章 6: Things not going quite as planned? Why am I not surprised
I always thought blood was odorless.
Was it the quantity of blood that makes the difference? Or was there a biological process involved that never happened because I always clean them immediately?
Regardless, the rustic smell in the air is making my stomach churn. The winds are certainly not helping my case. Thanks for that Dvalin.
"Heuk…!"
Oh man, still going. I really should stop before I empty everything in my stomach. I don't know the first thing about hunting, and the only source of food I'll be able to rely on at this place is probably sunsettias or apples.
"Ugh…"
I feel like shit, but I have to focus. I came here for a mask, so a mask I shall get.
I got up on my feet, and started searching, trying my best to quell the growing nausea from the sight of the hilichurls.
'What a fucking mess. I don't even remember doing this.'
Calling the aftermath of this battle a mess might be an understatement. The fence that was surrounding the camp has been destroyed, the campfire is nowhere to be found, there are ingredients strewn about everywhere, most likely coming from the crates the hilichurl have. And don't even get me started on the blood and corpses.
'I have to be in control next time, as much as I don't want there to ever be a next time.'
After a thorough search around the camp, the only masks I found are the ones still attached to the hilichurls. Which, at this point, is beyond broken.
'Despite all that I did, they still have their masks on. They must really not want to see their own faces.'
Still, this is quite the situation I found myself in. The battle itself went well. As well as it could anyway. Yet I managed to destroy the one thing I came here for. Disappointing, but maybe I should be glad that I'm still alive. As long as I am alive, I can try as much as I need to.
All that planning, and I still failed. I certainly did not put 'losing control of myself' as a variable. What was that saying again? Man proposes, God disposes?
'So which of you Seven is fucking with me right now?'
In the end, with nothing to show for, I have no choice but to look for another hilichurl camp.
'I could go to the Whispering Woods and hope I found one there, but it's getting a bit too close to Mondstadt and I don't want to be seen just yet. If I go north, I could probably find one on Stormbearer Mountain. Or I could backtrack and follow the dirt path towards Starfell Lake and look around in that area.
'But if I don't find any hilichurls around Starfell Lake, then I'll have to go back here because the only way to go to Stormbearer Mountain without having to climb a sheer cliff is through this area near the coast of the lake.'
What to do?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Is that… an adventurer's camp?"
After deliberating over my choices, rather than potentially running into a dead end and doubling back around, I decided to go towards the area surrounding Stormbearer Mountain. If, by some abysmal luck, I failed to find a hilichurl here, I could just jump off a cliff and glide down towards Starfell Lake. Of course, this is under the assumption that I am that unlucky, or have the courage to even jump off a cliff.
"Is this a sign? Am I finally getting lucky?"
After finding the small entrance towards the mountain on the northside cliff, I stumbled upon an abandoned camp.
"It has a campfire and everything, even a cooking pot."
The tent is a simple cloth draped over two logs and held down by two stakes on one end, with the grass underneath it already uprooted. The campfire still has some firewood on it, thank god, and there's no sign of use on the cooking pot. Next to the campfire stood a weathervane, currently pointing towards the opposite direction of Mondstadt, most likely because of Dvalin's attack.
'Hmm, I should probably make this my temporary base. The chances of adventurers coming here is low thanks to Dvalin. They'd probably prefer to stay at an inn and find work within Mondstadt than risk taking a commission outside. The camp itself is built on an elevated position in the middle of an incline within the cliff so the wind won't be a bother at night.'
After checking the condition of the camp, I continued my search for a hilichurl.
Not even five minutes later, I found a couple of hilichurls napping under a fir tree.
'Two isolated hilichurls? Sleeping, at that? First the adventurer's camp and now this? What's with this luck? Where's the catch?
'There's no such thing as free lunch, whether it's this world or the previous one. There's no way there's nothing bad waiting to happen.'
There are no signs of any hilichurl-made structure, no archers, no place for potential ambush, the place itself is a clearing with only fir trees surrounding it ending with a cliff on my left and front. The only thing that stood out is several dandelions in the center of the field.
'If memory serves, in Starsnatch Cliff, there was a place where you can get three dandelion seeds. But if you come close enough to them, anemo slime will start spawning. In that case, assume the possible appearance of an anemo slime, and be prepared to defend myself.
'Anemo slime would probably be immune to its own element, and I don't have any weapon on me. The best I can do is to hope that my wind blades can cut them. The element itself wouldn't do any damage, but the blades should still be able to cut. Hopefully. If not, then I guess running is the best bet.'
After assessing the situation, I carefully moved towards the pair of hilichurls.
Positioning myself towards their sides, I started gathering anemo energy towards both of my arms. In order to avoid my previous mistake, this time I aim my attack towards their neck. I only need to guarantee one clean hit, so missing the second attack shouldn't be a problem.
After charging my attacks just to be sure, I unleashed it towards the first hilichurl. Without delay, I immediately follow up with my left hand attack towards the second one.
Schwing!
Clean hit on both hilichurls.
'What the hell? Why am I so good at this?'
Shaking my head, I approached the hilichurls I just killed, trying my best to ignore the state of their corpses.
'Ugh… that nauseating feeling is back. I haven't thrown up yet though, so that's an improvement I suppose.
Though should I be happy that I'm getting used to killing at all?
'Let's see… both masks are intact, so I have a spare in case the first one is destroyed. The masks are a bit too big though, so I should probably cut them to fit my size using a wind blade.
'Distance towards the dandelions are quite close, but no anemo slime in sight. I should be quick and take those masks off before something actually goes wrong.'
After taking the masks off of the hilichurls (strangely difficult, might I add) and gaining some distance away from the dandelions, I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, after several grueling hours, I managed to procure a mask. Though some work needs to be done to them, I can finally rest.
'I should probably wash it off in the lake first. No idea what the hilichurls that wore this have been doing after all. I should also bring the pot with me and take some of the lake's water. After that… well…'
Maybe I can finally start thinking about my situation a bit more thoroughly.
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