Chapter 10: A Dragon

(3 days after arrival in Mondstadt)

Cling!

Clang!

Shing!

Aether dual weilded his Katanas as he kept delfecting the attacks of the two Axe weilding Mitachurls. Why the hell are there two Mitachul's here!? I know this is a huge camp but damn!

Blocking the axe of Mitachurl 2, he kicked Mitachurl 1 in the chest, causing it to slide away as smoke came out of its chest due to Aether ingulfing his foot with flames.

Aether quickly parried Mitachurl 2's axe away from his right katana. Before slicing its chest with his left katana while boosting his hand's speed using the Anemo Element. Mitachurl 2 growled in pain as Aether prepared to attack it again.

"!?"

Clang!

Aether reacted just in time to block Mitachurl 1's strike. Aether gritted his teeth before he slashed the axe away, Mitachurl 1 caught its axe before it tried to slash Aether once again.

Using his Anemo Element to boost his speed, Aether evaded its attack before appearing above Mitachurl 1 before double kicking it with his heel that was ingulfed in flames.

Mitachurl 1 clutched its face in pain as smoke continued to come out of it. Feeling a presence behind him, Aether dodged swiftly this time since he wasn't preparing to attack this time.

As Aether dodges Mitachurl 2's attack, he sliced and injured its knees causing it to fall on the ground before Aether stabbed it through the throat using his right katana, killing it.

Using his other katana, Aether blocked an attack from Mitachurl 1, before slicing Mitachurl 2's face open with his other one.

His right katana stabbed Mitachurl 1's chest, before Aether stepped on Mitachurl 2's shoulder and taking out the katana off Mitachurl 1's chest. Before stabbing through its face using his left katana, killing it.

****************

After taking some photos of the dead camp and the dead Mitachurls, Aether sighed in relief after finishing his last commision for the day. Well, that's done. I still have to ask why there are two Mitachurls in this camp though. Aether thought as he put the question at the back of his mind.

Paimon flew towards him as she just finished collecting some flowers for another commision. "Aether! I'm done with my work!" Paimon shouted as she returned from her tasked. Inspecting the flowers Aether nodded as it looked exactly like the ones Katheryne put on his phone.

"Good job Paimon!" Aether gave her a thumbs up with a grin on his face. "Tehee.~" Paimon giggled while she scratched the back of her head.

The duo walk back towards Mondstadt, they encountered some slimes but Aether took care of them swiftly.

"Hey, Aether, I have a question. How come you don't use Teleport Waypoints even after turning them on?" Paimon asked.

"Well you see, Paimon. We'll be able to create and remember some pleasant memories if we explore the world the old fashioned way. But don't worry, I'll use the Teleport waypoint if the place is really far away of course."

"I see." Paimon nodded.

The two continued to head back to Mondstadt while having small talks along the way. However, the duo stopped moving when they noticed a giant shadow. Looking up, they saw a dragon flying above them.

Aether looked at the dragon with curiousity while Paimon looked in awe. "Oh, Aether! Let's follow it!" Paimon shouted, before quickly floating, following the dragon's path.

"Hey! Wait up Paimon!"

****************

"Jeez, if you run off like that you might encounter it and it'll eat you." Aether said.

"Tehee. I'm sorry, Aether. It's just that it's my first time seeing a dragon soooo I got pretty excited." Paimon apologizes while she scratched her head in embarrassment.

"I get that, but don't run off like that, okay?" Aether said, Paimon replied with a nod.

Aether followed the dragon's scent, it lead them towards a forest. However, Aether stopped when he felt a new presence near the dragon. Signalling Paimon to be quiet, she nodded as the two sneakily walk through the trees. As they arrive at the dragon's location, the two hid behind a huge tree.

"Don't worry, I'm back now, everything will be alright." The young man infront of the dragon said. He took a step closer towards the dragon while the dragon slowly back away.

The duo looked on in curiousity as they saw the boy talking to the dragon. Suddenly, Aether's Anemo Element started glowing and flickering startling everyone.

"RRROOOOOOAAAAAARRR!!" The dragon roared in anger, before trying to slash the boy who dodges before looking at Aether and Paimon's location. "Who's there!?" He shouted.

As the dragon seems to become more hostile, the boy teleported away. The dragon roared at the two duo before flying above them.

"That was close. Paimon almost got blown away." Paimon said in relief as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Luckily, I managed to grab your hair."

"Yeah, that definitely did not hurt." Aether replied, before looking at where the dragon flew off. "But still, we were lucky that the dragon did not take any interest in us. Or else we would've been eaten."

"Hm? What's that?" Paimon said as she pointed at it. "What is that shiny red thing on the rock?"

Aether looked at at where Paimon was pointing at, he saw a red crystal that was shaped like a tear. "Let's go take a look." Paimon sudden before she floated towards the crystal, sighing, Aether followed her.

"Paimon hasn't seen anything like this before, so Paimon does not know what it is." Paimon said as she looked closely at the red crystal.

"Still, why is it shape like a tear though?" Aether asked. "Oh, you're right!" Paimon agreed. "Well, it's better if we put it away. Paimon, would you mind?"

"Sure!" Paimon said as she grabbed the crystal and put it on her sub-space.

"Well, let's get going." Aether said. What was that purple rune thing on its mind? Is it being mind controlled or something? Aether thought.

****************

"Thank you for your work, Aether." Katheryne said as she bowed at Aether. "Hey, Paimon did something too, you know?!" Paimon complained, Katheryne ignored her making her pout in annoyance.

"It was no problem. Anyways, why were there two Mitachurls on that Hilichurl camp?" Aether asked.

"Well, it is a common occurence when one Mitachurl tries to take over the camp of another. Although this occurence is rare, we have lost some adventurers due to it. So it is pretty surprising to see you kill them without taking any damage." Katheryne informed. "I see." Aether nodded his head.

"You're handsome, kind, and strong. You are truly the perfect man." Katheryne whispered to herself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

****************

"Geez, why does Katheryne always ignore Paimon but she always talks to you like its the best thing ever?!" Paimon said as they exited the guild.

"Frankly, I don't know. But I don't really care." Aether shrugged. As they wondered around Mondstadt a little more, the duo can't help that notice that the sky was turning dark.

"Is there a storm today?" Aether questioned as he look at the sky. "Paimon does not know, but Paimon is pretty sure that its still the afternoon."

Suddenly, a roar was heard across Mondstadt, startling everhone. "What the hell was that!?" Aether shouted as he covered his ear. Soon, his question was answered when they heard the flapping of wings before they saw a dragon fly on several buildings, destroying them.

"What the hell!?" Aether shouted in shock before taking a good look at the dragon's appearance. "Wait, isn't that-"

"That's the dragon from before! Why is it attacking the city!?" Paimon shouted in a panick.

"My leg!?" They heard a voice shout. Looking towards the noise, they saw a man clutching his leg that was stuck in a large chunk of a buildings wall.

"?!" Noticing several other debris flying towards the man, Aether quickly moved near him using his Anemo Element.

Aether created giant fireball on his hand, before throwing it towards the debris, creating a huge explosion.

Quickly, Aether quickly destroyed the chunk of wall that struck the man's leg. Before carrying him and getting out of the way as the several other debris landed behind them.

"Uggh... Thank you.... Kid." The man said in gratitude. "I'm just doing my job." Aether said before he walk towards a knight that was guiding the civilians. "Hey! Mind carrying him?" Aether shouted, gaining the knights attention. Taking the man off Aether's arm, tha knight said, "Thanks, you should evacuate too."

Aether ignored the guard's advise, quickly running towards the dragon who was rampaging above. "Hey! Kid! Where are you going!?"

"Paimon, my katana,now!"

"Right!" Paimon appeared besides him, giving him his two katana.

"Thanks! You should evacuate with the others too!"

Lighting his foot on fire and boosting it with wind to make it bigger, he flew towards the dragon with a katana in each hand.

"He can use his element like Ms. Satomi!?" The knight shouted in surprise. Before noticing Paimon flying towards him. "Hey, aren't you worried about you-"

"He'll be fine, don't worry." Paimon interrupted. Alright, now Paimon has to find Amber right? I think I should look for her on the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius.

(With Aether)

"Eyes down here bastard!" Aether shouted as he lighted his katanas on fire. Noticing him, the dragon roared at him in anger, before flying towards him with its mouth open.

Aether crossed his katanas, while the dragon opened its mouth even more, ready to eat the puny human who dared to charge at him.

-to be continued