Chapter 8 - A Small Shrine

Wiping sweat from his brow with his sleeve, Thoma plopped down on the nearest rock. He looked over at Ivan standing nearby for a moment and sighed. Then, he turned his head toward the small shrine in front of him.

"Is this where you wanted to go?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah. Just give me a second to take a breather," Thoma answered. "Haven't fought that many enemies in an hour in… my whole life, I think?"

"Sorry," Ivan apologized, his lips curling into a wry smile. 

"Haha. Don't worry. I'm not upset. Honestly, I feel bad for you if you encounter stuff like this all the time."

"It's never been quite this bad. Hoping I can get rid of the curses as soon as possible," Ivan commented while kicking a nearby pebble.

Giving a hearty thumbs-up, Thoma said, "Well, that's what you're out here for, right? I'm sure you'll accomplish it soon. I'm rooting for you."

"Heh. Thanks."

Suddenly, a wild beast jumped out from behind the small shrine, startling Ivan. 

'No, wait. It's just a dog. Guess I'm still on edge after encountering so many Hilichurls and Automatons on the way here.'

"Oh, there you are, little guy," Thoma greeted the little black furball of a dog. 

In response to Thoma's voice, the dog wagged its tail and bounded over. It then sat in front of Thoma and panted with its tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Now that it was closer, Ivan noticed bandages on its front legs.

With a smile on his face, Thoma pulled the small sack off his back. He pulled out a wooden bowl full of food, unwrapped it, and placed it on the ground. The small dog shoved its face into the bowl of food and gobbled it down. Both Thoma and Ivan smiled at the sight.

"He seems a lot healthier now. I don't think I'll have to bring food here for too much longer. Kinda sad, actually," Thoma said.

Due to the familiar sight of the guy helping a stray dog, Ivan chuckled and nodded.

'Nice guy Thoma, I guess.'

When the dog finished eating, Ivan and Thoma took turns petting it for a minute or two before saying goodbye to it. It quietly watched them leave with surprisingly intelligent eyes. Only when they were out of sight did it walk back behind the shrine and disappear into thin air. A quiet jingling of bells accompanied its disappearance.

Later, Ivan and Thoma finally arrived at the shoreline where Thoma explained more Sea Ganodermas could be found. Across the waterway, Ivan could vaguely see a small port village which he assumed to be Ritou based on how familiar it was to the landscape he remembered from the game.

"I recommend removing your shoes and rolling up your pant legs. You're going to have to get your feet wet," Thoma said whilst heeding his own advice.

"Right," Ivan responded with a small nod. 

After Ivan removed his shoes, Thoma showed him where to find the Sea Ganodermas. Like in the game, they somewhat blended in with the water but glowed just enough to spot them when keeping an eye out for them. Upon finding one, Thoma knelt down and carefully wedged his fingers underneath it. He then wiggled it back and forth for several seconds until it popped out of the sand. 

Holding the semi-translucent blue plant that was as tall as his forearm, Thoma raised a brow at Ivan and asked, "I hadn't really thought of it until now, but how do you plan to carry them back? Do you have a storage bag?"

Thoughtfully observing Thoma, Ivan rubbed his chin for a moment before asking, "Can you keep a secret?"

Thoma tilted his head in a confused manner and responded, "Uh… I guess?" 

"Hand that over real quick."

Thoma nodded and held the plant outward. In response, Ivan raised his hand toward the plant. In his mind, he imagined sucking the plant into his inventory. A small light flashed, and the plant vanished.

Eyes wide, Thoma stared at his empty hand.

"Are you a Youkai?"

"No."

"Is it just some form of magic storage like an adventurer storage bag, then?" Thoma asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Raising a brow, Ivan asked, "Maybe? How do those work?"

"They store items in a pocket of space. I've heard that it is something created by the Adepti in Liyue, but I'm not too sure," Thoma explained.

'Was such a thing in the game? I guess the teapot exists, so a storage bag isn't too farfetched, either. The Traveler wouldn't need it, so it makes sense that I'd know nothing about such a thing.'

"It's similar to such a thing, I think. I guess it's not exactly a secret in the first place, but I'd rather not show this to too many people since I don't want to become a pack mule," Ivan commented.

Nodding, Thoma said, "Makes sense. Adventurers usually have to hide theirs from Treasure Hoarders as well."

"Huh. Interesting. Well, since you know about it now, I don't feel like I have to hide it from you anymore," Ivan said, lips curling upward a little. He then trudged through the water toward another Sea Ganoderma, extended his hand, and sucked it into his inventory without having to go through the normal gathering process Thoma showed him.

Upon seeing that, Thoma sighed, chuckled, and said, "Now you're just showing off."

"That wasn't my intention. In exchange for you not mentioning this, I'll help you carry some stuff in the future if you need it. How about that?"

"Haha! Sure. Since you've said it, you can't take it back now."

Over the next few minutes, Ivan gathered as many Sea Ganodermas as possible. Since Thoma could spot them quite easily, they quickly gathered more than twenty. There were some that Thoma said to leave alone since they were still growing, but there were still plenty to harvest. 

Honestly, Ivan's heart ached a little since he could still remember teleporting all over Inazuma to collect these plants for Yae Miko's ascension materials due to how spread out they were. He almost wanted to cry after finding so many of them this easily. Of course, if he had known the lore regarding them, he might've felt a little fearful instead due to how many were growing there. Either way, he almost forgot about his notoriously bad luck. Almost.

"Ugh. I'll go take care of these slimes real quick before they electro-charge us…" Thoma grumbled while darting toward the slimes that popped up out of the sand on the beach nearby.

"Thanks Thoma. I'd probably be dead without you."

Chuckling, Thoma whipped out his spear and retorted, "Yeah, yeah. Buy me some food later, and we'll call it even."

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: My personal head canon is that all the lucky dogs you find throughout Inazuma are dogs who Thoma has helped over the years.