Alone { xɪᴀᴏ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ}

【Ｔｒａｉｎｉｎｇ】

You packed a small bag with essentials for your upcoming adventure. Though Xiao was only planning on training you, you had three weeks so while you were at it why not take advantage of your time off. You bid your goodbye to Verr who was a bit confused as to why you looked so much better than you did yesterday in such a short amount of time but left the thought alone.

You started the short traverse to the marsh. You were early and could have chosen to sleep more but you decided that it would be best to get there a bit early to stretch a bit as you weren't quite sure what to expect.

When you got there you sat yourself down under a tree and then began stretching. Anything you could think of to make sure you wouldn't die from pulling every muscle in your body as you weren't the most athletic.

"You're early" Xiao had appeared under the tree you left your stuff under with his usual uninterested look on his face

"Of course, I wouldn't dare be late to the training session of the mighty adeptus"

Ignoring your remark he changed the subject "Before you can even think of using a weapon you need the physical capability to handle it, so first you have to get all the way to the top of Wuwang hill on foot I'll tell you what's next when you get there."

He then disappeared and you were left in literal shock. You knew Xiao was a harsh trainer since you still had some memory of ganyu's story quest but you thought he'd be a bit easier since you were human.

Now you would have to figure out a way to get from Dihua Marsh to the top of Wuwang hill on foot by what you assumed was nightfall since he apparently still had more left for you to do

Regret.

That was definitely what you were feeling at the moment. Sadly, there was no going back now so you started there with a light jog you didn't want to expend all of your energy at once so it would be best if you didn't dash all the way there.

...

You wondered how long it had been
Minutes?
Hours?
Days?
You were tired and your pace had been slowed down to a terribly slow walk with the occasional run that you got from bursts of energy. Every bone in your body hurt and you wondered if what you were experiencing was death itself.

At this point you had gotten to Wuwang hill the only problem was climbing up it. You feared you didn't have the stamina to climb up it directly since you were already tired and frequently needed breaks.

"Are you okay? You look tired would you like some water?"

You looked upon the voice of your unknown savior.
It was a random guy who was holding some bottles of water.

"Yes..please" your throat was dry and you hadn't talked in awhile so it sounded like you were dying.
Which you probably were

Going to grab the bottle you were surprised to be met with a hand instead

"What??"

"Mora? You're going to pay for it."

You deadpanned
They offered you water without any talk of mora and then ask you to pay last minute

"Fuck you"
That guy had to be the epitome of human trash
You really just wanted this to be over which caused you to let out a groan of annoyance
You kept walking except now with no hope for the ability to see the next day. You looked up at the sky to see how much was left, where you spotted Xiao

...you spotted Xiao???

You put two and two together and were met with the best anwser.
YOU WERE ALMOST THERE
YOU COULD SEE XIAO
JUST A LITTLE MORE

Feeling all the energy left in you build up you sprinted to the top tripping a bit every now and then and ignoring the pain in your legs

You had did it.

"What took you so long?"

Out of breath you waited until you could form
words to give your usual snarky reply
"It..huff..isnt my fault...huff...that you expected me to..huff...run across half the world in one day.

"That was nothing"

"TO AN ADEPTUS. I am in fact a human Xiao."

"Tch Mortals are so weak."

"Whatever, what's next"

"You complain about being overworked and then ask for more work? Are all mortals also as dumb as you are."

"Wha-HEY! I'm just going off of what you said before you left."

"Then what I meant by that is the camp behind you."

Looking behind you were met with an empty treasure hoarder camp that was the perfect for taking a break and getting the much needed rest.
So Xiao knew you'd be tired

"Wait, what about the bag I packed!?!"

"I brought it, now quiet down."

Settling down you let you muscles relax and let out a long sigh. You thought you'd drift off to sleep as night was already here but you didn't, you could only assume you still had some adrenaline pumping though you.

"Do you have a weapon in mind?"  Xiao spoke up in the darkness of the night, clearing up all your thoughts.

"oh."

You hadn't thought about that. Matter of fact you hadn't though about anything. You were only concerned with getting strong.

"Uhh I guess it'd be easier to teach me what you know best then"

"I see."

"Do you think I can do it or is it all futile?"
You were talking about training but you both felt as if it applied to other means as well.

"You got here before nightfall didn't you? That should be proof enough that you have the ability to go on."

"...I see"

"Why do you want to become stronger?"

Xiao usually wasn't the type to continue on conversation so this took you aback a bit but you answered nonetheless.

"I feel like a burden when I can't do things that everyone else around me can. If I become stronger people wont worry about me or pity me so much"

Xiao didn't answer only leaving you in silence as you closed you eyes and awaited sleep. This was another moment that you'd remember as unreal. It was one of those odd happening that didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the day. You wondered what both of your words meant in your odd exchange of partial truths.
You shrugged it off and fell into the hands of sleep.

____________________________________

Yes I made a whole chapter where reader walks from Dihua marsh to Wuwang hill and called it a day

I know where I'm going with this for right now so I'm happy but looking back at it this feels more like a filler chapter