"Alright! Mt. Hulao it is!" I announced with the enthusiasm of someone about to climb the most beautiful, death-defying staircase in Teyvat. I stretched dramatically and pointed up toward the mountain like it owed me money. Lumine looked at me. Hard. You know that look. The one where she's trying to calculate how much trauma I'm about to inflict on the group.
"You sure about that?" she asked.
"Nope," I said with a thumbs up. "But that bird—it's calling me. Probably cursing me in ancient bird language too, but still. Gotta find it."
Inside, though? I was dead serious. This wasn't about some shiny avian collectible. I needed answers, and I needed him—Mountain Shaper. The big rock bird himself. But outside? Oh, I kept my clown mask on. For now.
Climbing Mt. Hulao wasn't exactly a pleasant nature hike. First, we got ambushed by a gang of hilichurls who I swear were just chilling with their shovels until I stepped on their campfire. My bad. Then we ran into a stone hide lawachurl who apparently mistook me for its ex.
"Back off, Shrek! I'm not emotionally available!" I yelled while running in circles. Lumine sighed so hard I thought she might create a wind current.
And then, we met him—Li Ding. Crying his heart out near a giant amber rock.
"My brother! He's trapped in that amber!" he wailed.
I blinked. "That's rough, buddy. Lumine, you got this."
"Wait, what? Why me?" she frowned.
"Because," I said, shifting my tone. "I've got somewhere I need to be. I'm going to speak to the Mountain Shaper. Alone."
She raised an eyebrow. Even Paimon paused mid-air. I don't go serious mode often, but when I do, the room freezes.
"...You sure about that?" Lumine asked again, quieter.
I nodded once. "Yeah. Just make sure that guy doesn't cry himself into a hydro slime."
She didn't argue after that. That's when you know I wasn't playing.
I found the domain tucked between jagged cliffs. In the game, this was off-limits. But this ain't a game anymore. I pushed through the barrier like it was made of mist and regret.
The moment I stepped in, the atmosphere shifted. Cold. Ancient. Echoes of something bigger than me whispered through the air.
Then came the voice.
"You dare enter One's domain, mortal?"
"I need to speak with you, Jiehu," I said, stepping deeper.
Silence. Then... a thrum.
A figure emerged from the fog. Human-shaped, glowing slightly with Geo energy. Long hair, golden eyes, younger-looking than I expected but carrying that aura. That weight.
"You dare speak one's true name so casually," Mountain Shaper said, voice calm but sharp like a blade.
I grinned. "You don't look like that in the game. Cool upgrade, though."
He wasn't amused.
"You step into sacred grounds without invitation. Explain yourself."
I took a deep breath. Time for the truth.
"Rex Lapis... died."
The domain trembled.
"You lie," he said, voice low.
He moved, suddenly, drawing a blade of pure stone. He came at me like a storm of Geo fury. But I raised my hand.
Clack. Geo shield.
"He died," I repeated, quieter. "Or that's what he wants you to think."
Mountain Shaper stood still, blade an inch from my throat.
"Explain. Now."
And so, I did.
I nod, not backing down. "It was chaos. After Rex Lapis fell, Liyue Harbor went into utter turmoil. People were freaking out. The Qixing, the Liyue citizens—they all thought it was the end. They're suspicious of me and Lumine. We're foreigners. We got too close to Rex Lapis. We're prime suspects. But I know Morax isn't dead. He's faking it."
Mountain Shaper's eyes flicker with shock, and I can see that he's taken aback by the fact that I know Morax's true name. "You know...?" he trails off.
"Of course I do. I'm not an idiot," I say with a grin, though I know this isn't the time for jokes. "But here's the thing. I'm not just here to tell you that your old buddy isn't dead. I'm here because I need your help."
"You know much for a fool."
"I'm a lot of things. Idiot. Clown. Simp. But I'm not stupid when it counts."
I sighed and dropped my hands.
"I need to get stronger. Not just for the battles ahead, but for the ones after that. You're an Adeptus, right? You've fought more than I can even imagine. You've seen things I haven't even begun to understand. I'm not asking you for a handout, Jiehu. I'm asking you to teach me. To make me stronger."
"Why must it be this One? Where are your companions? Why do you come alone?"
"Because this... this I have to do alone."
He studied me. Quiet. Then, he walked back and sat.
"Would you like a story?" I asked, mirroring him.
He didn't respond.
So, I sat across from him. Cross-legged. Calm.
"Once upon a time," I began, "there was a dumbass who fell into a different world. He wasn't strong. Wasn't wise. But he had heart. And unfortunately, that heart kept getting him into big-ass trouble."
His expression didn't shift. But I swear I saw his eye twitch.
"He had friends. Powerful ones. But even among them, he knew he was the weakest. So he made a choice. To seek the ancient. To beg knowledge from a thousand-year-old rock bird who looked suspiciously like a handsome young man with great hair."
Mountain Shaper closed his eyes. I wasn't sure if he was meditating or trying not to commit murder.
"He came to that bird," I continued, voice steadying. "Because he knew... the future battles? They'd be bigger than all of them."
The silence inside Mountain Shaper's domain was deafening.
I sat there on the cold ground, eyes half-lidded, like I was trying to understand the patterns on the tiles. But really, I was just avoiding his gaze for a moment longer. I took a deep breath, the air felt heavy, ancient, like the very walls were judging me.
Then I looked up.
"World-altering fights... they're not coming. They're already here."
My voice wasn't loud. I wasn't trying to convince anyone at this point. I was just... saying it out loud. Saying it so I wouldn't forget it myself.
"What will happen in Liyue... can't be salvaged anymore. Everything's already moving, like an unstoppable current. Morax, the Fatui, the Abyss... All of them are pieces on the board."
I scoffed, letting my head fall back for a moment to look at the ceiling. "What a mess, huh?"
Then I sat back up and looked straight into Mountain Shaper's eyes. His human form still unnerved me. He looked like someone I could've gone to school with. Someone I could've had lunch with. Maybe someone I would've punched for being too uptight.
But that illusion shattered fast. He wasn't just someone. He was a damn illuminated beast who probably witnessed the fall of empires. And here I was, a guy who got isekai'd and thinks with his stomach half the time.
"This world..." I started, and my voice cracked, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "This world means a lot to that idiot."
I jabbed my own chest with my thumb.
"Yeah, that idiot is me. The clown who didn't even know what Geo resonance did when he first got here. The moron who still calls Zhongli 'Zhongbro' sometimes in his head. This world... it was my salvation. So that idiot will do everything he can for it."
I stood up.
"Please," I said, voice firm now. "Help me, oh powerful being."
Mountain Shaper looked at me.
No words.
Just a stare that felt like it could drill through every wall I'd ever built.
Then he stood.
His movement was smooth, dignified. He brushed the dust off his robes with one gliding motion, like he was preparing himself for something far bigger than me. He didn't even blink.
"Do not blame One," he said, voice calm but cold as the mountain wind, "if thee... leaves this world."
And suddenly, the domain trembled.
Oh.
Oh, hell.
We're doing this.
I braced myself as the air cracked with pressure. His hand moved. Slowly. Like a teacher tired of a particularly loud student who just wouldn't shut up in class. Except this teacher could slice mountains in half with a flick of his wrist.
Perfect.
"Great," I muttered to myself, cracking my neck as the Geo energy started to surge beneath my feet.
"Just what I wanted today... a god-tier boss fight after skipping breakfast."
***
"Time flows differently in One's domain," Mountain Shaper said, stroking his ridiculously long and majestic hair like he was doing a shampoo commercial for Adepti.
I blinked at him. Then squinted.
"So like... is this like Narnia rules or Dragon Ball hyperbolic time chamber kind of deal? Or are we talking Inception levels of confusing?"
Mountain Shaper squinted back. Not in confusion. In judgment. And in pure, refined disappointment.
...Oops.
The next thing I knew, my face was kissing the domain floor. Again. Pretty sure my soul left my body for a second there.
"You ask too many foolish questions," he said calmly, stepping over me like I was a particularly annoying twig.
"Hey, you didn't have to yeet me into a boulder, damn!" I groaned, rolling over. "My spine just became origami!"
He ignored me. Classic. At this point, getting ignored by ancient demigods was a Wednesday.
Mountain Shaper crossed his arms. "A day in this domain is equivalent to a minute in the outside world. If you are to train here, your time is yours to shape. But you must endure."
I shot up, cracked my neck — ow! — puffed my chest, and declared with all the misplaced confidence I could muster. "BRING IT ON! I'LL TAKE WHATEVER YOU THROW AT ME, OLD BIRD!"
...
I regretted everything after exactly three minutes.
Okay, look. I've seen every sword anime in existence. I played Dark Souls. I main Ayato. I thought I could handle this.
Cue me getting disarmed within 0.3 seconds.
"You swing like a man fending off bees," Mountain Shaper said, unimpressed.
"That's because you ARE THE BEE!" I shouted mid-slash.
He blinked. "What?"
"Sorry, that made more sense in my head."
By day five, my hands were full of blisters, my pride was obliterated, and my sword was basically being used as a walking stick. Every time I tried to land a hit, Mountain Shaper dodged like he was glitching through reality.
Why did I even try to look cool? I swung that sword like a kid with a pool noodle. Meanwhile, he looked like a kung fu movie on 4x speed. I came in thinking I'd be a samurai prodigy, but I'm starting to feel like the comedic relief in a wuxia drama.
"Again," he said.
"I'm starting to think you enjoy this."
"One does."
Sadist.
Next up, polearms. I looked at the elegant spear in my hand and thought, Yeah. Cool. I can twirl this. This is my redemption arc. This is how I become the cool guy with mysterious polearm skills. You know, the ones who say cryptic stuff like 'a true warrior doesn't strike first, he lets the wind guide his thrust.'
I could not.
"You must become one with the spear."
"Sir, the only thing I'm becoming one with is the ground."
WHACK!
"Ah yes. My groin. My legacy ends here. I'm sorry Nilou."
Every time I tried to spin it, it either smacked me in the face or hit Mountain Shaper's stone furniture. I broke three benches. He made me rebuild them. With my bare hands. Using geo. While blindfolded. With him screaming "LEFT!" when it was clearly right.
…Somewhere during this process, my sanity packed up and left. I started having long conversations with the broken bench planks. One of them told me his name was Jeff. I trusted Jeff.
Do real warriors go through this? I'm supposed to be cool. I'm supposed to be training for battle, not an HGTV episode called 'Rebuilding With Shame.' I came here to learn martial arts, not woodworking. What is this, a crossover episode?
Fuck...
Archery was supposed to be my redemption arc.
It was not.
"Hold the bow steady."
"Like this?"
"Your arm is shaking."
"That's confidence!"
I let the arrow fly.
I hit myself. The arrow bounced. HOW.
"You must calculate wind, angle, focus—"
"DO I LOOK LIKE A MATH MAJOR TO YOU?!"
The wind mocked me. The arrows mocked me. Even my bowstring started looking at me funny.
I've failed at everything. If I ever meet Venti again, I'm gonna punch him just for being good at this. I mean seriously, he looks like he hasn't lifted a dumbbell in his life and he's still better than me.
Now THIS was it. Magic time. Time to show off my inner anime protagonist!
"Feel your elemental power," Mountain Shaper said.
I clenched my fists. Focused. Summoned every ounce of energy.
"YAAAAHHH—!"
Nothing happened.
"…Are you constipated?" he asked.
"…Possibly."
Eventually, I made a tiny spark. He blinked.
"…Did you just sneeze geo?"
"Progress!"
This is what they don't show in anime. The part where the main character explodes themselves trying to cast level one magic. I think I just invented the elemental equivalent of a paper cut.
They gave me a sword bigger than my hopes and dreams combined. I lifted it. Immediately fell backwards.
"This is illegal."
"You must build strength."
"I skipped arm day for 20 years!"
He didn't care.
I was forced to run laps carrying it. Uphill. In sand. With a geo boulder tied to my back. At one point I became one with the claymore. Literally.
If I survive this, I'm never lifting anything heavier than a fork again. And even that fork better be plastic. This thing has turned me into a sad sack of muscles and wheezing.
"Balance your emotions. Align with the earth."
I sat on a floating rock. With pebbles on my head. Surrounded by floating platforms.
Any wrong move? Explosion.
"Is this training or a punishment from the gods?!"
"Yes."
This isn't training. This is a trap. I've been punked. Where's Zhongli with the contracts and fine tea when I need emotional support?! Maybe he can sue the domain on my behalf.
Mountain Shaper created a Geo clone of me. Same hair. Same outfit. But it looked... smugger.
"Okay, no need to roast me with my own face."
I lunged. Clone Me parried perfectly.
"Wow. I hate myself."
"Excellent. Now defeat him."
Clone Me whispered, "Your Ayato artifacts suck."
…He dies now.
Noone disrespects my Ayato!
Is this what I look like? Is this how I sound? Someone stop me. Wait, no. I'll stop me. FIGHT CLUB TIME. Internal conflict? More like external beatdown!
I could only eat if I passed his absurd daily quests.
"Deflect ten arrows while blindfolded."
"Run the domain's perimeter in 10 minutes."
"Do 200 push-ups without screaming 'My arms!'"
One time I was so hungry I started chewing on a geo crystal.
"This has… crunch."
I understand why people go mad in survival shows. I just saw a mushroom and called it 'sir.'
Every part of my body screamed. I had blisters on my blisters. My brain had PTSD from polearms. My heart, however… my heart burned.
"FOR TEYVAT!!" I screamed to the heavens.
"FOR THE FUTURE BATTLES!!"
"TO SAVE THOSE WHO NEED TO BE SAVED!!"
"…TO MARRY NILOU—okay yeah that one's personal but let a man dream!!"
Mountain Shaper raised a brow.
He didn't object.
Manifestation: unlocked.
I stood across from him. Sword in hand. He was in human form.
We clashed. He moved swiftly—I blocked.
He struck—I parried. I switched to polearm, launched a geo spear, dropped a shield, backflipped into a claymore stance.
I saw him smile. Barely.
"It seems… you are ready."
I collapsed to my knees.
"Thank the Archons. I can taste freedom. Wait. Wait, is that my kneecaps saying goodbye?"
I walked out, feeling like I aged twenty years. My muscles were muscles. My soul had a six-pack.
Lumine ran up. "What happened?! What's inside the domain?"
I looked into the distance.
"…Hell. Worse, actually. Hell with patch notes and a five-hour tutorial."
Paimon blinked. "You look like you fought a god."
"I did. Over and over again. And it beat me up every single damn time."
Mountain Shaper turned back into his bird form. "One shall meet the other Adepti. May your strength guide your choices."
I nodded.
I opened and closed my fists.
I was different now. Stronger. Faster. Smarter… okay, maybe not smarter, but definitely cooler.
I could fight. I would fight. No more being the background idiot.
I knew the plot.
I would change it.
Because I'm Shigeru. The Outlander. The Legend. Nilou's future husband. Okay, let the man dream.
And the next time someone underestimates me?
I'll hit them with a claymore of justice and a punch full of regret.
___________________________________
End of Chapter 20
Quest Completed: Survive the brutal training of an ancient Adeptus
Sub Quest: Don't cry in front of the bird
Rewards: +100 Strength (mental and physical), +150 Endurance. Can now survive being hit by philosophical boulders, +50 Charisma (scars make you cool, right?), and New Skill: Geo Infusion