Victor Wang let out a sigh as he sat on a boulder to recover his mental strength.
If he continued casting Erosion Blast repeatedly, he'd likely exceed his limit and pass out before his spirit energy even hit zero. It reminded him oddly of the mysterious art of alchemy.
"Alchemy's great and all, but why hasn't anyone invented a potion to restore mental energy?"
Since gaining control of the Anemo element, he had invented several techniques of his own. At present, the ones he could reliably use included: Afterimage, a mimic of the Debt Collector's elemental clone, an upgraded Gale Blade, Erosion Blast, and a currently impractical spell, Pseudo Dharma Manifestation.
Upon reflection, he also had one support skill.
Taking advantage of his break, Victor sent out a dozen streams of wind, which circled around him in a staggered pattern.
Each thread of wind was linked to his mind. When they collided with objects, he felt it.
With each revolution, he compared what had changed compared to the last cycle. What objects were struck, their shapes, their movements—all became clear.
The more winds he released, the larger the detection range; the faster they spun, the quicker the feedback. All of it under his control.
And since these winds were Anemo-formed but faintly colored, stretching and compressing them made them nearly invisible.
Right now, with Victor at the center, he could sense everything within a five-meter radius: birds in the trees, lizards in the grass—every movement registered.
To the creatures, it simply felt like a gentle breeze brushing past them.
A solid scouting technique.
"I should give you a good name… fast winds make a wailing sound… and you'll one day upgrade with the Gale Blade into something greater… let's call you Thousand Winds!"
"Brilliant name, I've got a real talent for naming!"
"…"
['Can someone help me?'] came the silent cry from Little Wen. ['Who else has to deal with a master who talks to himself all day? I can't take this anymore.']
As if telepathically connected, Victor suddenly remembered he was carrying around a sentient sword. He dug three metaphorical toe-holes into the ground from second-hand embarrassment.
It's fine, it's fine. I've already been thoroughly spied on. As long as I'm not embarrassed, I'm not embarrassed!
Fully recovered, Victor activated Thousand Winds and headed deeper into the forest. Time to test his skills against living enemies.
But before the skill could detect anything, his eyes spotted something unmistakable.
A towering figure, nearly four times his height, with long arms dragging across the ground, a glowing single eye, and the not-so-subtle sound of rotating gears—its pressure mounted with each thunderous step.
"Is that…?"
Indeed—it was a Ruin Guard, striding straight toward him. When it neared, its eye flickered slightly, and it muttered incomprehensible phrases. One massive hand extended slowly toward Victor.
It recognizes me as a Khaenri'ah-descended Hilichurl.
But it clearly couldn't differentiate between an original and… an import.
Looking at those long legs, Victor knew—even with speed arts, outrunning this thing wasn't guaranteed.
Sigh~
Left with no choice, he climbed onto the Ruin Guard's palm. Last time he was so worried he'd fall, he'd clung to one finger awkwardly. This time, he stood tall.
The Ruin Guard's eye shone brightly as it began a shaky parade through the forest—like it was showcasing a prince of the Abyss.
Eventually, it looped back and gently set Victor down.
"Whirr." A buzzing hum Victor couldn't understand.
"Goodbye!"
The Ruin Guard nodded in satisfaction and lumbered off.
During the odd little parade, Victor didn't waste time. He located two Whopperflowers.
Yes—Whopperflowers again. Only they were guilt-free to kill.
After eliminating ten of them, sunset finally arrived. Victor rubbed his temples.
To stay safe, he decided not to drain his spirit at night, nor use the flashy-but-inefficient Gale Blade.
Casting Erosion Blast consumed the same power as two Gale Blades but was far quieter.
But he had to avoid letting them explode. After repeated use, suppressing the inner layer's explosion could cause mental backlash sharp enough to pierce consciousness—leading to a blackout.
Once conjured, Erosion Blast couldn't just be undone. If he wanted it to disappear without exploding, he had to dismantle it layer by layer.
"Difficult, but great training for elemental control. I'll manage."
Not daring to try this in his room on the first go, Victor chose to train outside Mondstadt's city gate.
The street lamps were already glowing. The scent of dinner from nearby homes wafted into the air.
Timmy was no longer on the bridge.
Shaking his head, Victor faced Cider Lake and began constructing Erosion Blast. Building it up layer by layer—then dismantling it just as carefully.
Without the final explosion, by the eighth orb, his energy had drained steadily to empty. Sleepiness washed over him.
After dinner at Good Hunter, he returned to the hotel and knocked on Lumine's door.
"Still not back..."
Looking utterly exhausted, he entered his room, laid down on the not-so-soft bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling until inspiration struck.
"Little Wen, you there?"
["Huh?! What do you want?"]
"I'm giving you an important mission. You can see this pocket watch, right?"
["Hmph! Of course I can."]
"Then it's up to you. Wake me up at eleven… Zzz..." Victor was asleep before he finished the sentence.
["Hmph! Since you sincerely begged, I'll grant your request!"]
For the next two hours, Little Wen periodically flew out of the sheath to inspect the pocket watch. The minute hand ticked forward occasionally—but the hour hand was practically frozen.
As a hunk of ore—well, now a sword—Little Wen didn't need sleep. But these two hours felt longer than the past hundred thousand years.
["Is this thing broken?"]
She poked the watch with her hilt. The hour hand twitched—just barely.
"…"
She hesitated—then ditched the warmth of the sheath and lay beside the watch, checking it every few seconds.
…
["Idiot! Wake up!!"]
Little Wen awkwardly delivered her first-ever wake-up call. But this idiot master just wouldn't wake up.
Out of patience, she slammed the flat of her blade on Victor's forehead.
"What? What happened?" Victor bolted upright.
["It's eleven o'clock!"]
"Oh, right."
Victor straightened his cloak and clothes in the mirror, confirming he looked just as mysterious and dashing as always, then opened the door to the room across from his.
Knock knock knock!
"Lumine? Paimon? You home?"
"…Strange, it's eleven already. Why aren't they back?"
Knowing Lumine's fate, Victor didn't feel worried.
"Whatever. I'll nap a bit more. Little Wen—wake me at twelve… Zzz…"
["NOOO! Spare me!!"]
This hour was even more torturous than the last hundred thousand plus two.
Fortunately, Lumine finally returned.
"You guys stay out this late every day? And still wake earlier than me?"
Both Lumine and Paimon looked drained.
"We don't want to either…"
"It's all because of those damn Anemoculi…"
"We only need two more to fully restore the Statue of the Seven…"
"But we can't find them…"
They took turns lamenting.
Victor figured as much. He'd spent hours following a marked map just to find them all. With no markings—and a world expanded a hundredfold—it was no surprise they were struggling.
He whispered to Little Wen and then turned back around.
["Hmph! Looking for Anemoculi? I know where they all are!"]
"Really?!" Paimon was so excited she forgot her grudge against Little Wen. It was like a hero had arrived—she almost hugged the sword out of joy.
Being two short of completing the statue was nearly as agonizing as being one short. Even without OCD, they were at their wit's end.
They'd searched all day and found nothing. The frustration was soul-crushing.
"Ahem. Little Wen does know where they're located. But with only two missing... you'd better have a record of the ones you've found, or you'll have to search all of Mondstadt again."
"We do, we do!" Paimon answered quickly.
Lumine took a moment, then summoned a detailed Mondstadt map filled with notes: ores, meat, puzzles, Seelies, waypoints, domains, statues—and Anemoculi.
Little Wen floated over, examined it with exaggerated care, and nodded. ["Hmm! Not bad! This saves us a ton of effort."]
She huddled with Victor again. After a quiet chat, she pointed out two locations: northwest of Cape Oath and east of Starsnatch Cliff, in the sea.
Perhaps because they were small islands or rarely visited, the map didn't include the Nameless Island nor Musk Reef.
Based on the game, the final Anemoculus total would be one more than needed—meaning Lumine was still three short, though only two were needed to complete the statue.
Victor deliberately left out the one in Musk Reef—deep within the Abyss.