Who Is Staring Back At Me? (Zhongli x male reader)

A Hard Learned Lesson

So my motivation returned :)

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POV: Y/n

Geez they certainly didn't joke about the whole working me to the bone part. It hasn't even been a day and I've already been thrown to the ground more times than I can count. To top it all of Shenhe thought I might need a little more 'motivation', of course that meant I had to run before she could shorten my being by a whole head, not a nice start. Currently Cloud Retainer is dragging me to test out some weapons so they can adept my training schedule.

Cloud Retainer: "Could one please refrain from moving so much? It'll only slow us down." Easy for her to say, she's the one that can fly, not me. I have to suffer by dangling from her beak.

Am I deathly afraid of hights? Very much yes. Did I scream for the majority of the flight? Double yes.

After what felt like an eternity we finally touched the ground again, before us was a simple array of basic weapons such as a polearm, a sword, a claymore, a few bows and a catalyst. While I understand that training with a vision and a weapon requires room I fail to understand why she flew us to the middle of nowhere, all I can see are those weird clouds she keeps everywhere in her abode, at least they feel like touching a soft blanket.

Cloud Retainer: "Now position yourself infront of the weapons and hold your hands out with the palms towards the sky, close your eyes and focus only on your vision. You'll feel a slight pull, don't ignore it, focus on that pulling and your weapon shall be revealed." She told me sternly, obviously expecting something to happen immediatly.

Deciding to follow her instructions and closed my eyes, turning my the palm of my hand upwards before focusing. It felt like hours before I finally felt a pull and just like Cloud Retainer told me I was temted to ignore it, however I remembered what she told me and focused on just the pulling sensation, shivering as I felt a sudden cold embrace me. It felt like the cold was embracing my entire body, akin to being hugged by someone. It was then that I heard a voice.

???: "My child, the world has shown its ugly and unjust face, it has shown you the greed of humanity and gods alike. The vision bestowed upon you shall serve as a means to protect you from this cold and bitter world. It will allow you to fight with that same cold to create yourself a warmer future! The future has yet to be formed." This woman she sounded so sad, like she knew exactly how I felt, it felt nice to know someone understands my pain.

My focus on the cold was however interrupted by a louder scream.

Cloud Retainer: "Aprentice Y/n, one must request of you to open your eyes now!" She screeched very loudly, but wasn't she the one who said focus on the pulling sensation?

Opening my eyes I saw an old slightly scorched and now also slightly frozen catalyst floating above my hands, creating some sort of blizzard around me, shaping it like a sphere. Going for the most obvious solution I closed the floating book, forcing the blizzard to cease into nothingness. Looking around I saw that most things remained untouched, well I may have send the other weapons flying but that is beside the point. The point was the proud looking crane walking towards me.

Cloud Retainer: "Fantastic, one has never had a deciple succeed on their first try. Little Ganyu had to try twice, but only because she fell asleep the first time around. Shenhe on the other hand tried around four times before she succeeded. Now before we proceed one must call for a friend. Conquerer of Demons, Adaptus Xiao I request you immediate presence." She shouted, her voice suddenly echoing everywhere before someone wearing a scary mask appeared out of the blue, scaring the everliving crap out of me.