Su Mo shook his head, brushing away the pointless thoughts.
Having recovered a bit of stamina, he got to his feet.
Just then, Paimon came wobbling through the air, arms wrapped around a small bundle of firewood.
"You've worked hard!" Su Mo said, taking the firewood from her hands.
"Phew! I'm exhausted. I can finally rest now," Paimon sighed, plopping down onto the stone platform like a spent balloon.
Lumine watched this scene with mild curiosity.
"But you were flying the whole time. How are you tired?"
If Paimon had to constantly flap her wings, maybe it would make sense.
But she was clearly just floating effortlessly in midair. Nobody knew what body part she was even using to do that.
To that, Paimon answered solemnly:
"My phantom limbs are sore."
And with that, she flopped onto the stone, looking as if she couldn't move a muscle.
"This Paimon is done for," she groaned dramatically.
Meanwhile, Su Mo had gotten the campfire going.
He glanced over at the limp, defeated Paimon, and couldn't help poking her with a stick before joking,
"Maybe we should turn her into soup. Emergency food should fulfill its emergency function, after all."
Paimon sprang into the air, instantly alert.
"No way!" she protested, cheeks puffed in outrage.
"Paimon's not emergency food!"
She kicked her legs at the empty air, huffing and puffing.
"Su Mo, not fair!"
Lumine shook her head solemnly. "No, we can't."
"See! I knew the Traveler would protect me!" Paimon beamed, flying over and throwing herself into Lumine's arms.
Only for Lumine to smile sweetly, hug her tightly, and say:
"Paimon's still too skinny right now. Let's fatten her up before we eat her."
"Hey! You too?!"
Paimon panicked, squirming in Lumine's arms, but couldn't break free.
"Paimon's not food! I'm really not edible!"
Off to the side, Su Mo muttered just loud enough for her to hear,
"Should we go with braised Paimon or fried Paimon…"
"Hmm… braised sounds good," Lumine nodded, fully playing along.
"Waaaah! Su Mo! Traveler! You guys aren't serious, right?! You're not actually serious, are you?!"
Paimon looked completely flustered.
Braised Paimon? Fried Paimon?!
They did sound tasty—wait no! They sounded terrifying!
"I'm not food!" she wailed.
"Pfft—" Lumine couldn't hold back her laughter anymore and finally let her go.
Of course, it had all been a joke.
Paimon was the second companion she had found in this strange world.
There was no way she'd actually treat her like food.
As for the first companion—obviously, it was Su Mo.
Meanwhile, Su Mo had finished washing the ingredients.
They didn't have any seasoning, but it couldn't be helped.
Before long, a few skewers of mushrooms were roasting over the fire.
"You two are the worst!" Paimon grumbled, finally realizing she'd been teased again.
She puffed up her cheeks and glared at them indignantly.
But her hands betrayed her as they reached out and grabbed a mushroom skewer from Su Mo—then chomped down with a big bite.
"…So good!"
After dinner, the group huddled close to the fire for warmth.
Su Mo turned to the self-proclaimed guide.
"It's been a whole month. When are we finally going to reach that Statue of The Seven you've been talking about?"
In the game, Mondstadt might seem compact.
But in reality, the sprawling plains and dense forests stretched far beyond imagination.
Su Mo remembered the lore mentioning how Lumine and Paimon wandered through the woods for over two months before finally locating a Statue of The Seven and entering Mondstadt.
Now, even though only a month had passed, their progress was much faster thanks to Su Mo.
So it should be about time, right?
Paimon looked around, thought for a moment, then said, "We should reach it tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" Lumine's eyes lit up.
The Statues of The Seven were monuments to the seven Archons.
Her brother had been taken away by an unknown god so long ago.
If there was any hope of learning his whereabouts, it was by speaking to the gods.
And the nearest one—the Anemo Archon—was the first she planned to meet.
"Tomorrow, huh…"
Su Mo, on the other hand, looked uneasy.
In the game, the moment Lumine touched the statue, she awakened her power to manipulate elemental energy—without needing a Vision.
That moment marked the awakening of the Traveler's unique abilities.
Su Mo wasn't sure if the same would happen for him.
What if it didn't?
Would he really be stuck as a normal person in a world like this?
As he was lost in thought…
He suddenly felt the atmosphere around him shift.
When he looked up, he found himself surrounded by white mist, standing in an unfamiliar, ethereal space.
"Where… is this?"
He took a few tentative steps forward—and saw a vast, empty hall.
And within it…
Two very familiar figures were walking toward him.
What was going on?!