“So that’s how it is!”
After listening to Eve’s explanation, Lumine looked profoundly shocked.
“Hmph!
Paimon—Paimon doesn’t believe it at all!” Paimon crossed her arms and stubbornly insisted.
“Believe it or not, it’s up to you,” Eve said with a haughty little huff.
“Waaah!
Eve, you’re so annoying!” Paimon stamped her little feet furiously in mid-air.
Watching the bickering between Eve and Paimon, a faint, amused smile touched Lumine’s lips.
“All right, Paimon, Eve, stop squabbling.
We need to pick up the pace,” Lumine gently scolded, her fingers playfully tweaking the three grass blades atop Eve’s head.
“Hmph!
Paimon isn’t going to lower herself to argue with a slime!”
At Lumine’s words, Paimon puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms tighter, and floated right over to Lumine’s ear.
“And I wouldn’t dream of lowering myself to argue with emergency food,” Eve replied with a soft, teasing smile.
And so, with Lumine cradling Eve in her arms and Paimon hovering close beside them, the trio made their way toward the Statue of The Seven standing in the middle of Starfall Lake.
Along the way, Eve suddenly noticed that Lumine’s hands seemed to be trembling slightly.
It was likely because she had been carrying her continuously for a long time, causing her arms to grow sore and fatigued.
Without a second thought, Eve shifted and wiggled her slippery body.
“What’s wrong, Eve?” Lumine asked, immediately sensing the movement in her arms.
“You look pretty tired from holding me all this way.
Let me climb onto your shoulder instead!
It should be much easier for you that way,” Eve said with genuine concern.
No sooner said than done, Eve immediately scrambled upward toward Lumine’s shoulder.
“It’s fine, really—wait, hold on, Eve, that tickles!” Before Lumine could react, Eve had already scampered up to perch on her shoulder.
“Eve, I really don’t mind carrying you,” Lumine tilted her head to say to the little slime resting against her collarbone.
“But your arms were literally shaking,” Eve pouted.
It was glaringly obvious that Lumine had been stubbornly pushing through the strain.
“So you noticed all along,” Lumine’s cheeks flushed with a delicate pink.
Though Eve was remarkably comfortable to hold, carrying her like that for an extended period was undeniably exhausting.
Lumine had simply been enduring the ache out of lingering guilt over accidentally hurting Eve back at the camp…
Ahead of them, Paimon shouted back, “Hey, what are you two dawdling about?
The Statue of The Seven is right up ahead, hurry up and catch up!”
“Mm-hm, coming!” Lumine called back with a wave.
“Hold on tight, okay?”
Lumine flashed a warm smile at the little slime on her shoulder, then broke into a brisk jog, heading straight for the lakeshore.
Feeling the rhythmic bouncing, Eve pressed tightly against Lumine’s shoulder to keep from tumbling off.
The scenery rushed backward in a blur, and in no time at all, Lumine reached the grassy bank of Starfall Lake.
“That’s the Statue of The Seven right over there.”
“Even though I’m not entirely sure if the one you’re searching for is the Anemo Archon, I brought you straight to the Wind’s domain for a very good reason!” Paimon buzzed around Lumine’s head, explaining eagerly. This story is hosted at g.com.
“As everyone knows, language and poetry drift on the wind; there’s bound to be some news of your brother carried on the breeze.
That’s what I figure, anyway.
Of course, whether we actually get a response from the god or not—we’ll just have to try and see!”
“Let’s swim across!” Paimon chirped excitedly.
“Mm.” Lumine gave a soft nod.
She stepped slowly into the cool water of the lake.
“Eve, are you…” Lumine suddenly turned her head, looking back with a worried expression.
“I’m fine, I can hold on tight,” Eve answered with absolute calm.
Mere lake water was hardly worth mentioning.
“Alright.” Lumine turned back around, wading deeper into the refreshing depths.
Beneath the sunlight, the young woman’s fair skin seemed to glow radiantly against the crystalline water.
Naturally, every time Lumine swam a short distance, a little Dendro core was left floating on the lake’s surface in her wake.
*Eve: (Glug, glug, glug, glug…)*
Before long, Lumine reached the small island at the center of the lake.
She wrung out her soaked clothes.
The young woman’s slender, well-proportioned figure was faintly discernible beneath the clinging, damp white fabric, lending her an effortlessly alluring charm.
Eve hopped down from Lumine’s shoulder and gave a vigorous shake, sending droplets flying off the three grass blades on her head.
The swim across had apparently triggered quite a lively elemental reaction in the water!
As for Paimon, since she could float freely through the air, not a single drop of water had touched her.
“We’ve arrived!
Time to pray!” Paimon fluttered over to the side of the towering stone statue, brimming with excitement.
Lumine nodded in agreement.
She walked up to the base of the statue with a devout expression, closed her eyes, and carefully pressed her palm against the cool stone surface.
*Ding…*
In an instant, the statue flared to life, pulsing with a brilliant, vibrant teal glow.
Startled, Lumine instinctively jerked backward in a panic.
She momentarily feared she had accidentally done something wrong.
Immediately afterward, concentrated currents of Anemo energy surged through the air, gathering rapidly until all the cyan radiance converged within the sphere held tightly in the statue’s hands.
Watching this breathtaking spectacle unfold, a famous line involuntarily slipped from Eve’s lips:
*”As long as you do not lose your haughty nobility, the world shall open its doors to you.”*
A stream of pure turquoise energy burst forth from the orb in the statue’s grasp, shooting straight toward Lumine like a bolt of wind.
Imprinted with the unmistakable insignia of the Anemo element, the sphere of energy melted seamlessly into Lumine’s body the very moment it made contact.
Lumine stared down at her hands in utter disbelief.
She could distinctly feel wisps of gentle breeze swirling around her limbs, making her entire body feel weightless and unburdened.
“I…
I think I can feel a strange kind of power,” Lumine murmured, astonishment lacing her voice.
“Ooh!
Did you just feel the elemental energy of this world?” Paimon immediately zipped over to Lumine’s side, clapping her hands happily.
“It looks like simply touching the statue was enough for you to harness the power of Anemo.”
You really are an exception to the rule,” Eve remarked coldly as she watched the scene play out.
Even with the entirety of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata’s memories imprinted within her, Eve still found this baffling.
Someone like Lumine was completely unprecedented.
“For anyone in this world, acquiring power is never this effortless,” Eve added.
“Is that so, Eve?
Well, that certainly sounds bizarre!” Hearing this, Lumine crouched down before the little slime and scooped her up into her arms.
“It really is…
Wait, hold on—”
Before Eve could finish her sentence, she found herself cradled once more against the soft warmth of Lumine’s chest.
“What’s wrong?” Lumine asked with a curious tilt of her head.
“I-It’s just…
you probably really aren’t from this world after all!” Eve flushed slightly, quickly pivoting the conversation.
“Mm, I suppose you’re right,” Lumine nodded thoughtfully.
“By the way, what was that thing you called a ‘Vision’ earlier?” Lumine pressed on, her curiosity thoroughly piqued.
She had been wondering about the term ever since Eve mentioned it.
“Ah, a Vision?”
“To put it simply, a Vision is an external magical organ for mortals.
Once you have one, you can channel and manipulate elemental energy freely.”
“When a person’s mortal desires reach their absolute extreme, the gods take notice and cast their gaze downward.
When one gains the divine approval, a Vision—that elemental magical organ—manifests to help them guide the power of the elements.”
Eve explained patiently.
“Then does the god who hands out these Visions happen to be the Seven Rulers who govern the continent?” Lumine asked inquisitively.
“As far as I know, no,” Eve shook her head.
According to her distant memories, ever since she became one of the Seven as the Dendro Archon two thousand years ago, she had never once handed out a single Vision.
Furthermore, the existence of Visions predated the establishment of the Seven Archons entirely.
Take her current situation, for instance: during the five hundred years she spent in deep slumber, even though she had passed the Dendro Gnosis on to Nahida, the Lesser Lord Kusanali had been kept imprisoned by the Sumeru Akademiya all this while.
Forget casting down divine gazes, the poor child could barely protect herself!
And yet, despite all that, the distribution of Dendro Visions across the world had never once stopped.
Therefore, the deity responsible for issuing Visions was definitely not one of the Seven.
If the rumors held any truth at all, that entity resided far above, in Celestia itself.
Even so, one undeniable fact remained: the will of the Seven could indeed influence the issuance of Visions corresponding to their respective elements.
Because the conduit used by the deity of Celestia to distribute Visions operated through the Gnosis of the Seven.
However, the Seven could only indirectly block or restrict the distribution of Visions; they had no personal authority to grant them.
To use an analogy, a Vision was like a sluice gate: while the Seven Archons couldn’t decide whose water flowed through the channel, they retained the absolute authority to slam the gates shut.
Yet, many ordinary residents across Teyvat had been misled by circulating rumors, mistakenly believing that the Seven Archons themselves were the ones handing out Visions.
On top of that, Visions themselves possessed no inherent elemental affinity; rather, they were categorized by region, meaning the exterior casing and design varied depending on where the bearer received them.
The actual element manifested by a Vision was directly tied to the deepest desires burning within the recipient’s heart.