Childe
"Come on, is that all you've got?!" Childe shouted, his blades pushing against Ren's sword.
The young Harbinger's eyes, which held a unique bond with negative energy, saw more than the mere flesh of his opponent.
Within the young man known as Ren Roman lay a pool of magma that constantly leaked around his very being. It was restless, chaotic, and above all, it was uncontrolled.
'Could he not know how to control it?' The peculiar sight reminded him of his own Foul Legacy form. It was unstable, and he could barely keep it up for a few minutes back then. Even now, it drained too much of his strength and was a last-resort option.
That transformation also came with an annoying side effect, one that his colleagues constantly pestered him about until he finally found a way to stop it with the help of Arlecchino.
'Negative energy leakage,' He thought, glaring challengingly into the courier's eyes, 'So that means I just have to—!'
"Tsk!" Ren pushed away from the clash, putting distance between them.
"Hahaha!"
Childe wasn't planning on giving him much time to recover.
He rushed forward again with blades leading and put the young courier back on the defensive before Ren had regained his footing.
He was able to block it just in time, and Childe felt the impact travel up through his arm. He pushed the sword away with one blade and used his other one to slash at Ren's midsection.
Only for a Geo construct to burst from the ground, forcing him to stop his attack.
'The ability to use multiple elements without a Vision. Exactly as the report said.' He smirked, eyeing the ball of Anemo forming on Ren's leg as he kicked it forward, sending a burst of wind at the Harbinger.
'He's a little too reactive, but he has good instincts. A little lacking in skill though.' It was obvious immediately that despite the courier's immense raw strength, his actual skill with a blade was less than desirable.
But that didn't bother Childe much.
When he looked at Ren, he saw something much similar to himself.
A person that couldn't improve with mere training.
But with constant, life-threatening battles that made their blood flow.
"You're annoyingly fast!" Ren shouted as dozens of floating, small Geo spikes manifested behind him, and Anemo covered every single one, making a whirring sound as they spun faster.
"Creative!" In response, Childe ditched the twin blades and instead used Hydro to create a bow. Channeling more Hydro energy, he created a concentrated arrow and pulled back the bowstrings.
He saw Ren's eyes narrow before he sent every spike flying at the Harbinger.
Childe let go.
As the single arrow flew at the dozens of spikes, it glowed a light blue as it split into a dozen more arrows.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Every spike was hit, and the resulting clash created small explosions that echoed through the forest.
"Passable effort." Childe taunted.
"Oh shut up."
This time Ren went on the offensive, and the 11th Harbinger decided to humor him a little.
He was met with slash after slash, more geo pillars, and even an electro attack that nearly hit point blank.
But with every opening Childe left intentionally, none were actually utilised by the young sorcerer.
'Can he not see the openings?' The thought appeared before he brushed it aside. 'No, his eyes definitely noticed them. But he's playing way too carefully. Is he trying to tire me out?'
It was clear that both fighters were feeling each other out, but Ren was far too avoidant.
He reasoned that the sorcerer's go-to tactic when fighting a stronger opponent was to tire them out.
But he wasn't any ordinary fighter, he was a Harbinger.
"The fact that you think you can tire me out is insulting, comrade!"
Childe circled the courier, his twin blades back in his hands. Even with his taunts and openings, he saw that Ren never tried to use a different tactic.
Don't get it twisted; the courier was definitely ecstatic at the fight. But he was unconsciously holding himself back.
If it were anyone else, he would have stopped the fight here and left disappointed.
'But I know you can do more,' Childe had read through the report of the compound raid and the mansion. Over a hundred bodies between the two, almost all of them the result of Ren's actions.
He had asked operatives who were part of the operation and saw Ren in action firsthand. They described him as a beast without thought or restraint. A monster that breathed only to inflict destruction.
The battle with Solenne was the final straw that made him seek Ren out.
A description that left the mouths of every operative he questioned was Ren's terrifying grin filled with bloodlust.
'So what's the difference? What changed?'
Inside the young courier was a beast waiting to be unleashed, and Childe was going to bring it out one way or another.
"You're better than this," Childe called out, not unkindly. "I know what you can actually do. Stop being so careful."
Ren's eyes narrowed at him, but he didn't respond.
'Stubborn.'
If Ren wasn't going to show him everything, then he had to use a more forceful method.
A little technique his master had done to him.
/ — /
Ren
Ren submerged into the shadow beneath his feet before Childe could close the distance again.
He emerged onto a thick branch overhead, already forming a hand sign.
'Nue!'
The shikigami tore out his shadow with a loud screech, its talons crackling with electro energy as it dove down at the harbinger.
"Finally!" Childe only got even more ecstatic as he blocked a swipe from Nue. As the shikigami went for another attack, he dodged, grabbing its leg and slamming it down to the ground.
Just as he was about to follow up, Ren appeared in front of his view, forcing him to block a strike.
Ren smirked down at the Harbinger, earning a confused look before his eyes widened from a purple glow to the side.
Nue screeched and sent a powerful electro attack at the Harbinger's side, only for them to backflip away and instantly land into a balanced stance.
'What's with people and backflipping?!'
Surprisingly, Childe didn't rush to attack him for a while and instead gave Nue a curious look.
Ren took this moment to catch his breath and think of a new approach to win.
'I can't rely on my usual tactic. There's no way I can outlast a Harbinger.' He narrowed his eyes at the Harbinger, whose immense Elemental Energy hadn't even been fully tapped into yet.
The only saving grace was that he wasn't as fast as Shenhe. That woman was on another level of physical ability, but at least with Childe he could still track him. That was more than he could say for the last Harbinger he'd fought.
'Or he could just be toying with me… Which is probably likely.'
After a short recovery, he used another hand sign and the ground shook as Orochi burst from the rock, aiming its wide jaw at Childe.
The Harbinger caught it with his two hands and held the Great Serpent in place.
'Got you!' He rushed forward to take the opening and slash at the Harbinger.
"Finally mixing it up a little?!" With a shout, Childe gripped onto Orochi's jaw and twisted his body, sending the serpent flying at Ren.
He only had a second to dodge as Orochi's massive body was sent flying through several trees.
Just as he turned his eyes back to Childe, the man was already inches in front of him.
'Shit!' Quickly raising his hand, he released a burst of Anemo to give him some distance, landing a few feet away.
"Come on! All you do is run!" The Harbinger shouted, twirling his blades. "Did Arlecchino make you scared or something?"
"Tsk–!" Ren knew that was just a taunt, but Childe's words held more truth than he'd like to admit.
This spar, no matter how sudden, was genuinely fun for him. To have someone of Childe's caliber clash blades with him, letting him test his skills and strength against someone that wouldn't overwhelm him in an instant, was something he'd been constantly seeking.
He'd only felt that thrill once when he went against Solenne.
The freedom of the mind becoming one with the body.
Part of him wanted to let loose here as well and see how he could fare against Childe.
But a shameful part of him was still stuck on what happened with Arlecchino.
His mistake when fighting her was to think he could unleash his trump card on time. Even with his attempts at slowing her, it barely did anything.
There was no doubt that Childe was similar to her. The problem was that Ren didn't know the ceiling of his strength.
Arlecchino once again reminded him of the sheer gap between him and the top tiers of Teyvat. Even if Childe was weaker than her, he still held the title of Harbinger.
So, he wanted to test the waters. The most reliable way for him to keep up with top-tier fighters was with his extensions or shikigami, but that drained too much CE.
He'd keep holding back for a while. At least until—!
"You're holding back too much!" Childe called out his voice sounding more insistent than before. "You should do it like this!"
Ren's instincts flared when an enormous amount of negative energy exploded from Childe's body and electro energy covered him in a purple glow.
When the explosion cleared up, he could finally see Childe's form again. 'Did he fucking transform?!'
His clothes had somehow changed colors into a darker hue, and he now sported a red mask that covered his face.
Gone were his twin Hydro blades, and in their place was a long spear, electro coursing visibly along its length.
'I need to—!'
Childe was already in front of him before he could finish the thought.
"Let me help you."
Ren could just barely see the ball of electro energy in his hand, infused with some other kind of negative energy, slowly approaching closer.
Negative energy flooded straight into his stomach.
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"Urgh!"
The impact sent him crashing through a few trees before he hit the ground hard, skidding to a stop against the base of a tree.
He couldn't get up.
It wasn't due to pain, though that was certainly a big part of it.
His body felt… wrong. Or maybe it felt better than it had ever been before. An overwhelming sensation coursed through his body, causing him to keel over.
"Haah! Haah! Haah!" His breaths came out in short, uneven gasps. His hand trembled as he drove his sword into the ground beside him, using it to pull himself upright.
'What's going on?'
His vision kept slipping in and out of focus. His heart hammered loud enough that it was the only sound he could actually hear over everything else.
He looked down at his own hand.
'What the?' What he saw around his palm was not just Cursed Energy, but something else. It was like looking at a heat haze in the summer sun.
It didn't take him long to identify what it was.
'The negative energy!'
For some reason, Childe's attack allowed him to perceive the negative energy leaving his body. Something he'd been trying to do for some time now.
'I can feel everything.'
Every place his energy touched inside him. Every point where it pressed against something that felt less like flesh and more like—
'My soul?' He looked at his trembling hand, seeing the resemblance to another occurrence that happened recently, 'Just like at the mansion.'
He hadn't thought much of it back then as there were more important things worth his attention. But he remembered his hand trembling after exorcising the dead god remnants, and how the invisible tension left his body that he didn't even notice before.
Unfortunately, he wasn't given time to dwell on his new state.
A surge of negative energy came at him fast, and Ren forced himself upright on pure reflex, sword coming up just in time to catch Childe's spear.
"Ugh!" The impact sent him skidding backward.
"Come on, show me what you can do! I might actually kill you if you don't step up!" Childe pressed harder, forcing him back another step. "Stop holding back!"
The strikes kept coming. It seemed like the Harbinger was done playing and stopped giving Ren any room to breathe. Nothing but a relentless sequence of attacks that put him fully on the defensive with no gap to exploit.
Each block felt like it took everything he had. There was no window to channel an extension, no window to summon anything, just strike after strike, threatening to get through if he so much as blinked wrong.
And somehow, underneath all of it, he was ecstatic.
His heart pounded in his ears as he caught a downward strike on his blade, his arms shaking from the force.
And as he stared up at the spear that could take his life, an old memory resurfaced.
***
"Come on, Dad. Give me a break." A younger Ren panted, holding a sword that was too big for his hands as he stared at the towering figure in front of him.
Ray twirled a wooden spear in his hand, chuckling at his son. "You want a break in a real fight, you're not getting one. So you better get comfortable with it."
'Easy for you to say.'
He made his hand sign. "Divine Dogs!"
Yoda and Vader tore out of his shadow, flanking from opposite sides.
Ray just laughed playfully, and swiped Vader away with the blunt side of his spear, and caught Yoda by the scruff with one hand.
"Still too slow." He threw the dog at the other, making them smash into each other before they sank back into the shadows.
"Again."
"Ugh, you're so annoying!" Ren shouted and rushed forward with his sword in hand, aiming at his father's stomach.
CLANG.
The blade was stopped by the Cursed Energy reinforced spear, and Ray pushed the sword aside with little effort. But even that was enough to push a young Ren to the ground, his sword falling to the side.
"This isn't fair." He grumbled, rubbing the side of his head, and glared at his father.
"You are thinking too much."
Ren sat up, scoffing. "More like I'm not thinking enough, since nothing's working."
"No." Ray crouched down to his level, stabbing his spear to the ground. "You're thinking exactly the wrong amount. Every move you make, I can see you deciding it three steps before you do it. Your body knows what to do. Your head keeps getting in the way and asking permission first."
"How am I supposed to not think? That doesn't make sense."
Something changed in Ray's expression for a moment before it settled back to normal. "Geez, you're the complete opposite of that brat… But somehow just as irritating." He mumbled.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I know you're making fun of me!" Ren stomped the ground, trying to look intimidating.
In response, Ray just laughed and ruffled his head.
"The mind and the body," He put a finger to Ren's head, "are the same thing. You keep treating them like two separate people arguing about what to do next. One's always waiting on the other."
Putting his hand out, Ray let cursed energy burst from his palm, the blood colored fire crackling in the air. "Keep favoring one over the other, and you'll always be one step slower than you need to be."
Ren frowned, not fully understanding it. "That sounds like bullshit."
"Language, young man. Or do you want me to tell your mother?"
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"
Ray sighed and stood up, grabbing his spear. "Stop trying to win. Just fight. Let your body do what it already knows how to do and get out of its way. You might actually enjoy yourself for once."
"I don't think that's how it works."
Ray's eye twitched as he sighed once more.
"Haah, your mother is going to kill me for this."
"What are you—Hey!"
The next second, Ren had to block a strike from his father.
"I wasn't ready!" Ducking another strike, his eyes darted back and forth to find any opening he could exploit.
"You're doing it again." His dad swiped his sword to the side using his spear, and landed a kick into his gut.
"Ugh!"
"Is that all you got, squirt?" He taunted.
Quick to anger, Ren glared at his dad and made a hand sign. "You asked for it. Come out, Totality!"
"I told you your fusion doesn't count as a Totality—Woah!" Ray moved his body aside as a large claw swiped at him.
He dodged a few more strikes from the bipedal fusion before sparing a glance at the spot where Ren was, only to see him gone.
Totality was able to bite down on the wooden spear, holding it in place.
"Got you!" A voice shouted from behind the shikigami as Ren jumped from its back at Ray.
"You should really stop shouting your attacks." Ray grabbed his son by the neck, only for Ren to move around his grip like a monkey and kick at his head.
He dodged the attack, but it was still able to graze him.
Ren moved in tandem with Totality, using the shikigami to throw him while it followed up from behind.
Each action lacked the thought behind it, only intent and purpose. Every slash, parry, and strike was based on nothing but instinct.
"There you go," Ray said, blocking a strike from his blade.
He looked down to see Ren's face, which had a large grin plastered on it without him knowing. Staring into red eyes similar to his own, Ray couldn't help but let out his own challenging grin.
Everything after became a blur to him.
The only thing in his memory was the feeling of freedom and excitement.
***
Ren's mind went back to the present as he pushed back at Childe's spear.
He didn't know why that memory flashed through his mind, nor did he know why he was able to forget something like that.
But now, he knew what to do.
'Thanks, Dad.'
Letting go of his sword for a split second, he saw Childe's body show surprise at the sudden loss of pressure.
'Rabbit Escape!'
Rabbit Escape burst from his shadow mid-clash, hundreds of small bodies flooding the space between him and Childe's spear.
The hundreds of Anemo rabbits exploded, creating a large dust cloud visible from miles away.
Ren didn't wait for the dust and smoke to settle, identifying Childe's location using his senses.
'Hunt, Hold, Crush—'
'Ganki!'
The fusion tore out of the shadow beneath him and took the front immediately. Its four arms met Childe's spear head-on while Ren was ready right to its side.
Childe's spear caught on Ganki's forearm. Ren used the opening to close in low, sword aimed at the Harbinger's exposed side.
The attack was blocked, but Ren wasn't going to back down.
Cursed Energy flared from his body, 'Extension Technique: Rabbit Escape!'
Using his sword as a medium, he let out a devastating wind current that sent Childe flying back.
"Now we're talking!" Childe drove his spear to the ground, grounding him.
Ren's unblinking eyes didn't leave him for even a second as electro arced from his blade.
"Let's go, Ganki!"
He charged first at Tartaglia, using his own electro to dampen the strength of the electro in Childe's spear.
Ganki was right there to assist, following up from Ren's strike to close whatever gap he had left open.
Throughout the exchange, Ren made sure to constantly release strong bursts of Anemo to keep Childe's footing unstable.
Using two extensions constantly, alongside a fusion shikigami—it was a massive drain on his CE reserves. He could feel it dropping every second the battle went on.
But he just didn't care anymore.
However, the 11th Harbinger wasn't just going to let him be. He pressed back, moving his spear so fast that Ren's eyes could barely track it.
"Argh!" Ren shouted in pain as the spear went through an opening and landed a clean slash along his forearm. It wasn't deep, but blood still flowed from the wound.
"You're wide open!"
"So what?!"
Another strike grazed his side, but he barely registered it past the immediate calculation of where Childe's next opening would be.
It wasn't really thought. Just his instincts and mind acting in the same instant.
Ganki rushed in once again, but this time it was able to catch the spear in its hands.
Ren didn't waste the opening.
CLANG.
'That's bullshit!'
Childe had torn the spear into two pieces, and it somehow manifested into twin electro blades.
But suddenly a plan formed in his mind.
Behind him, Ren formed dozens of small anemo spheres and infused each one with electro.
Instead of sending them at Childe, he sent them flying into his Shadow.
Childe's eyes narrowed. "What are you—"
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Tartaglia was forced to retreat from the clash as Electro-Swirl balls flew from the forest's shadows, creating explosions that engulfed the area.
'Ganki!'
The shikigami howled and used its Geo manipulation to create pillars that halted Childe's retreat. Forcing him to face Ren and Ganki while handling the dozens of explosions.
Childe couldn't stand still even for a second, ducking over a slash only to have to dodge an explosion just behind him.
Ganki pressed the advantage while Childe was occupied dodging, successfully landing two clean strikes across his back before he could fully reset his footing.
"Heh, you've got some skills!" The harbinger grunted and spun to counter, but Ren ducked under the slash and got in his guard. Landing a slash that grazed the Harbinger's arm, drawing a thin line of blood.
Childe's spear swept low, slashing at Ren's thigh, which made him shout in pain and drop his sword. Forcing him to jump back to get out of striking distance for a moment.
Just then, Ganki caught the spear's next strike with its jaws, biting down and holding it firm while its four arms held Childe in place.
For a moment, a wave of nostalgia coursed through his body.
In that instant, Ren's mind narrowed to the opening in front of him. The world disappeared into a blurry mess, as nothing existed except the battle in front of him.
His eyes burned as a spark flickered inside his stomach.
Just like with Solenne, his next strike would bring him something new.
He submerged into a shadow that connected to Childe's and emerged at the Harbinger's feet.
Reeling his fist back, he felt Cursed Energy course through his fist as the punch connected.
And in that instant, all he saw were sparks of black.
[BLACK FLASH]
BOOM.
The hit landed cleanly on Childe's side, sending him flying through the air and through multiple trees before crashing to a stop.
Ren hadn't even realised what he did, his fist still crackling faint black sparks. His mind was still occupied with the battle.
"Hahaha!" Childe pushed himself up, grunting slightly, and dispersed his weapons. The immense darkness surrounding him dissolved into its normal suppressed form as he smiled at Ren.
"There it is," he said, wiping a thin line of blood from his mouth. "That's exactly what I wanted to see."
/ — /
The forest was absolutely devastated.
Trees were knocked down at odd angles, scorch marks from electro burns scattered across the ground, and a crater where the final punch had connected with the earth after Childe's landing.
Ren and Childe were sitting down on a fallen log somewhere in the middle, and Ren handed the Harbinger a couple of pieces of jerky he pulled out from his Shadow Storage.
Childe took it, eyebrows raised slightly. "You just carry snacks in there?"
"Among other things."
Childe chewed for a moment, then made a sound of approval. "This is pretty good."
"Thanks. I season it myself."
"Huh." He took another bite. "So what exactly is that storage thing? I've heard rumors but nothing concrete."
Ren hesitated for a split second, after all, this was something specific about his abilities, and the person he was talking to was a Harbinger.
But he answered anyway.
"I can put basically anything in there. No real limit from what I know." He gestured vaguely at his own shadow. "But I carry the weight of whatever's inside. I mean that literally. It's like I'm carrying whatever's in there, but out here."
"So a lesser version of Vision storage?"
"...Sure, let's go with that."
Childe hummed and kept eating.
Ren looked down at his own hands for a moment.
"Hey," he said. "Thanks. For earlier."
"For beating you up?"
"For helping me sense the energy leaving my body." Ren looked at his palm, now able to sense traces of the negative energy leaving his body. Only now, he could actually start to suppress it. "Now that I can actually feel it, I think I could get it mostly suppressed with some practice."
"Told you I could help. Though I apologise for the… method that I used."
"You mean how you sent a burst of negative energy into my gut and shot me flying a few hundred meters away?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you're forgiven."
"Good." Childe took another bite of his jerky, smiling playfully at him. "This opportunity is hard to come by, so you better be grateful."
But Ren didn't register his words, his mind currently occupied with something else.
'As good as this is, It's not the same as actually fixing the real problem, though.'
Ren kept that thought to himself. What Childe had given him access to was the ability to see and eventually control the leak.
An instinctual part of himself told him that this wouldn't help him convert negative energy into CE at all. It's still just control, not conversion.
He'd still be stuck relying on his passive absorption.
"So." Childe finished his jerky and wiped his hands on his pants. "How'd you end up running a courier business, of all things?"
"Needed money. Turned out I was good at it."
"That's it?"
"Pretty much."
"Boring answer."
"You want the exciting version, you're gonna have to get promoted to my tier 2 of friendship."
Childe laughed, and the sound was strange to hear from someone who'd been trying to knock Ren's head off less than twenty minutes ago.
They talked for a while longer about random and mundane things. Ren spotted Childe trying to get some information from him, but he answered carefully without giving away anything useful.
Eventually Ren stood and brushed himself off.
"I should head back. Operation doesn't run itself."
"Fair enough. I can't keep putting off my duties as a Harbinger." Childe stood too, stretching his arms above his head. "This was fun. We should do it again sometime."
"Sure, but not anytime soon. Pretty sure you broke a few ribs." Ren held a hand to his chest, feeling the dull ache.
'My clothes are also fucked… I should head home to get changed first.'
After all of this, Ren was energised to get back to preparing the—
"̴̞̺̿̿̈́̇́́̊͐̀͛͝Ĉ̷̦̻̫̠̦͙̻̈́͗̃͂͋̄͆u̵̡̘̰̘̗͇̙͈̲͉̾̈́̽̇͂̾̓͛̈r̵̼̘̤̀s̸̨͓̳͓̤̉͗̅͌̀̾͐͘e̶͓͕̭̯͉̰͔͛͐́d̷̢̞̺̯̪̝͖̬͙̠̑̌̒̏͜ͅ ̴̡̢̝̭̦͎̬̬̯͕͖͆̈́̏̽͂͆̈█̴̻͓͒̽█̵̛̘͙̌̌̎̒͛̒͊█̸̨̻̭̖͎̫͚͕̼̮͘͜͝ͅ█̶̞͓͖̞̙͚͖͍̳͙̲͝͠█̵̢̳̩̙͖̭̬͓̱̼̗̄͐̋̑̀͘͜͠ ̴͖̘͖͇̹̟̫̬͔͂͌̄̓͊̋̏͐̇͠ͅͅờ̵̡̫̘̻̹̪͎͎͖̼͎̦̓̊̄̏̐̕f̵̢̡̟͕̣̩̈́́̿̅̔͆̐́̔ͅ ̶̘͍͔͎̺̙͖̱̺͌̈́͂̕ͅ█̴̢̠̳̫̀̅̋̓̍̎̄̾̿͝█̵̻̤̭̖̹̠͇͍̗̥͕̏́̓̆█̷̱̬͇͙̪͚͓͌̿͛̾͛̕͝͠ͅ ̷̲̈́͒͑̒́̕█̷̨̛̲̭̜͇͓̹̯̈́̍̋̒̓̀̎█̷̛̗̳͔̋̄̆̊͜ͅ█̸̢̦͉̙͉͉̼̬̭̇͆█̴̢̡̻̟͈̯͈̦̣͙̗́̌͗͐͂͑̈͆͆█̵̮̹̯͚̻̦͗̏̈́̆͐̀̔͘͠͝█̵̰̮̲͑̂̍́̊̿̀"̵̬̪͈͔̂̓̈́̊̕ͅ
Ren whipped his head in Childe's direction, confused at the sudden voice.
"...Did you say something?"
Childe blinked. "No?"
"Huh." Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "Must be more tired than I thought."
"Understandable, given what I just put you through." Childe grinned. "Go rest up, comrade."
Ren nodded, still slightly unsettled, and started walking back toward the harbor.