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nhttps:

/

/

/qpDTvSj3TC

nhttps:

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/pa treon.com

/StickSwinger

n***

n“Seriously…Hu Tao that was a bit too much…” Yomite spoke, but didn’t find himself a response, as the girl he was talking to was currently kneeling on the ground, seemingly praying.

nShe took a deep breath, calming herself, and then closed her eyes.

nShe cupped her hands into a prayerful shape and held them out over a bowl of the fire.

n“Order of duality…Impermanence of fate…I raise this butterfly to guide thee.”

nTerminating her speech there, Hu Tao tucked her chin down and straightened herself up, placing her hands on her chest.

nA small butterfly made of fire slowly rose from her hand and made its way across her chest. The butterfly danced across shoulders all the way up to the blue sky.

nA symbol of her power, a symbol of the strength of her resolve and dedication to her job as the Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

nDressed in her black coat and black shorts coated with golden accents, the charming girl stiffened her good-looking, fearless face.

nThe sharp glint in her eye, and her frigid appearance gave off a solemn look, a look of someone who was deeply in grief.

nAnyone from Liyue who’d have known her for being a weirdo would have likely been extremely impressed by just seeing how professionally she conducted the departing ceremony.

n“The ceremony is now complete. The souls have departed, so we shall do the same.”

nHu Tao announced as she stood up from the ground, dusting off her clothes, still wearing the solemn look.

n“Ah…right…” Yomite was woken up from his stupor. It almost felt like he was looking at someone completely different.

nThey led a fierce battle with the so-called Treasure Hoarders, who were actual human thieves instead of some monsters.

nThey weren’t hard to beat and the group annihilated them quickly.

nWhile most of them managed to run away after they’ve been defeated, leaving behind the treasures they’ve stolen, from those who fought with Hu Tao, all of them had died and as such she made sure to make a proper prayer ceremony before they headed out.

nYomite felt like she went overboard, but then again, it wasn’t smart to underestimate your opponents either, as in battle, anything could happen.

nAlthough she didn’t even spare the ones who were already running away…

nAfter they returned back to Mondstadt and picked up the rewards from their quests, Fischl left saying that she saw her parents when they were entering the city.

nShe was very eager to meet them again after so long and talk about her tales and new friends and Yomite didn’t have a reason to stand in her way.

nThey were finished with all quests after all.

nAs they were about to go to the Resin Moon Inn, the group met Amber who was just returning from her daily patrol.

nAfter some quick talk, Lumine and Paimon left with Amber, to hang up some missing posters around the city.

nHer brother was still missing of course, and hearing Amber’s offer to help, Lumine swiftly agreed to it.

nOnly Yomite and Hu Tao remained now.

nUpon entering the inn, they went straight to their room.

nHu Tao seemed to pull out a notebook out of nowhere and started writing something into it.

nAll she said was that she didn’t wish to be disturbed, so he left her like that and silently watched her scribble into her notebook.

nIt was still quite early and he had plenty of time to relax until they would meet with Diluc to proceed with the plan.

nBut he already knew how he was going to spend this precious time.

nAll this while, Yomite hadn’t tried out his last ability, The Tempus of the Heart.

nThe problem was, he didn’t know how to activate it, but now that he had time and no one was bothering him with anything, it was the right moment to try and experiment with it.

nFor the Tempus of the Story, he had to think, “What should I say?” for the ability to activate.

nFor The Tempus of the Particles, he just had to think about a light sensation around his fingertips, and his ability would turn on immediately, bringing forth a cube of transparent light.

nBut no matter how much he tried, he just simply couldn’t seem to activate his last ability.

n‘Status…observe…profile…properties…Even these don’t work…’

nHe had already tried hundreds of incantations from different novels he remembered, but none of them worked.

nHe laid down on his bed, contemplating.

n‘It shouldn’t be that hard, Yomite…Think… You’re not that dumb…You should be able to figure this out…I just need a keyword or something. A keyword…’

n***

n**

n*

nAfter about a half an hour of thinking and guessing left and right, a genius idea finally popped into his small brain.

nHis tongue was already dry from all the random words and sentences he tried to activate the ability with.

n“That’s it! That may work!”

nHe grinned as he stood up, ‘Let’s see…I am helpless about the Tempus of the Heart…”What should I say?”

nThe world stood still and immediately, a small blue window with three choices opened up in front of him.

n1. I want to shower.

n2. I want to know.

n3. I want to have sex.

n‘I knew it! That’s great! I can use it in a way that benefits me.’

nHe looked at the three options provided and chose the second one, disregarding the first and the third option that had appeared on there immediately.

nThe first one was completely random and out of nowhere, although he was a bit sweaty after the quests, it still wasn’t that bad, and as for the last option…

nThat appeared out of his hidden carnal desire, but he chose to ignore it altogether…For now.

n‘Using my second ability to figure out my third, unknown ability, not bad Yomite…not bad! The second option, of course! I want to know!’

n1. THE AVERAGE CHOICE

n2. THE BEST CHOICE ✔️

n3. THE WORST CHOICE

n“I feel offended at the sex one being the worst…like come on…”

nAnyway, all this time, instead of chanting random words, he just had to think, ‘I want to know.’

nIt was basic, yet so annoying and stupid he felt like strangling Sia, but he finally got it right.

nThe sentence in question was a tad bit too long though, so hopefully, he will be able to shorten it a bit in the future.

nThe moment he thought about that sentence, a green light appeared above nearby living beings.

n‘Hmm…The Goddess Sia did mention that I could also use it on some special items, but what’s with this…’ He noticed that his pocket was shining as well.

nHe rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a stone.

n‘Isn’t this…’

nHe gazed at the blue jade that dropped from the Cryo Regisvine. The very stone that had a hidden message inscribed in the back of it, although it was currently unreadable due to cracks within it.

n‘I shouldn’t forget about this…I will have to find someone that can help me with this later, but for now…’

n‘I want to know.’

nAnd with that, a green panel containing information appeared.

n———————

nName: Shivada Jade Gemstone

nRarity: 5*

nDescription: Gemstone dropped by an adult Cryo Regisvine. Could be grinded into powder and consumed to increase the potency of a Cryo Vision Avatar.

nAlso contains a message on the back of the Jade – Sorry…██████████████████

n███████ my bitter cold ███████████ ██████ burn away ████ world ██████

n———————

n‘A five star rarity? Jackpot. Although unfortunately, we don’t have a Cryo Vision user in our party…The closest person I know is Kaeya…Well then…I gotta train this to maximum level or something…Next up is…’

nHe glanced around the room, his gaze falling onto the defenseless Hu Tao who was as if in trance, writing her poem into what appeared to be a diary of some sort.

n‘I want to know.’

n———————

nName: Hu Tao

nAge: 19

nTitle: Versemonger of the Darkest Alleys

nOccupation: Director of The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor

nHobby: Reading, writing novels, writing poems

nLikes: Her late grandfather’s hat, moon-gazing, Qiqi

nDislikes: How people treat her, Boredom, Baizhu, People who try to extend their life instead of dying naturally.

nDream: For everyone to pass away peacefully. For people to realize funeral isn’t a sad affair.

nCurrent mood: Concentrating, Happy

nRelationship Level: 7

/10 – Fondness

nState of Relationship: Close Friend

n———————

n‘Goodness…There are a lot of things to unpack here…’ Yomite viewed her status with an intrigued expression.

n’19 years old!? Sure doesn’t act as such.’

nNow that he thought about it, things like statuses were really inappropriate as he could basically know most information about an individual with just a single glance.

nTook him a while to figure out that one.

n‘Breaching privacy…Let’s go~!’

nLooking over the written stuff, he understood most things, but there was one thing he wasn’t sure about, and it was the Relationship Level value.

nUpon closer inspection however, he noticed a small button near the Relationship Level. He clicked on it, and it revealed another series of text.

n———————

n1. Hate

n2. Disgust

n3. Hostility

n4. Dislike

n5. Acquaintance

n6. Value

n7. Fondness ✓

n8. Intimacy

n9. Love

n10. Soulmate

n———————

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