"It sprouted!"
"That it did."
Slender fingers gently brushed against the tender green shoots—unknown crops, vibrant and refreshing, standing out against the seemingly eternal pink-purple soil around them. This rare sight on Watatsumi Island carried with it the promise of farmland and a future for cultivation, all unfolding before Sangonomiya Kokomi's eyes.
After enduring an unpleasant rainy night, her nearly depleted energy seemed to recover swiftly at the sight of this small 3-by-3-meter vegetable patch.
However, Victor Wang mercilessly launched an attack on the adorable seedlings.
"W-why are you pulling them out?"
"This is called thinning. We sow more seeds to guarantee survival, but after sprouting, if the seedlings are too crowded, none of them will grow properly. You mean you don't know this?"
"So that's how it is… Watatsumi Island's land has never been fertile enough to need thinning. But from now on, things will change." Kokomi clenched her fist, giving herself courage, before turning toward another patch of seedlings. "I'll thin this patch myself!"
Nearby were the other two control plots.
The batch that hadn't been washed of salt had withered after three days, lifeless and still—completely expected.
The batch mixed with rotting branches and leaves showed promising growth, yet comparing seedlings alone gave no clear result. It only proved that adding material didn't burn the sprouts and not adding material didn't prevent them from sprouting. Fertilizer, at least for now, wasn't essential.
The premium fertilizer from Sumeru hadn't come into play yet. For Victor Wang, who had endured two bouts of teleport-sickness to bring them back, was less than ideal—but for Watatsumi, which had no means of buying fertilizer, it was excellent news.
Might as well send that fertilizer to Iwata for research.
Victor Wang busied himself thinning his own plot. When he looked back at Kokomi's side, his eyes narrowed instinctively.
"Hm? Just now, for a split second, your eyes looked rather… disdainful?"
"…No."
Even if true, he couldn't admit it.
Patiently, Victor Wang explained, "Thinning has a method. You should remove the weaker sprouts, leaving the stronger ones. Spacing isn't enough—you need a certain pattern to make the best use of the space."
Looking from Victor's neatly arranged plot to her own messy patch, Kokomi turned her slightly flushed face aside, curling her hair uneasily. "I see… is that why you looked at me that way? I'll remember it."
"…No."
"This time, your denial was 0.1 seconds slower than last."
"…Anyway, it's time to mobilize the idle troops to expand farmland."
"Yes. For Watatsumi, this is even more important than last night's incident. A problem that has plagued us for centuries is suddenly solved. Soon, we'll be eating fresh vegetables, and eventually fruits too. Once agriculture develops, maybe we can raise chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep… It feels like a dream."
By afternoon, news that Watatsumi Island could now farm had spread across the whole island.
This time, under Kokomi's special approval, Gorou dispatched 500 soldiers from the resistance. Since teaching the process, searching for seabed silt, and drying it quickly all needed extra hands, Victor Wang couldn't escape nor he even intended to leave.
"Work hard, everyone. This isn't just farming. Diving trains water skills, transporting silt builds stamina, chiseling stone and silt is no different than sparring a target. When we're done, I'll teach you how those without a Vision can still defeat Vision holders."
"Is there really such a method?"
"I know! Attack while they're asleep—it'll work for sure!"
"Use poison!"
"I've heard Fontaine's muskets could do it too!"
The soldiers chattered noisily, their imaginations running wild.
Victor Wang pressed his hand down, silencing their random guesses. "You've got plenty of tricks, but I'm talking about real methods—ones you can use on the battlefield. For now, get back to work."
As seabed silt transformed into farmland, time slipped quickly by.
"That's enough for today. Everyone's worked hard."
"Mr. Victor, about what you said earlier…?"
"I'll keep my promise now. Watch closely."
Drawing the Wentian Sword, Victor Wang flashed it once. A grayish-yellow stone split neatly in half.
"I get it! Mr. Victor's sword is just that sharp!"
Victor Wang sighed, seized a nearby shovel, and swung it a few times to get the feel. Then, aiming at the same stone, crack!—he pierced it clean through.
The joker was struck dumb, pressing his own shovel against the stone, leaving only a shallow mark.
Another soldier interjected: "That's just sword aura. General Gorou mentioned it before, but only geniuses can learn that stuff. Mr. Victor, you're good at strategy, but when it comes to this, you don't need to instruct us."
"Gorou mentioned it?" In Victor's impression, the resistance barely had instructors left by the later stages; it had been Lumine teaching temporarily. Seeing many confused faces, Victor carefully asked, "Do you even know the ranks of martial skills?"
"Well… I really don't…"
"Then you only half-understand. And clearly not everyone here even heard of it. As long as one person doesn't know, then what I say has meaning."
"…Fine."
"Listen well. Martial skills can be roughly divided into three levels: Form, Intent, and Spirit.
Anyone who can master their own practiced moves reaches the level of Form. Anyone who can sense aura and add their own will reaches Intent. Anyone who can control aura as naturally as moving their arm reaches Spirit.
Form and Intent don't require being a genius. With training, anyone can reach them. Only Spirit cannot be forced. But everyone has the chance—success is not limited to being one of the so-called geniuses."
Someone grew curious: "So just relying on martial skills, without using a Vision, how strong can one get?"
Victor Wang listed a few well-known examples:
"In Mondstadt, 'Lion of Light' Arundolyn, was clearly recorded as Visionless, yet still became as the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. The founding leader of the Knights of Favonius, Vanessa, was also said to be Visionless as well.
In Liyue, a certain fisherman at the Wangshu Inn—whose name I won't mention—I saw with my own eyes. With just a fishing rod, he smashed a Ruin Hunter and a meteorite in the blink of an eye.
In Fontaine, the local legend 'Gentleman' Rocky Avildsen can fight the current Hydro Archon without falling behind. Another local legend, 'Fading Rainbow' Liam, can do the same, though not through martial skill—but still, he is also Visionless.
The ceiling of martial skill is incredibly high. Without a Vision, one can still become immensely powerful. Reaching that height is very difficult, I won't deny it, and Visions do provide huge convenience.
But this isn't empty encouragement. The path truly exists. It is possible to become strong without a Vision. Whether you choose it, and whether you can walk it to the end, is not my responsibility."
The 500 resistance soldiers fell silent. After a while, someone asked, "That 'Gentleman'… he really can fight the Hydro Archon?"
"Really."
"And he truly doesn't fall behind?"
"Really."
"He really has no Vision?"
"Really. 'Gentleman' Rocky Avildsen is in Fontaine right now. If the Sakoku Decree is ever lifted, you can confirm it yourselves. Of course, don't provoke him—if you get beaten up, that's on you."
"So powerful…"
"Spirit level requires talent. Don't force yourselves to imitate. But to harm a Vision holder, Intent level is enough. And that, I can share some experience with."
Seeing their anticipation, Victor Wang continued: "First, understand what aura is. Minerals born of the earth are more attuned to elemental power than humans. Weapons forged from them, when swung, create fluctuations of elemental force. That is aura. On swords, it's called sword aura."
"But Mr. Victor, on the battlefield we use spears and bows…"
"I'm holding a shovel right now… Tch, clearly you didn't get it. Anything made of metal will do. Now do you get it?"
"Ohhh!"
"To control aura requires mental strength. Some of you already know. For those who don't—don't overthink it. In your spare time, close your eyes and construct something in detail in your mind. Start with something simple, then move on to more complex. Over time, you'll train your spirit. With strong mental strength, manipulating aura comes naturally."
The key to sword aura was mental strength.
Ordinary people could train it through three approaches: silent meditation, active realization, and sudden insight. Silent meditation was the simplest—imagining things in the mind.
Such was Teyvat's distorted martial way. Most ordinary people would never guess that to train in martial arts, one must firstly train the mind.
In the days that followed, resistance soldiers were rotated to dredge silt. In this way, their regular training continued while farmland steadily expanded. Victor Wang used the chance to teach each batch the practice of meditation and sword aura.
When all the soldiers had rotated once, the Alcor returned again to Watatsumi. From the news they brought, Lumine had just rescued prisoners with Yoimiya.
Not long after, the Raiden Shogun would hold the Vision Hunt Ceremony for the hundredth Vision, with Thoma as the victim. The resistance was supposed to be stationed northwest of the Musoujin Gorge and even fighting in Nazuchi Beach, yet they were still trapped by shogunate forces on Watatsumi.
It was time to take Yashiori Island.
"How's Nathan's condition?"
"Not good? Then that's just fine."