章節 57: My Own Element

It was now nighttime and I was just about to head out of our hotel room when I saw Keqing standing in front of the door, seemingly just about to knock on the door. Her face reddened as I just caught her wanting to knock on the door for who knows what reason.

"Good evening, Keqing. What brings you here at this hour?"

"A-ah! I just was gonna ask you… for a walk…"

"You're in luck, I was about to head out to take a walk anyways." I said as I held out my hand. "Care to join me?"

"Mhm…" she nodded as she took my hand and we walked together out of the hotel.

We walked around and I was actually quite surprised to see that there weren't many people outside. While the people I do see we're either having a date or just hanging out with friends. There were some that looked gloomy as well. Haah, it seems that they are still affected by the supposed death of Rex Lapis. I wonder how they'll react if they find out that he was just faking his death? Will they be furious or delighted? Most likely both. There are people like Keqing who want the Age of Adepti to end and to make it so that humans will be the ones that rule Liyue. This is only my theory so I may be wrong, but I think this is what Zhongli was trying to achieve. I think he wants to see just how humans can hold without him nor the Adepti.

"Aether? Are you okay?" I was suddenly snapped back into reality with Keqing holding my hand tightly.

"Hm? Oh, yes. I'm okay, I just had something in my mind."

"I see…"

We continued walking until we reached a park. Keqing suggested that we should sit on a bench that was nearby, but I shook my head.

"I have a better place that we could go to."

"Eh?"

I held her hand tightly and we started to teleport to Cape Oath. I went there before during one of my expeditions and it was quite peaceful. The scenery, the air, everything about it was nice. When we got there, Keqing opened her eyes and pouted as she looked at me.

"Warn me! I still can't get used to that…"

"Ehe…"

She looked around and admired the surroundings. I knew it, she hasn't been here before.

"Where is this place?"

"Cape Oath, Mondstadt. It's not surprising that you haven't been to this place before."

"Hm? Why?"

"On the way here, you'll pass a large Hilichurl encampment. I was able to pass them with Anemo by using a blink like move and accelerating my speed with strong, but quiet, gusts of wind." I explained to Keqing as I went by the edge and sat down, dangling my legs at the cliff.

"Eh… You're way too op. I've never seen anyone with this much mastery using the elements." she said as she sat next to me and held my hand once more.

She was right about that. Hell, I now even have my own element. Speaking of my own element. I still haven't named it yet… What to name it…

"Aether, you're drifting off again…"

"Oh, sorry, I was thinking of what I should name my element…"

"Your own element? You mean those purple flames of yours?" I shook my head as that description doesn't really fit it now. I summoned a small ember on top of my finger and showed it to her. It was a black flame with some parts that were light blue. Huh, I didn't notice that last time.

"Wow, that looks amazing and scary at the same time… Say, what exactly does it do?"

"Hm, it's a really hot form of fire. However, it doesn't have any elemental reactions, only natural ones. For example, it can melt Cryo but doesn't give the debuffs that Melt does when it's Pyro and Cryo." Ahh, I'm so glad that I got information about these flames of mine when I got it. I can't remember it stating that it can evolve, but maybe the purple flames was just it's incomplete form and it only completed when I gained enough power while using it to kill living beings.

"It also gains more power as I kill more living beings as it devours their Life Force. Of course, as it's user, I get stronger as well."

"Hmm…" Keqing pondered for a while and suddenly beamed with excitement as she got an idea. "How about Gluttony? Since it eats away the Life Force for its own use."

"Hm, that's actually a good name."

We decided to name my own element, Gluttony. I actually haven't tried this new form of Gluttony before, but I can do that later. I'll just enjoy this scenery with Keqing for now. After a few minutes, Keqing held my hand tighter, making me look at her.

"Hey, Barbara told you to take her as a lover, didn't she?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"W-well, I… I want you to take me as well…" She said as she looked away from me, her cheeks flushed red. I smiled and repositioned my hand so that I could intertwine my fingers with hers. I then used my free hand to hold her chin and tilt her head so that she would face me.

"Do you even need to ask me that? Of course I would. I love you girls so much."

She closed the distance between us and kissed me passionately. After a few minutes, we parted our lips, leaving a trail of saliva. Geez, I was only planning to hug her as well to be fair with Barbara who also confessed today, but this is fine as well. Keqing rested her head on my shoulder and slowly, but surely, she fell asleep. Seriously, sleeping near a cliff? I couldn't help but chuckle softly onto just how much trust she and the other girls put onto me.

After a bit, I made a few movements so that I would be able to carry her. After successfully carrying her in bridal style. I teleported back to the dorm room I was staying at. There was a spot left on the bed since Havria shifted a bit. When I set Keqing at that spot, the three girls woke up.

"She'll stay there for tonight, okay? I'll be heading out first."

The three girls nodded and drifted back to sleep. With that, I teleported out and went to look for something to test Gluttony on.