13 Klee and Albedo

"So that must mean you know how to fight, yes?" Jean asked while walking with Albert.

"Not really." Albert replied. "Although I gained a vision, I'm pretty much a weakling."

Words that escaped his mouth all sounded very believable. It was as if his tongue itself has the ability to make lies on the spot.

"Is that so?" Jean hummed. "Then, what can you do with your vision?"

"...You can't possibly be thinking of scoping my strength me recruiting me to the knights, do you?" Albert smiled as he glared at her.

"O-Of course not." Jean quickly denied. "I was merely curious. But if you want, you don't have to tell."

"Haha, I'm sorry." Albert chuckled. "It's fine for me to show it, but I believe that it will not be suitable here."

"Hm? Does your elemental skill have an Area-Of-Effect?" Jean questioned out of curiosity.

"More or less." Albert shrugged. "Although I can go into description... I can tell you its name."

"You named your elemental skill...?" Jean asked as she looked at the person beside her holding a few boxes.

Albert nodded. "It's much easier for me to use my elemental skill if it has a name. As for what it is, it's called..."

"Gate of Babylon."

Yes, this was how he is gonna cover up his real elemental skill and burst. He discovered that his element manipulation is not limited to his skill and burst.

He can create Geo Constructs of swords— If he concentrated enough— out of thin air. Of course, this drains a lot of energy as Elemental Manipulation relies on the user's ability to grasp and freely manipulate the elemental energy.

Having an Elemental Skill and Burst is just a means to quickly use a pre-determined elemental manipulation. In contrast to what he is planning that is manually controlling the elements.

In short, he can create Geo Swords and imitate a character from the Fate Series— Gilgamesh. But he has to manually do it instead of using a saved skill.

Because he only received the vision recently, he was not quite adept at doing this yet.

"Gate of Babylon...?" Jean thought of this. "What an odd name..."

"Well, that's as far as I can tell you." Albert shrugged.

"You're making yourself quite the mysterious person." Jean shook her head with a smile.

Albert didn't reply and just nodded.

Soon, the two of them finally reached the alchemy department.

"We're here." Jean said. "Albedo should be inside. And if I'm correct, Klee should also be with him."

"Alright, thank you." Albert nodded at her politely.

"No, no, it's fine." Jean raised her hands. "It's a Knight's duty to help the people, after all."

Albert nodded and decided to open the double doors leading inside. "Excuse m—"

BOOM!*

Suddenly, purple goo exploded in front of Albert, covering the entirety of his face.

"Ah! No! My special wolfhook jam bomb!" A childish voice said as Geo elements protected her from the blast.

Beside her was a man that was protecting her with Geo Element. "It seems to lack the necessary outer shell to protect itself from self-detonating... Perhaps I should add mor—"

He then noticed the man that had his face covered with purple goo looking at them.

"..." Both Albedo and Klee stayed silent as they looked at the man.

Albert, who got shot right in the face, used his hand to remove the purple goo. 'This requires more training later... I need to hone my senses if I don't want this to happen again...'

Jean, who was outside, didn't get caught in the explosion and was spared from the fate Albert went through. "Are you alright?"

"More or less." Albert replied as he removed the remaining goo from his face. He then looked at the main perpetrators.

"Excuse me but... I have twenty Fisherman's Toasts to be delivered here." Albert said as he looked at the two of them.

"Oh! That's mine!" Klee happily said. "Yay! Mondstadt Fish are great! Especially on bread!"

"I see." Albedo said as he removed the Geo Element around him and Klee. "I apologize for this disaster. I am willing to make amends for Klee later, is that alright?"

"Yeah." Albert replied before giving the twenty boxes to the overly-excited ball of happiness called Klee in front of him.

"Yay!" Klee said as she opened one of the boxes and take one Fisherman's Toast out.

She then took a bite and enjoyed it with a delighted face.

Albedo then arrived near Albert and gave him the payment. "Here."

"Thanks." Albert received it and placed it inside his uniform's pocket. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Again, I apologize on this child's behalf." Albedo apologized once more. "As her guardian when her mother is not here, I should have been more responsible and not dote on her."

"It's fine." Albert shook his head. "Just make sure to not repeat the same mistake to someone else."

Hearing this, Albedo nodded with affirmation. "Yes."

After that, Albert left while cleaning himself with a towel given by Albedo.

Jean, who was walking beside him, suddenly chuckled. "It seems like the Alchemy Department is gonna become lively from now on."

"I think so too." Albert sighed.

The two of them continued walking in silence. The sound of their footsteps could be heard echoing around the halls of the Knights of Favonius.

"Say..." Jean spoke. "Are you sure you won't be joining the Knights? We are always seeking to recruit those that wield visions..."

"Again, I have to refuse." Albert shook his head. "Moreover, there are a lot of people on Mondstadt that have a vision too. Why not recruit them instead?"

"Actually... I was planning on something." Jean shyly said. "I... Wanted to make my own team with the authority Grand Master Varka has given me as his assistant."

'Wait, assistant?!' Albert thought. 'So it's already starting... Jean's campaign against the corrupt officials and the Abyss Monsters...'

"It's a team solely composed of vision wielders." Jean said. "A team that I will lead to better protect Mondstadt."

"I see." Albert said as he stopped walking. "But I'm sorry; I still have to refuse."

Albert has a lot of plans in his mind. As such, he cannot be bounded by something; especially more so if he gets bounded by the same faction hunting him down.

Saying this, he turned around. "Forgive me, but I have to go now."

"Yes..." Jean said lowly as she watched him leave the Knights of Favonius' doors.

Watching not far away from the second floor, two figures are looking at Jean and the man that just left.

"It seems like your daughter got interested in someone." Varka laughed. "I told you, Frederica, this day will come."

"Hmph, it is nothing more than a recruitment trial," Frederica said as she crossed her arms.

Hearing this Varka smiled. "You may think that... But I know Seamus will agree with me."

Hearing her ex-husband's name, Frederica turned around without saying anything.

Seeing her leave, Varka sighed. "Seriously..."

He then turned around and looked out the window to look at the young man that was walking. "Now he's one interesting lad..."

"If I have the chance, I should talk to him." He said with a smile before walking away.

* * *

Albert casually walked down the streets of Mondstadt back to Good Hunter while practicing his Geo Manipulation.

After trying for a solid two minutes, he was able to summon a Geo Construct resembling a Dagger that would occasionally pulse like Zhongli's pillar.

It was really sharp, add the fact that it pulses Geo, and it adds more power to it.

After thirty seconds, it crumbled away.

Seeing this, Albert sighed. 'Seriously... I need to get better at this soon. How I wish to enter the system's synchronization zone again to train...'

Suddenly, the system's notification appeared in front of him.

[Notice.]

[A new quest has been issued.]

'A new quest! Finally! I've been waiting for this.' He thought before opening the quest system window.

[Quest name: Brotherhood]

[Description: A lone assassin cannot survive inside a cage full of predators. As such, one needs a team.]

[Objectives: Indoctrinate 9 people in or out of Mondstadt to join the Assassin's Brotherhood.]

[Rewards: Template Card, +10 Progress, +100 Fame Points]

Seeing this, Albert's eyes widened. A low chuckle then escaped his mouth. 'Seriously?'

* * *

A/N:

Hints about two of the members:

- Her grandfather was from Liyue and she wields a bow.

- She looks up to the knights and aspires to be one, no matter how hard it is.