"What mission?" Amber and Ryan asked.
Kaeya slowly explained, "Do you still remember the 'Strange Bird'?"
"Last time, during the Strange Bird incident, some Treasure Hoarders hid in a Secret Realm."
"Two days ago, we broke open the Secret Realm's gate and found a pile of Hilichurls."
"Inside the Secret Realm, the terrain is complex, with various broken cliffs and floating platforms. We need a flying expert to go in and eliminate the Hilichurls, and capture the Treasure Hoarders who might have eaten all their stored food and are on the verge of starvation!"
"I don't have time; I can't spare myself! I think you two are quite suitable!"
"It's good that you are all relevant parties, and you see things through from beginning to end."
"This easy credit is yours!"
"Acting Grand Master Jean has already agreed!"
"Then let's accept it!" Ryan recalled this mission in the game and thought he could experience being a Klee bomber.
Amber took the document and glanced at it.
This was clearly Kaeya's handwriting.
"No time to lose, let's go!" Amber didn't expose him, putting away the document.
She eagerly sprang into action, always full of enthusiasm and vitality for solving missions.
"Wait! I want to go too!" Noelle saw this and followed without question.
Such a dangerous thing as a Secret Realm, she couldn't be at ease.
Ryan was powerful, but he didn't have a Vision, so many things were inconvenient.
Kaeya, left behind, watched the three with a smile.
"More time to be lazy! Should I go to Angel's Share? Or to the Cat's Tail Tavern?"
...
On the other side, Ryan and Amber went home to get their backpacks and weapons. Amber also applied to the Knights of Favonius for controlled weapons for the mission.
"Baron Bunny's friend, the Landmine!" Amber pointed to the armory and introduced.
Ryan was overjoyed, just as expected.
A man! Must plant Mushrooms!
He looked at the three large boxes of red circular explosives.
"Amber, that's too little! Just three boxes, not enough firepower! Are you looking down on Hilichurls?"
"There are three of us; how can one box each be enough? I'd still think three boxes each is too little!"
Amber agreed, "Although we've reached the application limit, we can get a few more if we exaggerate the danger of the Secret Realm a bit!"
In the end, they got five boxes.
Considering Ryan didn't have a Vision, Amber and Noelle only took one box each, and Ryan took three boxes.
The three climbed onto the tall city walls of Mondstadt, facing Springvale.
"Flying! Faster than running!"
"Here we go!"
Three figures swept across the vast lake, the wind howling, a journey of freedom.
A two-day journey by carriage, they covered in half a day.
The long-distance flight made all of Ryan's pores feel open.
The Westwind Breathing Technique, in operation, brought blood flow, alleviating muscle stiffness caused by maintaining one posture.
The journey was nearing its end, and the favor of Anemo was moving away from the group.
There was still some distance to cover before they could reach land.
Ryan looked at the surface of Cider Lake and shouted to the two Damselettes:
"You two, come over and hold my hands!"
"I have a way, no need to swim!"
Although Amber and Noelle were puzzled, they still trusted Ryan completely and flew over together, relying on their last bit of gliding power.
Ryan held one in each hand.
His feet touched the water, and the Grace of the Spring Spirit spread out in blue ripples from his soles.
The water welcomed its guests, its friends.
Moving their tiny bodies, they offered help to Ryan.
Countless Spring Sprites gathered, making the water surface solidify like hard ice, lifting the people up.
"Wow wow wow! We didn't fall! Ryan, how did you do that?" Amber exclaimed, running on the water surface with Ryan.
In her elemental Vision, there was a dreamlike blue light, paving a path on the water.
"Magic?" Noelle thought of Ryan's story, "Grace?"
Ryan smiled without speaking: "I'll tell you later!"
"For now, just enjoy it."
"The water's love!"
As long as one can communicate with the will of natural water, the Grace of the Spring Spirit can unleash infinite power.
Because its essence is to make him a person who speaks the language of water.
We are one, we merge into one, our hearts are connected.
We are the ten thousand of the same origin, and also the one.
Ryan is water.
The lake is water.
Like brothers and sisters calling friends, but the connection is even closer.
Waves pushed them along, but did not wet their clothes.
The lake has a spirit, the waves have a spirit.
Ryan led the Damselette onto land and thanked the flowing water.
"What was that just now?" Amber's fiery golden eyes were full of curiosity, holding onto Ryan and not letting go.
"Again, again!"
"Besides those with a Cryo Vision, I've never seen anyone able to move on water!"
"When you run, you're much faster than Kaeya laying down a path!"
Ryan looked at the Springvale road sign, not immediately agreeing, but smiled and said, "Do you believe in the legend of the Spring Sprite?"
"Spring Sprite?" Noelle was alert.
"What I have is the Grace of the Spring Spirit!" Ryan walked towards Springvale, full of emotion, "It came from an opportunity during that delivery trip."
"I'm going to see her, have a chat!"
"Do you want to come along?"
Amber and Noelle followed.
Ryan sat by the spring, slowly telling the calm water surface about his experiences in Mondstadt, from joining the Knights of Favonius to that great battle where he fought one against a hundred.
The Spring Sprite did not appear, but there were rippling waves on the water.
"So, it really wasn't just a legend?" Amber exclaimed.
Noelle silently gazed at the clear spring.
She was quite concerned whether the other party would pull out a sword.
Not far away,
"Nowadays, do young people still believe in the Spring Sprite?" Old Finch watched the three whispering.
Although he couldn't hear very clearly, he could still hear the word 'Sprite'.
After visiting the Spring Sprite, the three set off for the Secret Realm near Springvale.
They showed the document to the Knights of Favonius guarding the gate.
"I wish you all a smooth journey!" the Knight saluted.
Ryan, Amber, and Noelle entered the Secret Realm and quickly saw uneven ancient architecture, rooms filled with wind currents and air turbulence.
A Secret Realm is an independent space attached to Teyvat, where internal physics rules do not apply.
The ruins inside often float in the Void Realm.
And the Void Realm is a dangerous place of death; falling into it means complete disappearance and annihilation.
No resurrection, impossible to resurrect.
Not even bones remain!
This was a desperate Forbidden Land, ten thousand times more dangerous than in the game.
Every step had to be taken carefully, not doing anything without certainty, not jumping onto structures from which there was no return.
Even if some Secret Realms had ancient teleportation exits at their end, one could not let down their guard.
Because many Adventurers could not reach the path to survival; halfway, they would be killed by dangerous ruins and monsters.
Amber explained the precautions, allowing Ryan, who was seeing a Secret Realm for the first time, to gain experience and prepare for future adventures and explorations of other Teyvat Secret Realms.
"Fly!" Ryan suppressed his heartbeat, forcing himself not to look at the abyssal void of the Void Realm.
Always staying one meter away from the cliffs in the Secret Realm was his rule.
These Secret Realms, resembling shattered Small Worlds from Xuanhuan and Xianxia novels, were a bit too terrifying.
No sense of security at all!
"So, let's take it out on the Hilichurls!"
Ryan looked at a regular Hilichurl Shooter and two Fire Element Hilichurl Shooters in the room below.
"Mondstadt Bomber, full firepower!"
"Take off!"
The Wings of Morning Dew spread, and from his backpack, red bombs that would explode upon impact with the ground fell.
"Boom—!"
"Ah—!"
It was the miserable scream of a Hilichurl turning to dust.