess hall was occupied. It was lively even six in the morning. Most of them failed to hide their side glances and hushed conversations. Not that he can't imagine why, though he'd paint himself delusional if they're talking about him in a good way; while he thinks the operation last night was an astounding success, that didn't mean every single knight would show favor to a weapon that will change their livelihood in a turn of a hand.

Printers replaced scribes. Cars replaced horses. Steam engines replaced sails.

Guns replaced blades and bows.

He felt uncomfortable in the mess hall.

"… Right." He muttered. He turned back to Noelle. "I don't think there's anything special about waking up early in this time."

"So what will you have?" She dodged his statement.

"Sandwich." He didn't want to suffer in the toilet like last time. He wanted something light for the day, but as he quickly glanced at every serving, there were only loaves of bread and everything else. "Huh. Is there a knife?"

"Please, let me!" Noelle flashed a rather overly friendly smile. At speed record, her hands were a blur grabbing everything. In a few seconds, she was done, presenting a large sandwich with generous meat and vegetables she served on a wooden plate.

… That's… wow she's fast. John looked for the tissue holder and grabbed a half-inch wad of it. "Is it alright if I bring this somewhere? I promise I won't make a mess."

"Of course. But do remember to return the plate."

Walking through the long hallway validated his thoughts.

Passing knights gave him all sorts of looks. It amused him how they were not even hiding it. His neutral gaze met many. Some looked at him with wide-eyed idealism as if surprised to see an unexpected celebrity. Some had this questionable yet curious glance. Some, with a disdained sneer like he's a walking eyesore. If it has anything to do with his guns, he can imagine why; they spent decades refining their swordsmanship, only for some metal tube to be proven better. It's funny in a way.

He didn't know what to do with his new fame. With no destination in mind, he walked as he ate. It's funny; in his first time meeting with Jean, he worried about every single word and action, worrying that one wrong step in the local culture would get his head chopped in a guillotine. Now he barely cares if eating while upright offends the locals.

And he could only do so because of his arms manufacturer status which gave him all the confidence he needed - his future is secured for the most part, as he has everything that satisfied the lowest threshold in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

He explored the hallways, stairways, and every twists and turns. Unknowingly, he cleared the fog of war in his [Map]. He encountered a familiar door leading to the battlements in his mindless exploration. He pulled it open, walked up round stairs, and opened another door. The chilly morning winds washed over him.

He watched the sun rising from the horizon at the knight's headquarters. The warm orange light permeated against the cold dark blues of the night. It was the third day of the siege. He felt proud. Proud that he helped people. That he made something that greatly helped in the siege. That he made a legacy that people will remember.

… Huh. This feels so strange.

He was a nobody back on Earth. His past self wouldn't have imagined the feeling when he was busy worrying if he could feed himself in the coming month.

This sudden change of life is… difficult to make peace with, but at least he spawned near an accommodating city. People don't treat their wounds with piss. There's a functional sewage system. No one is suffering from a pandemic. Back on Earth, there are many things most people take for granted. Nice things that inventors and laborers made into reality. For everything he learned about how peasants lived in the pre-modern era, Mondstadt is a developed city for its tech level; there are worse places to live back on Earth despite modernity.

"Hey," He talked to nobody. "God of Mondstadt. If there's a god, that is. Or gods. Whatever. I just want to say that, even if there are monsters around, you have a lovely country..."

A country that was starting to grow on him.

He took a last bite of his sandwich, storing the plate in his [Storage].

He heard footsteps.

"John?"

"The one and only." John turned around to see the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. He smiled warmly at her pretty face, "How was the operation last night? Wish I could've been with ya'll through the whole thing, but I got tired. I didn't want to risk a friendly fire."

"It went-" Jean paused, taking a deep breath expelled with a long… sigh? Groan? A mix of it from what it sounds. Coming from a noblewoman, that's telling a lot. "The gun teams have all been… productive. They've eliminated six abyss mages out of eight, as reported by the reports. If I must say, I thought I fell asleep in my office last night and dreamt it all."

"Guess you weren't expecting that, huh? But uh… something is telling me there's more to it."

"It's a game changer, John." Jean clutched her pearls, swallowing. "Your guns have all been proven to be more than enough to deal with our threats."

"Is it not that simple?" John studied her features. She didn't seem too happy; just that her smile was merely professional. He huffed, "Heh, then again, nothing's simple. Never had been, never will be. If you don't want to tell, keep it to yourself then. I can sleep better with a lot less things in my mind."

"Did-" Jean paused as if her next step would mean blowing a landmine. There was something off about him. He had this casual confidence in his voice that made her think he was possessed. Ever since the ambush, he became a completely different person. Was it because of last night? His weapons proved priceless, and the gods acknowledged his talents with a Vision. "Did you really lose your memory?"

Ah. They finally noticed. John kept silent. He wasn't worried. They can keep their suspicions and watch his every move. It doesn't matter; his actions will speak in his stead and reveal he has nothing else in mind but the best intentions for the common people. And himself.

As he can reason, the Knights of Favonius are aware that his expertise has contributed beyond expectations. It didn't blow to the roof, it rocketed to the heavens and crashed on the moon. While others played a crucial part, he was the ringmaster. Without his help, the city would've been endangered for longer. Days. Weeks. Months. People could've starved.

The Abyss Order would've executed their sinister plans upon the city. Plans his firearms denied. He spared the Favonius an unimaginable amount of resources. Time. Energy. Manpower. Food. Medicine. Lives. Everything and in between. He prevented a potential downfall of the city, or at the very least prevented many things best left forgotten.

"Maybe your memories fully recovered. You just haven't admitted it yet." Jean did not speak ill. Rather, the tone in her voice was that of friendly banter, "Regardless of the truth, you know more than you let on, huh."

"I'm a simple man. I like to keep things simple. I want to make it easy for you just as you made it easy for me." John shrugged, dodging the question. There was no point acting anymore. His expression was a mix of boredom and peace, "I'm sure you're not here for small talk. The last time I know, this city is still under siege. What do you want me to do?"

"Clearly, any plans I have in mind will only shackle your potential. It's pointless when you come up with unexpected things that bring unexpected results." Jean's cerulean eyes pierced his dark brown. She recalled his hammering machines and production methods which he conjured without her knowledge. In retrospect, had she known his plans, she would've stopped him from unfounded fears. But last night's victory would've labeled her a complete fool, "I would've rebuffed such… initiatives, but current affairs necessitate we adapt to you."

John stretched his arms, "In other words, you'll just let me do whatever."

"Frankly, yes."

"That's it? Alright. So uh… anything else? I'll be in Albedo's workshop after this." John casually asked without mentioning her respective title, "They've got some things I'd like to see, but they need my insights on which decisions best benefit our situation… speaking of, since you're here, how's the situation outside?"

Jean raised an eyebrow, "Our detachments posted in various forts have yet to share their situation if that's what you mean. But since you brought the topic…" Her voice turned weak.

"Not great, huh? Well, what was I expecting?" John broke eye contact and sneered at the sky, "People are dying and we're just sitting ducks."

"Please don't jump to conclusions, John. Trust me. In these situations, it eats your sanity." Behind her pursed lips, Jean gritted her teeth at the grim reminder. But his disgusted reaction proves he cares about people, which earned her respect. "It's not as bad as you'd expect. Our scouts confirmed that the Abyss Order congregated into one main force. Our detachments made sure of that."

Like herding sheep in a pen, He imagined. He walked to the embrasure and sat on it, sliding his hands snuggly inside his jacket, "If you had it your way, what'd you use to deal with the enemy outside? I don't need tactics in detail. I just need what sort of… element you need."

"The best way would be a head-on assault to spearhead a path for everyone," Jean paused, "Except we do not have heavy cavalry at our disposal."

"Hmm." It's not that John doesn't understand. From what he knows, cavalry acts as a shock troop that sows disorder. Guns can do the same thing to a great extent. Even so, upscaling production to arm every knight wouldn't be enough. It might work, but not without significant sacrifices.

Especially now that those abyss mage will be sure to activate their shields.

"Even if assuming both have equal power, gun infantry don't have the combined element of armor and speed that heavy cavalry has." He muttered absentmindedly, his head leaning back boredly. He compared similar attributes between heavy cavalry and modern-day armored vehicles. Indeed, without armor or supporting elements, infantry is left to their bloody fate.

"Chokepoints are effective as ranged units can focus fire in a small area. If they cross the bridge, you flip the equation. Even with support from Vision holders, I can imagine a leader unable to shout orders while losing oversight with all the gunfire and smoke." He can imagine the problem. Last night's operation must've informed the Abyss Order of the new weapons of the Favonius. They'd do everything to prevent anyone passing the bridge once they saw anyone crossing. "Abyss mages rush to the scene, gunners take potshots… then comes the slaughter when they reload."

… He already understood my concerns? But I barely said anything. Jean, with her enhanced senses, pretended not to hear his mutterings. His opinion was nothing special; any officer would've come to the same conclusion, but not everyone has yet to realize guns and their weaknesses. If he had insisted, she'd rebuke that it's not a matter of fitting every man with hand cannons. Coming from the man who introduced it, perhaps she's reading too much into it.

"How many abyss mages are there outside?"

"We've confirmed twenty-one sightings of them. But we're speculating that there are more from other confirmed Abyss strongholds."

… He didn't have a reference how exactly how much trouble that brings.

"And the hilichurls? And those giant things?"

Jean sighed, "It'd be better to show you."

…

What the actual fuck. John stood on top of the tower near the main gate of the city. He aligned his spyglass in front of his eye. Walls and barricades made of giant horns adorned with ropes and planks. Crude towers with beams that look like giant horns. Tents with framings that, you guessed it, look like horns.

Horns. Horns. Horns. Where'd they get them?

The logistical challenges to build a giant town from nowhere alluded him. Besides, it couldn't have been harvested from giant megafaunas for obvious reasons. He already has his answer, seeing samachurls in splotches of green and brown doing… weird dances that grow them. Like seeing a plant grow in timelapse, horns erupted from the ground. The hilichurls built on it as their giant counterparts hauled materials.

They're not actual horns. Just weird-looking plants.

(AN: and that's my headcanon about hilichurlian architecture.)

Hundreds of their barbaric tents. A collection of towers. Layers of hideous walls. Calling it an encampment is an understatement.

He noticed debris from hilichurlian construction nearer the bridge; must be the handiwork of the knight's catapult keeping them at bay.

Oh, they want this to last, alright. Thought John, looking at their workers erecting their primitive equivalent of fortification, a complete contrast to the city's civilized construction. Seriously. Why the fuck did their leader take the majority of their military for an expedition?

That doesn't make the sight of the bridge any less… impactful. There were rotting corpses of monsters emanating black smoke, dissipating slowly out of existence. From his perspective atop the battlement, it's like someone poured a bucket of Lego minifigures onto a long table. A lot of Legos. A fuckton of Legos. Yeah. So that's why she needed cavalry.

If the Abyss Order can throw that many bodies, then they can certainly throw anything to stop a cavalry charge.

While he's not a tactician, John can think of two solutions. One, go guerrilla. Napoleon-era tactics don't work on floating monsters. Line infantry only serves as a risk when you have aerial enemies slinging spells harassing the troops, but loose formations risk friendly fire and disorder.

Nah, fuck it. The answer is simple. Solution two. More fucking dakka.

After all, with enough firepower, you can stop any horde coming at you. Or you at them. It doesn't necessarily mean sending more gunners. It can mean fitting a single knight with more than one hand cannon like John does or upgrading their .50 cal musket pistols.

"I… uh." He laughed under his breath, commenting rhetorically, "I do wonder how things could have been without me. I'm guessing that you had different plans had I not been rescued?"

"We've sent runners to the expedition forces for reinforcement. We won't be expecting any reply for a couple of days. The plan was to hold until then." She smirked gratuitously, "But with your weapons, I figured to bring the fight to them, oh great artificer."

"Psh." John shrugged his title, earning a soft chuckle from Jean. As for that messenger, he didn't have an optimistic view. He's sure that Jean is also aware the Abyss Order must've done everything to prevent communication. It's best to ignore it. As if he had a good joke in his mind, he said, "So what are you expecting to achieve within this week? Or within a reasonable timeframe?"

"… Send a force to escort a demolition team to blow up their fortifications." Jean gestured to John to follow. She pointed down to the space behind Angel's Share, particularly the wine barrels converted into explosives. That brought up some embarrassing memories. "You might be thinking why we'd risk destroying walls instead of culling their numbers, but with Abyss Mages in droves, they can just summon more of their weaker brethren, meanwhile it'd take longer for them to rebuild. So instead, we focus on weakening their defenses that we can exploit in following operations."

Makes sense. He turned to Jean and gave back her spyglass. The shiny exterior flashed a reflection to his eyes. He took interest in its brown glossy construction; brass. He asked with amusement, anticipating her would-be reaction, "What if I could develop things that let you deal with them in one sweep?"

"… Pardon?"

Of course, there'd be a need to experiment with designs and develop new tools for a breechloading pistol… but eh, Albedo is that capable. It shouldn't take a week to make what John had in mind.

"Heh." John took pleasure in her surprise with a smug grin, "I know what I said, and I don't need to repeat it."

His cocky demeanor reminded Jean of Kaeya. Quite a change of personality from four days ago. She would've never imagined him to be this… confident.

John smiled mysteriously, which only cemented the notion, "Sorry, but better to show than tell. Besides, it'd just be technical nerd talk. So if you don't mind, I'm going to find Albedo. I heard he developed Elemental munitions."

"Can you at least summarize what you have in mind?" Jean asked flatly.

"Alright. Sure. Let's see… it's not even seven in the morning so I guess I have time." John licked his lips, glancing at different directions of things she couldn't see. He looked at her straight, "Long story short, if all things go right my way, you'll see my project today by midday."

"And that project is?" Jean puckered her lips with a pointed look, as John looked busy with his mind to organize his thoughts. This man just does whatever without telling his plans. A behavior she discouraged. Kaeya is already a handful with his antics.

"Okay." John raised his hands, "Imagine a pistol that can be reloaded within four seconds instead of thirty. It's the most realistic thing I can make into reality with Albedo around."

Jean narrowed her eyes. "What? What?"

"Yeah… I kinda expected that reaction. It's why I thought I don't need to say it when you don't believe it." John shrugged lightly. "Anyways. That's all it. End of discussion."

… I guess that's the best concession I'll ever get. Jean sighed, satisfied that at least she wasn't kept in the dark. He can be efficient when he wants to. It was refreshing from Jean's ears; a contrast to needlessly formal vocabulary from knights thinking to impress their superiors with flowery reports both oral and written.

Instead of walking to the door down the spiral stairs like a sane person, John looked over the battlement for the nearest, tallest building… with the same level of concentration as a cat preparing to pounce.

No. Is he going to- Jean squawked unceremoniously, "John!"

John leaped forward and caught the ledge of a building, climbed up, and hopped from rooftop to rooftop. The witnesses on the battlements were as bewildered as Jean.

"Oh my god." Jean's palm wiped her face.

End

Sheesh... it's been what, half a month since the last update? Yeah, sorry, I wasn't in the best mental state. And it's not about my other work. Life's just been shit for me.

But anyway.

A lot of the comments are mentioning all sorts of guns. Like oh my fucking god I've never had so many comments before. To address all this 'will X gun appear?' here's what I'm going to say. Don't expect any ww1 much less ww2 era to appear just because you think it's cool. This isn't some historical firearms simulator lol.

So while I'm using real-life guns as a reference, doesn't mean I'll follow them historically as milestones; what gun will appear will highly depend on what resources John has.

By the way, if you don't mind buying me coffee, check out my Ko-Fi page in my profile!

What will I use it for? Food.

Replies to recent reviews

Seanix

Yeah. No. No nukes here.

Umbra

Hehe... HehehehHEHEHEHEHEHEHE I can't say what plans I have so ain't gon say nothing to ya. By the way, thanks!

ShinySpiritomb

Yeah, it's inspired by how Lisa and Klee got theirs. Lisa just asked, meanwhile, Klee blew up a house, I think. So however Celestia does their thing, I think an arms manufacturer who came out of nowhere would catch their attention.

ThatGuyYouMet

Thanks, buddy!

1. I got inspired by how Lisa and Klee got theirs in their lore. So it's mostly arbitrary.

2. It's only inevitable that he'll be known to an extent. And yeah, there are other NPC's from other nations; a Sumerian scholar who visits the library at night, a Liyuan foodie who can't find any spicy dish, and... also the Fatui. But that's just it. Nothing important.

3. I only had him make hand cannons because forging small-bore barrels is extremely difficult according to sources. That said, bolt-actions and pump-actions wouldn't make an appearance for now, because what John needs is precision lathes and other such machines.

awstark

Don't expect gas-operated firearms to appear for a long while, or anything too complicated. He'll need to source the right tools for those. Not to mention research. While Sten gun is the simplest design I could think of, I'm kinda using real-life history as a milestone, so yes, expect lever action guns.

euricoalexander

Glad you love it! Imagine my reaction. Writing that came out of nowhere and I couldn't believe it myself when I wrote that.

I'm... not sure if that's a compliment or not.

Arekuruu Oni

Oh. Thank you. I don't usually get feedback on things I want to know, so I appreciate it. As for the Fatui? Yeah, it's not that simple. You gotta realize that Snezhnaya has an established global influence. A war head-on will destroy Mondstadt, so expect things to happen behind the curtains.

I checked A Farmer's Tale... yeah. I don't even know A Song of Ice and Fire. Shrugs.

As for Hoyo, that's the first time I've heard of it lol. Oh well.

snipervtk4

Any gas operation, much less any guns that need precision machining, won't be appearing in say... 5 to 10 chapters. And that's a rough estimate.

And yes, I'll announce it when I'm writing any original uplift stories.

Foxy-Kawai

Well well well... I actually have the same idea too for shits and giggles. I visualized him trying to tame a geovishap cus why not lol.

And John didn't exactly receive his Vision out of nowhere. Well, I mean, yeah, but considering that 'ambition' is a vague threshold for getting one, I think John meets the criteria because... you know.