Amber was confused, the morning had started as usual as she went ahead to patrol the surrounding area and dispatch any monster that she came across when a building that she was sure didn't exist yesterday caught her eye.
The building was situated near the bridge. When she asked Lawrence and Swan about it, they were as equally confused as she was.
"We're also pretty sure that building didn't exist last night either. It must've been built when we were taking a break. What do you think Swan?"
"Impossible. Unless magic is involved, there is no way a building just appeared out of thin air. On that note, we're not sure what to do. I'm pretty sure the Knight of Favonious Handbook doesn't have any instruction on if a building suddenly appeared out of thin air did it?"
Amber just shakes her head at Swan.
"Well, I guess there is no other option but to investigate it myself. You two be on guard if anything happens."
Both of them looked at each other with concerned expressions on their faces. "You sure you don't need any backup, Amber?" Asked Lawrence.
"Nope. Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will be a quick inspection and questioning if the owner is in there."
Swan just salutes at her. "If you need any assistance, just call us and we'll quickly be there."
Amber gives a quick salute to the two before going to the building.
Walking to the building, she mentally notes down all its features. The structure itself is not very big, it is also very plain-looking. Although she did notice a few oddities, such as the fact that the windows were big, yet, she couldn't see through them at all.
Lastly, as she approached the front door, she saw a big sign with the words "Gaming Cafe" written on it along with a small logo of Mondstadt next to it.
Steeling her nerves, she pushed the wooden door open as a cool breeze hit her entire body.
"Welcome."
A voice nearly made her jump in fright as she searched for the source of it.
She saw a black-haired boy shorter than her behind what was seemingly a bar counter with shelves full of drinks she had never seen or heard before. Looking closer at the boy, she also saw that he was wearing plain-looking clothes, but what got her curious was when she noticed a pair of horns on his head, a pair of leathery wings on his back and even scales on his body. Scales that are similar to a dragon. Like Stormterror. Even his ears oddly enough resemble those of Klee and Alice although a bit sharper looking compared to those two.
"Ummm...." It was then she noticed that she may have been looking a little too closely as the boy was looking a little red in the face.
Feeling a bit embarrassed at herself, Amber coughed a bit before composing herself.
"May the Anemo God protect you, stranger! I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonious! I am here to investigate this mysterious building that appeared overnight in front of the City of Mondstadt. Explain your intention immediately!"
"Ah. It must've confused the hell out of you. Sorry about that. Anyway, My name is Aiden and this is my Gaming Cafe. Here you can play the game Genshin Impact on any of the many computers here. You can visit the lounge area to relax or hang out together with a friend."
'Definitely not a local name.' Amber briefly surveyed the room and was slightly amazed by the row upon row of strange-looking devices on top of a desk with a chair accompanying each one. She also realises how big this place is. Compared to its appearance outside, she wagers that there is enough space here to comfortably fit 300 or so at once. Not only that, she also spots 7 other doors with symbols for the 6 other nations on it. 2 of them with a symbol of Inazuma.
"...also serve non-alcoholic drinks and foods. Also, if you are ever inflicted with any ailments or injury, just come to me." She snaps her attention at the boy again.
"So, to sum it up, this 'Gaming Cafe' of yours is a place where you can play a game called 'Genshin Impact' right?"
The boy just nods at her.
"What about the prices?"
"Oh, the prices here are very cheap. 5000 Mora per hour of playtime. Any more questions?"
"How did you make this place big on the inside compared to the outside."
"Trade secrets. Any more questions?"
"Are you a dragon?"
The boy just smiled at the very personal question. It made Amber slightly guilty yet she had to ask. Mondstadt already has a dragon problem, it certainly didn't need another.
"While I can't fully answer what I am, I can assure you that I bring no harm to Mondstadt or its citizens."
Amber let out a sigh of relief at his assurance. It sounded genuine enough. "How do I know you're running a genuine business here? I have never heard of a 'Gaming Cafe' before let alone this so-called 'Genshin Impact."
The boy gave Amber a soft smile, "Well, today is your lucky day Amber. As my first-ever customer, I will give you a 1-hour free trial. Do you want to test the game?"
Amber gave a hard think. Deciding to make sure that the boy was not scamming anyone she gave the owner a word. "Sure." Not like she was losing anything. Besides she'll probably stay here for an hour before continuing her patrol mission.
"Alright then, your desk is the first one. I'll activate your account in a second." He then handed her the account information he had written before showing her the computer she was assigned to.
She sat down in front of the rectangular screen, which told her to click to continue. She had no idea what to do. In front of her is a device with many buttons on it, each button having the alphabet along with numbers and symbols on it. To its side is a smaller device, it looks round in with a wheel in the middle of it.
Amber simply waited, afraid of damaging any device here. They look quite advanced and are undoubtedly expensive. Out of curiosity, she held the smaller device in her hand, finding it quite light.
'Click'
A clicking sound and Amber was startled as a voice emanated from the headband-looking device. As instructed, she put it on her head, the process a bit awkward as her ribbon obstructed the device.
After she puts it on, she watches as the black screen lights up.
"The war has already begun. It is just a continuation of past battles." She heard what seemed to be a narrator.
"War. What war?"
From there she watched the screen as it showed two shooting stars streaking across the sky of Liyue and Mondstadt. Again she was awed at the quality of the moving picture.
The screen then showed a field of flowers that she had never seen along with two people standing on it. Both of them looked similar to each other so they must be a twin.
She was so absorbed by it that she failed to hear what the narrator was saying.
"See for yourself"
It then flashes a symbol of Anemo along with some words.
ACT.Prologue Mondstadt
The Outlander Who Caught The Winds
"The dragon who defended Mondstadt for a millennium finally faces his perturbation."
Amber closes her eyes, of course, she knows that Stormterror is one of the Four Winds. It is disheartening to see the citizen of Mondstadt be afraid of what is supposed to be their protector.
Nevertheless, something had to be done to stop Stormterror from causing more destruction.
Her eyes open up to see Master Diluc in a cool pose holding his claymore with a fiery bird behind him.
"Whoa..."
"What does freedom really mean, when demanded of you by a god?"
Before she could think about the sentence, the screen switched to what she presumed was Liyue. This one though, disturbed her a bit.
ACT.1 Liyue
Farewell, Archaic Lord
"The God of Contracts, senselessly slaughtered as his people watch on in horror."
It horrified Amber. For the oldest god of the Seven Nations to be killed... It was something that you read about in a history book about the Archon War.
The screen then showed another person that was unfamiliar but she had heard about, Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, Ningguang.
"In the end, he will sign the contract to end all contracts."
The screen then went on and on showing different nations all the way to Snezhnaya.
To be honest, Amber tuned out most of it as she was not familiar with the other nations barring Sumeru thanks to Collei. She even saw Cyno representing Sumeru.
Huh. Hopefully they're doing well.
Lastly is Khaen'riah. She was sure she had heard Lisa mention the nation before. It was apparently destroyed 500 years ago.
Lastly, the screen showed the field of flowers, with the boy now missing and the girl looking downcast.
The screen faded to black with the logo for the game flashing on the screen.
GENSHIN
IMPACT
"My memory has all but faded completely... But I will always remember how much he too, loved these flowers."
The scenery then changed to a pathway in the sky with serene music accompanying it. The walkway is continuously being built as the screen moves forward. A bar is seen under it.
Is that Celestia?
It then prompted her to enter her login details.
"Ah, it seems you've made it to the main menu. Here, let me teach you how to use these."
For the next few minutes, he teaches her the functionality of the devices which also gives Amber ample opportunity to closely examine the mysterious owner. She realizes that the boy's back is a very slender-looking tail completely covered in scales.
"After you're done just click the ENTER key."
After he was done, Amber did as she was told and entered the necessary info and pressed enter on the 'Keyboard' with the help of the device called 'Mouse'. It then prompted her to click to continue after which the page disappeared and an archway appeared.
With the press of the mouse button, Amber was greeted by a blinding light and then symbols of the seven elements being shown one by one before it was changed to a scene of a drawing on the sand with a crab scurrying away off-screen.
"So, what you're trying to say is that you fell here... from another world?"
Those words alone carried several implications of the nature of Teyvat. That there are those who are not native to Teyvat and came from another world entirely. If Lisa or any of Sumeru's scholars saw this...
She watches as the twins from the intro make their way onto the pathway of the island in the sky which Amber is now sure is the palace of the gods that many people had gazed at many times in their life.
"Your path was blocked by some unknown god?"
The sky split apart with reddish and black energy as a woman emerged out of it, stopping the two from seemingly leaving the place. She introduced herself as the Sustainer of Heavenly Principle.
While she was not here, Amber could feel the aura unsettling the unknown god was projecting.
"Wonder how powerful she is?"
The next few moments passed by quickly as the god attacked the duo with an unfamiliar element. The twins, in turn, dodged her attack and then unfurled their golden wings and wielded their similarly golden weapons.
The two set about dodging and weaving the blocky attack of the woman before simultaneously attacking the woman.
An explosion engulfed the screen after which Amber was taken out of her trance with an option to pick one of the twins. She naturally selected the girl which then prompted her to name her.
"How about Amber." While it's not the most creative of names, it'll have to do.
Pressing ENTER, the viewing resumed as the character she chose managed to leap back to avoid her twin being consumed into a tiny cube.
"Aether!"
The distraught in the girl's voice fills Amber with a sense of guilt. While she was sure the two were a fictional character, it didn't make any it less disheartening to see the two forcibly separated. She knew all too well how that felt.
The blonde girl then went to attack the unknown god with even more power put into it. It was all for nought as the girl was then consumed just like her brother.
"Wait! Don't go!"
"Give my brother back!"
"...And just like that, the god took away my brother. Some kind of seal was cast upon me, and I lost my power. So, while we used to cross world after world, we are now trapped here."
The sombre moment was momentarily forgotten as Amber giggled at the scene of the blonde girl fishing Paimon out of the water.
After a bit of dialogue, the game then opens up, giving Amber a tutorial on how to control her character.
It feels surreal to her, controlling a person, albeit a fictional one, like a puppet. The movement felt fluid and natural, even the combat as she quickly dispatched a hydro slime.
She also learns that the floating device she had seen all across Teyvat was apparently a Teleport Waypoint which allowed her to teleport as long as she activated it first.
Climbing on the rock face, which depletes her stamina bar, she continued following Paimon.
Her breath hitched slightly as the screen showed her a breathtaking sight of Mondstadt with the silhouette of the city visible in the background.
After the amazing view, Paimon then gives a bit of history about the Statue of The Seven along with their next objective of meeting the Anemo Archon.
Prologue Act 1
The Outlander Who Caught The Wind
Before she could continue on her way, she heard a very familiar voice call out to her.
"Amber? Is that you?"
Amber was pretty sure she just gave herself a slight dizziness when she quickly rotated her head to look at the person.
"Collei? Cyno?" Two people who she for sure knows are supposed to be still in Sumeru are standing right in front of her, along with who she assumes to be Collei's Master, Tighnari.
Before she could say another word, Collei barreled towards her.
"Amber!"