⚔️ A Strength We Share || A Genshin Impact Story

Chapter 1: "An Unexpected Meetup"

"Whew, doing these daily commissions in the morning sure is refreshing!" Aether stretched to loosen up his bones.

"Refreshing?! Paimon doesn't see how doing commissions THIS early in the morning is refreshing, you sure love doing these things every single day!" grumbled Paimon.

"Mhm, it's one of the ways we get paid. And, also the reason your tummy is always full!" he exclaimed with a proud look.

"Uh... yeah I know that but, there are a lot of other ways we could get Mora, like hm..."

"Like?"

"LIKE opening treasure chests!"

"Exploration's already at a hundred percent."

"Then, what about those Ley Lines of Wealth thingies!"

"Out of resin."

"Domains?!"

"I just said we're out of resin," he told her with an annoyed look.

"Well, err... clear a Hilichurl camp?"

"Do you SEE a single camp in front of us? We've cleared this place a while ago. Doubt any Hilichurl would come back here."

"Uhh... aha! We beg for some spare change. Boom, best idea Paimon's ever had, don't you think?"

"Pretty sure every idea is your so-called best idea, Paimon."

*sigh* "How do you know Paimon so well? Doesn't matter, we'll just have to do it YOUR way then! Paimon's getting exhausted of thinking anyways."

"It's settled then. The last commission is right around the corner so it shouldn't take too long to get there, and it's the...oh... the Pudgy Pyrotechnician commission. Man, I've always hated this commission," mumbled Aether while Paimon floats next to him, with a winning grin.

*

"Windblade!" shouted Aether as he uses Palm Vortex to launch the last Hilichurl forward, just before he knew it, the Hilichurl crashed into several Pyro Explosive Barrels. "Oh come on-" the barrels exploded before Aether could finish his sentence.

The explosion was powerful enough to launch the traveler into the air. Aether tried to keep his balance so he could deploy his wind glider but moving in the wind never seemed so impossible.

Once he got the hang of it and balanced, he quickly deployed his wind glider to land safely but that made things much worse.
The wind was so strong that it pushed Aether forwards instead of downwards. During his 'extreme' version of gliding, he thought of an idea during the experience

"This is gonna be expensive... and painful!" he yelled while materializing his sword before poking a hole through the wing of the wind glider.

He lost his balance after making the hole. The idea worked as planned, but a little too well. He went falling downwards instantly, realizing the someone he is about to crash into.

(Before the sudden incident)

Keqing is one of the most ferocious leaders in Liyue Harbor. She is well-known as the Driving Thunder or the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing. One of her duties is handling businesses across Teyvat with her partner, Ningguang. Both of them also deal with the rules and safety regulations of the citizens in Liyue Harbor.

In Liyue Harbor, they are treated with the utmost respect for their hard work for the harbor. Though Keqing may look like a strict and a woman to be feared on the outside, though, she is almost the opposite on the inside and not everyone knows that about her as she has a soft personality. Cultured ones could say that she's a tsundere.

*yawn* (So first, I have to get those signed documents from Granny Ruoxin in Qingce Village but... Why must I do it this early in the morning? I haven't gotten enough sleep since yesterday, agh! Enough complaining, Keqing!) she thought to herself looking wide awake after looking like a zombie.

She was walking down a path to Qingce Village to get the marriage documents signed by Granny Ruoxin. Since her grandson is getting married in two weeks' time, the kind old lady offered to pay for his marriage funds.

(Marriage, huh? Ah, sure would be fun... to have someone do all of the work for you!) she giggled.

(Maybe, if Rex Lapis was still alive. I might've actually tried to propose to him... WAIT! Wh-what am I saying?! I-I can't say that he's a god and I'm just well a human. Oh no, am I blushing? I am. I really look like a total idiot, blushing to myself. Gaaah, hope no one sees me like this!) she panicked while slapping her blushing face.

Suddenly...

...she heard a voice above her. It sounded familiar.

"Huh?" she looked up and...

ＴＨＵＭＰ！