The tremendous weight of the giant axe posed no obstacle to Jia Changjiang's swing.
With a single sweep of the axe's heavy spine, the ordinary Hilichurls charging at him were sent flying.
For a fleeting moment, Jia Changjiang even heard the sickening crack of bones snapping.
Their bodies were flung far away before crashing heavily onto the grass, struggling to rise again.
The feeling of wielding such overwhelming force—of crushing everything in his path—made Jia Changjiang's blood surge with excitement.
"Now it's just you left…"
He fixed his gaze on the bristling, mane-covered Mitachurl, curling a finger at it provocatively.
"Hey. You."
"Come over here."
"Let's go—fight, fight!"
Jia Changjiang charged first.
.........
"Ow—!"
About ten minutes after Jia Changjiang left, a white-haired boy suddenly rolled down the very hill Jia Changjiang had been hiding on.
At the top, the loose soil beneath his feet had given way, sending him tumbling all the way down.
He carried a one-handed sword, wore goggles on his head, and had bandages plastered all over his body—clearly someone who got injured often.
And yet…
Despite rolling down a not-insignificant slope, he looked completely fine, as calm as if this were routine.
Which, for him, it was.
Bennett, Mondstadt's famously unlucky adventurer—so unlucky that even disasters that happened once in several years were basically everyday life for him.
"Did I… reach the commission site already?"
Bennett stood up and looked around. The Adventurers' Guild commission had been clear: eliminate a Hilichurl camp.
"…Huh?"
"Where's the camp?"
He froze.
Before him lay nothing but ruins.
The Hilichurls' crude structures looked as though they'd been violently split clean in half by something terrifyingly sharp.
"What happened here?"
Bennett scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"Did… someone finish my commission for me again?"
.........
"Achoo!"
Far away from the ruined camp, Jia Changjiang—backpack on his back, Aegisong Axe slung over his shoulder—was steadily walking toward the setting sun.
Midway through, he suddenly sneezed.
"Why'd I sneeze? Don't tell me I caught a cold…"
"I didn't exactly bring cold medicine with me when I transmigrated."
He rubbed his nose and continued westward.
Jia Changjiang had no idea how long it would take to reach actual civilization—but walking in one direction nonstop had to lead somewhere, right?
And if he remembered correctly—
West of Mondstadt lay Brightcrown Canyon and Wolvendom, while the eastern side was mostly plains.
Since he was clearly in open grasslands now, heading west should eventually lead him to inhabited areas.
With that logic in mind, Jia Changjiang bravely—and rather blindly—pressed onward.
What he didn't know was that, through an impressively unfortunate choice of angles, he was perfectly skirting around every village and settlement along the way…
Slowly, painstakingly, making his way toward Mondstadt itself.
Two days later, outside Mondstadt…
A thoroughly exhausted figure appeared near the city.
Jia Changjiang—lost for two full days.
When the sight of Mondstadt, nestled within its vast lake, finally entered his vision, his eyes nearly filled with tears.
Two days.
Two days of wilderness survival.
He'd finally made it.
Dragging the massive axe along, he staggered toward the city, eyes fixed on its towering walls—
When suddenly, his foot slipped.
His vision went dark.
And he collapsed.
The axe clattered to the side.
Jia Changjiang hadn't noticed that he'd stepped on a discarded apple.
He hit the ground… and promptly passed out.
Nearby stood a cooking pot that had clearly been set up not long ago.
Only a few minutes later, a girl wearing a dark-green Adventurers' Guild uniform returned, humming softly as she carried freshly gathered ingredients.
The Adventurers' Guild's "Survival Expert"—Lynn—was still very much thriving in the wild.
But the moment she arrived, she spotted a scruffy-looking man sprawled beside her pot, one finger weakly pointing forward.
The sight nearly made her drop everything she was holding.
Carefully setting the ingredients down, Lynn picked up a stick and gently poked Jia Changjiang, half-wondering if a corpse had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The next instant—
A continuous stream of loud snoring came from his nose and mouth.
"…Oh. He's just asleep."
"Did he pass out from hunger?"
She looked at Jia Changjiang, then at her pot.
After a moment's thought, she squatted down, grabbed his arm, and dragged him closer.
...…
"Huh—?!"
Jia Changjiang jolted awake.
The first thing he saw was… no ceiling.
Just a vast, glittering star-filled sky.
"You're awake? Want something to eat?"
Lynn's voice reached his ears.
Only then did Jia Changjiang realize a blanket covered him, with dried grass laid beneath.
"What… happened to me?"
"I'd like to know that too," Lynn said cheerfully.
"You collapsed right next to my cooking pot. I was only planning to make a quick lunch, but I couldn't move you or your weapon—so I decided to camp here instead."
She handed him a bowl.
"Here, try some cabbage and mushroom soup."
"You're covered in dirt, and your clothes are pretty unusual," she added curiously.
"Are you a traveler from far away?"
Jia Changjiang accepted the bowl, memories flooding back.
"I remember walking nonstop for two days… running into Hilichurls and Slimes the whole way. I didn't even have time to sleep at night."
"And then… I saw Mondstadt."
"I guess I got too excited… and just passed out."
"That won't do," Lynn said seriously.
"In wilderness survival, stamina, focus, body temperature—your physical condition matters a lot."
Then she smiled.
"But it's fine. Mondstadt isn't far now. Let's rest here for the night and head in tomorrow."
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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