Holy crap!
Ji An didn't rush to check the life summary.
He was still thinking about the story of the pure white knight from that final sequence of images.
Back in the simulated life, when he had been Rostam, he had felt that this disciple was a bit stubborn and prone to overthinking things.
He hadn't expected him to eventually lose himself entirely.
But he couldn't say with certainty that what the knight did was wrong.
From what Ji An understood, although the disciple had been somewhat extreme, the justice he carried out was, by most moral standards, still just.
Hmm. Mainly because he, the young wolf, had taught him well. Though this probably wasn't the moment to feel proud about that.
Anyway, what it came down to was this: as long as you didn't stand against him or do things that were genuinely evil, you had nothing to fear from him.
Of course, that understanding only applied to the period before Rostam and the pure white knight had parted ways. He had no way of knowing how much further the knight's temperament had warped and darkened after that.
What made Ji An even more curious were the words the knight had spoken at the end.
The great ancient kingdom was undoubtedly Khaenri'ah.
Why would this companion of justice, who had devoted himself to rooting out wrongdoing, consider its destruction the greatest injustice he had ever encountered?
Based on what Ji An knew, Khaenri'ah had mass-produced field tillers and dispatched these war machines to the surface to attack the seven nations. Ultimately it was destroyed by Celestia and the gods acting together.
In a world like Teyvat, with gods and powers beyond ordinary reckoning, you couldn't simply apply the moral framework of his previous life and label Khaenri'ah the aggressor in any straightforward way.
But if Khaenri'ah had started the war and brought the gods' wrath down upon itself as a consequence, it was difficult to call that truly unjust.
And yet if that were the whole story, the bloodstained knight would never have called it the greatest injustice he had ever found.
Could it be that the destruction of Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago had circumstances that had never come to light?
Ji An turned this over quietly.
Because of his earlier choices, and because of Heroccia, he already felt a degree of sympathy for that fallen nation.
Perhaps more of the truth about that war, and what really happened five hundred years ago, would gradually surface through future simulations.
---
After working through these thoughts, Ji An was about to tap to view the life summary when he caught himself.
"Cough. I should probably get down from the Anemo Archon statue first."
He broke into a slight sweat, noticing that the crowd gathered below him seemed even larger than it had been before the simulation began.
Although the immersive mode had felt like a long stretch of time from inside, in the real world only about half an hour had passed.
The people of Mondstadt really did have an abundance of free time.
After climbing down from the statue, he found a relatively quiet open space nearby and opened the life summary.
[Overall Rating: Perfect.]
[Life Summary: A hero need not stand in the light. Walking in darkness, one can still follow it.]
[You have received the simulation reward. Please check.]
Just as when he had gained talent skills before, Ji An felt a flood of new knowledge pouring into his mind.
He opened the panel in his mind:
[Host Name: Ji An
Talent Skills:
Hilichurl Storm Axe Technique (Gray)
Hilichurlian Beginner Proficiency (Gray)
Ancient Mechanism Specialization (Purple)
Ancient Alchemy Specialization (Gold)
Arcane Art (Gold)
Favonius Bladework: Young Wolf's Momentum (Gold)
Exclusive Bonds:
I Feel Like I've Seen You Somewhere Before (Purple)
The Mechanized Princess Won't Be Hurt (Gold)
Forget Me Not (Purple)
My Heart is a Stone (Purple)
A Maiden's Longing: "You were once the maiden's flower, sword, and poem." (Purple)]
Compared to before, the talent skills column now included Favonius Bladework: Young Wolf's Momentum.
What surprised Ji An was that this talent was gold.
None of his previous gold talents had been weak. They were all highly practical. And aside from the gray Hilichurl Storm Axe Technique, he hadn't gained a dedicated combat skill in quite some time.
Judging by the name, could it be that he had inherited the complete version of the Favonius Bladework that the young wolf Rostam had created himself?
Thinking this, he felt a pull of impatience.
Arcane Transmutation.
A sharp longsword appeared in his hand.
He activated Favonius Bladework: Young Wolf's Momentum.
An extremely peculiar sensation enveloped his entire body.
At that moment, Ji An's bearing changed completely.
If before he had simply come across as a warm and easygoing young man, now, merely standing still, he projected a pressure that was difficult to ignore.
No one looking at him would think the sword in his hand was decorative.
This was, without question, a formidable swordsman.
"I see. It's not just the technique itself, but also the momentum of its creator, the young wolf."
Ji An gripped the sword, closed his eyes, and sat with the feeling.
In the immersive mode, although he had inhabited Rostam, he had rarely needed to push to the limits of that strength. Most enemies had not required it.
The only time it had truly been called upon was at the very end of the young wolf's life, facing the poisonous dragon that could not be stopped.
In that kind of fight, the strength of a mortal's swordsmanship made no difference. Against something so far beyond human scale, there was no way to feel the true peak of Rostam's sword momentum.
"Perfect. There are practice dummies right here."
Ji An opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.
The quiet space he had wandered into was a training ground. Fresh sword marks on the dummies suggested someone had been practicing here not long before.
He raised the sword. Countless images moved through his mind, memories of the young wolf Rostam drilling the same movements over and over.
When the technique is fully expressed, you can cut falling raindrops from the air one by one. The wind generated by the blade alone is enough to sever roses and extinguish torches.
In an instant, Ji An swung the sword and sheathed it.
A wisp of wind passed through.
Crack, crack, crack.
All five wooden dummies in front of him split cleanly in two at the same moment and fell to the ground.
Ji An stared at the sword in his hand, his eyes lit up.
For close combat in the future, he would no longer have to fall back on the Hilichurl Storm Axe Technique.
After sheathing the sword, Ji An turned his attention to the exclusive bonds column, where the new purple bond A Maiden's Longing had appeared.
Although every simulation came with bond rewards, this one left him with a question he couldn't quite shake.
"What does this mean exactly? Rosalyne was human. Five hundred years have passed. Is she still alive somehow? Or does the system award the bond regardless, even if the person is gone?"
He was genuinely uncertain.
He hadn't encountered a comparable situation before. In the previous two River of Time simulations, Heroccia was a self-sustaining machine and Azhdaha was a Geo elemental being, both with lifespans far exceeding a human's. Rosalyne was an ordinary girl.
Rationally, it seemed impossible.
But if Rosalyne really was still alive somewhere...
---
While he was still turning this over, the system spoke again.
[Ding. Perfect rating achieved at this location. Additional reward obtained from the winds of the ancient nation: Fragment II of "Lament from a Distant Ancient Kingdom" (1/3): "▆▆▆".]
[Ding. Epic Achievement "Mondstadt's Millennial Flowing Wind" unlocked. Current completion: 15%.
Sub-achievement unlocked: "Light and Shadow of the West Wind." Sub-achievements locked: 1/?]
[Tip: When the completion rate of the Epic Achievement "Mondstadt's Millennial Flowing Wind" reaches over 60%, a special system function will be unlocked.]
[Tip: Simulations related to sub-achievements of "Mondstadt's Millennial Flowing Wind" are not subject to cooldown restrictions.]
A rapid string of system notifications pulled Ji An out of his thoughts.
That was a lot of information at once.
He gathered himself and went through the new prompts in order.
First was the additional Perfect rating reward.
In the mad craftsman's simulated life, the ending prompt had been: Fragment I of "Lament from a Distant Ancient Kingdom": "Human's Heart." That had corresponded to the first design drawing on the wall, the one labeled Human's Heart.
He remembered there had been three drawings on that wall.
He hadn't been able to make out the content of the remaining two.
Now a second fragment had appeared. Could it correspond to the second drawing?
The name of the fragment, however, was obscured by black fog and completely unreadable.
Ji An's pulse quickened slightly.
Those three design drawings had clearly recorded something the craftsman considered deeply crucial.
The first drawing alone, Human's Heart, had produced Heroccia as she was now: her overwhelming artillery coverage, her terrifying close-combat capability, and the devastating output she produced when drawing on special energy.
If he could use Fragment II for a simulation and obtain the content of the second drawing, it would surely allow Heroccia to undergo another transformation entirely.
The thought made it difficult to stay calm.
But he also shook his head slightly: "Unfortunately, Fragment II is split into three parts and I've only collected one. I'll have to gather the rest gradually."
He moved on to the second prompt.
Epic Achievement: Mondstadt's Millennial Flowing Wind.
This kind of epic achievement hadn't appeared before, but Ji An was an experienced gamer. One look was enough to understand roughly what it meant.
"Like a large puzzle. I have to complete it by going through specific simulations tied to Mondstadt."
This sort of mechanic appeared often in games.
Achievement hunters and dedicated collectors would probably find it thrilling.
Ji An was neither.
"Sounds extremely troublesome."
The young wolf Rostam's simulation had only pushed the achievement to fifteen percent, and obtaining his hourglass in the first place had been entirely coincidental.
Without further guidance, if he had to actively go out and hunt down other River of Time items one by one, that was no different from searching for a needle in the ocean. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
But the system had specifically stated that a special function would unlock once completion crossed sixty percent.
That made it impossible to simply ignore.
"Scheming system."
He muttered under his breath.
So what was this special function, exactly?
He was genuinely curious.
Unable to resist, Ji An asked: "System, can you give me even a small hint?"
[No comment.]
Ji An said: "Oh? Could it be something embarrassing, like turning you, System, into a little girl..."
[Ding. Host, please be mindful of your words and conduct.]
"Fine, don't tell me then. It's not like I care."
Ji An said this with considerably less conviction than he intended.
---
After taking stock of everything gained from the simulation, Ji An checked the time.
It was getting late.
He had arranged with Venti and Lumine to investigate the Favonius Cathedral that night and see if the Skyward Lyre could be retrieved.
He didn't linger and left the training ground directly.
A short while after he left, a young woman with a ponytail arrived at the ground, gripping a wooden practice sword.
From the way she was breathing, she had clearly run the whole way here.
"Huff... huff... the person... where is he?"
The girl named Ailin looked around anxiously.
This training ground was where she came to practice swordsmanship.
Ailin was not a knight. By her own description, she was a knight in waiting.
Ever since she had witnessed Grand Master Jean's swordsmanship, she had set her heart on passing the Knight selection and joining the Knights of Favonius.
If she could become a female knight as accomplished as Grand Master Jean, she would surely be recognized, gradually promoted to captain, eventually appointed as the Grand Master's deputy, and allowed to stand at her side.
The swordsmanship Ailin practiced day after day was modeled on Grand Master Jean's style. But the more she trained, the more discouraged she became. She was coming to the uncomfortable realization that she would never reach even one percent of Jean's ability.
She had heard that the swordsmanship Grand Master Jean used had been handed down from a legendary figure several hundred years ago. The technique, named after Favonius, was extraordinarily deep and refined. Within the Knights, only a small number of gifted individuals were deemed qualified to study it.
This had once pushed Ailin close to despair. She simply didn't have that kind of talent.
Even so, she had never once given up on the dream of becoming a knight.
Today, while looking out her window, she had happened to notice that at some point, an unfamiliar young man had appeared in her training ground.
She had watched him position himself in front of the practice dummies with his sword in hand and immediately thought: this one is clearly a beginner. Even from a distance she could tell his grip was worse than hers.
She had taken him for another young person like herself, someone hoping to one day become a Knight of Favonius.
She hadn't mocked him for it. Anyone with a dream deserved respect.
In fact, she had felt a small, quiet warmth about it.
She had always been on the receiving end of instruction. For once, she had found someone newer than herself.
If she had the chance, if she crossed paths with him here again and he was willing to call her senior, she wouldn't mind offering a few pointers.
She had perked up and, with an amused sort of curiosity, settled in to watch whatever clumsy swordplay this novice was about to display.
Then she saw something that made absolutely no sense.
"What kind of swordsmanship is that?!"
Ailin's jaw fell open.
The scene in front of her was so unbelievable that she rubbed her eyes several times to make sure they were working.
After standing there in a daze for an embarrassingly long time, she finally snapped back to herself and sprinted downstairs.
She had wasted too much time standing there stunned.
By the time Ailin reached the training ground, the young man was gone.
She bent over catching her breath, deeply frustrated with herself, and slapped her thigh.
After a moment she straightened up.
Her eyes fell on the five severed practice dummies.
She walked over and crouched down beside them.
She ran her fingers along the cuts. They were perfectly uniform, clean and precise in a way that seemed almost impossible to believe.
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed it had been done in under a second, in a single swing of the sword.
-------
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