*Chapter:1
The first thing he felt was wind.
Not the gentle kind that brushed past skin, but a wild, restless force that howled like it was alive. He opened his eyes and saw blue sky, white clouds, and a land that felt too vivid to be a dream.
Green hills rolled endlessly. Dandelions danced in the air.
"...Mondstadt," he whispered.
The memory hit him all at once. Dying in his old world. Darkness. Then waking up here, alone, without Paimon, without a Traveler's sword. Just him, standing near Starfell Lake at the very beginning of the story.
He checked his body. No Vision. No weapon.
But deep inside, something felt wrong. Or rather… heavy. Like a sealed heartbeat.
Before he could think further, the wind around him twisted.
The air screamed.
A shape formed above the lake, invisible at first, then clearer—a violent wind spirit, unstable and feral, like a fragment of a broken elemental being. Its presence crushed the grass flat and sent waves across the water.
"Oh. Great," he muttered. "So I don't even get a tutorial."
The spirit struck without warning.
A blade of compressed wind tore through his chest.
There was no pain. Just shock. His body flew backward, hit the ground, and everything went cold.
So this was it.
He died again.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
He floated in a place that wasn't space and wasn't a void. No up, no down. Only a distant, echoing sound.
Laughter.
Low at first. Then louder. Uncontrollable. Joyful.
Why are you so serious?
His heart—or whatever counted as one—pounded.
Images flashed through his mind. White. Smoke. Freedom. A body that moved however it pleased. Power that didn't obey rules, logic, or fear.
"I get it now," he said, smiling in the dark.
The laughter became his own.
Something snapped.
His eyes flew open.
The wind spirit froze mid-attack, as if confused.
The body lying on the ground was no longer broken.
White smoke poured from his shoulders and hair, which had turned cloud-white and wild. His heartbeat echoed like a drum of liberation. His grin stretched too wide, too free.
He stood up, dusting himself off like he hadn't just died.
"Man," he laughed, voice light and playful, "dying twice just to unlock this? Totally worth it."
The wind spirit screamed and attacked again.
He didn't dodge.
He grabbed the wind.
His arm stretched, twisted, and bent like rubber, catching the elemental force and snapping it back like a toy. The explosion sent shockwaves across the lake, splitting the clouds above.
He bounced into the air, feet kicking against nothing, laughing the entire time.
"This world's rules are funny," he said, spinning midair. "But I'm funnier."
With a single exaggerated punch, coated not in elemental energy but pure absurd power, he struck the spirit.
The wind shattered.
Silence returned to the fields of Mondstadt.
He landed lightly, smoke still drifting around him, grin never fading.
"Alright, Teyvat," he said, looking toward the distant city.
"Let's see how free this world really is."
And far away, the wind itself seemed to laugh back.