Somewhere in the depths of a corrupted domain, an Abyss Mage floated before a figure cloaked in shadow and starlight.
"The plan proceeds as expected, Your Highness," the mage chittered, its voice echoing off crystalline walls. "The Traveler and her companions have successfully cleansed the eastern corruption."
Aether—though he looked nothing like the cheerful sibling Lumine remembered—studied a map of Teyvat with cold, calculating eyes. "And the western domain?"
"They've split their forces. The unknown factor travels with the Cavalry Captain to our strongest position."
"Good." Aether's voice carried an edge that would have broken Lumine's heart. "Send reinforcements to the western domain. Double the hilichurl battalion. Add mitachurls to the mix. If this mysterious newcomer wants to play hero..."
The Abyss Mage trembled with anticipation. "How many, Your Highness?"
"All of them."
Meanwhile, Haru was having what could generously be called "a morning of absolute chaos."
He'd woken up refreshed after the previous day's mission, grabbed breakfast with what remained of his group (Paimon had already eaten her weight in hash browns), and set off toward the western domain with a spring in his step.
That spring lasted approximately fifteen minutes.
"So," he said, dodging a Hydro Slime's projectile while simultaneously freezing two Geo Slimes solid, "is it just me, or are there way more monsters on this route than there should be?"
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Monster density: 340% above normal parameters. Someone's been busy.]
"That's... not ominous at all."
A Pyro Slime bounced toward him with murderous intent. Haru casually flicked an ice shard at it, watching it freeze mid-bounce and shatter against a tree.
"At least they're still easy—"
"HALT, CITIZEN! PREPARE FOR TOTAL FINANCIAL DEVASTATION!"
Haru slowly turned around to find himself surrounded by what could only be described as the most incompetent group of would-be bandits in Teyvat's recorded history.
The leader—a man so skinny he looked like a scarecrow that had given up on life—stood proudly holding what appeared to be a soup ladle painted silver. His "intimidating" bandana was on backwards, covering his eyes instead of his face.
"Your mora or your life, fancy pants!" he declared, squinting through the fabric. "Wait, where did he go?"
"Boss, you're facing the wrong direction," whispered one of his subordinates, a portly man clutching a garden rake like it was Excalibur.
"I KNEW THAT! This is tactical disorientation!"
"Sir," interrupted another bandit, raising his hand politely, "my pickaxe is stuck in my boot again. Should I—"
"NOT NOW, GERALD!"
"But sir, it's really stuck this time. I think I hit bone."
"THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, GERALD!"
Haru watched this circus with growing amazement. "Are you... are you actually trying to rob me right now?"
The leader spun around (still wearing his backwards bandana) and pointed his soup ladle menacingly. "That's right, stranger! We are the feared Treasure Hoarders of... of..." He paused. "What was our group name again?"
"The Barely Competent Brigands?" suggested the man with the rake.
"THE FISCALLY MOTIVATED MISCREANTS!" corrected a woman holding what appeared to be a butterfly net.
"I thought we were the Economic Opportunity Seekers," said Gerald, still trying to extract his pickaxe from his foot.
"SILENCE!" roared the leader. "We are... we are..." He thought hard. "We are VERY DANGEROUS!"
"Sir," said the woman with the butterfly net, "your bandana is still backwards."
"IT'S A TACTICAL CHOICE, MARGARET!"
Haru rubbed his temples. This was giving him a headache. "Let me get this straight. You're trying to rob me with a soup ladle, a garden rake, a butterfly net, and Gerald's foot-pickaxe."
"These are PREMIUM INTIMIDATION TOOLS!" the leader insisted, waving his ladle with what he probably thought was menace.
"I can see the price tag still on the rake."
"That's... that's for psychological warfare! Making the enemy think about retail prices causes confusion!"
"It says 'Mondstadt Hardware - 50% off Garden Supplies.'"
"TACTICAL PRICING INFORMATION!"
Gerald finally freed his pickaxe with a wet pop. "Got it! Oh wait, that's definitely blood. That's a lot of blood actually. Should I be concerned about—"
"GERALD, FOCUS ON THE ROBBERY!"
"Right, sorry boss." Gerald raised his bloody pickaxe with determination, then immediately dropped it. "Ooh, that's slippery now."
Haru looked around at the group of self-proclaimed bandits. Margaret was trying to figure out how to hold her butterfly net threateningly. The rake guy was reading the warranty information on his weapon. Gerald was attempting to stop his foot from bleeding by hopping on one leg. And the leader was still wearing his bandana backwards while brandishing kitchen equipment.
"You know what?" Haru said, reaching into his mora pouch. "I'm going to pay you to stop."
"HA! So you admit defeat in the face of our superior—wait, what?"
"I'm going to give you money to go away and never attempt crime again."
"That's... that's not how robbery works," Margaret said uncertainly.
"Is it though?" asked the rake guy. "I mean, we get money, he gets peace of mind. Seems like a win-win."
"IT'S NOT A WIN-WIN! IT'S A ROBBERY! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE INTIMIDATING!"
"Sir," Gerald said, still hopping, "I think I need medical attention."
"YOU NEED PROFESSIONAL FOCUS, GERALD!"
Haru pulled out a handful of mora and started flicking coins at them like he was feeding ducks. Each coin hit with a satisfying ting sound.
"Here's some life advice," he said, nailing the leader square in the forehead with a particularly shiny coin. "Get a job." Ting! "Learn marketable skills." Ting! "Stop threatening people with kitchenware." Ting! "And for the love of all that is holy—" He switched to rapid-fire coin flicking. "Just put the fries in the bag, little bro!"
"WHAT FRIES?!" the leader screamed, coins bouncing off him like metallic hail. "WE DON'T HAVE ANY FRIES!"
"It's a metaphor for your life choices!"
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND METAPHORS!"
"THAT'S PART OF THE PROBLEM!"
Margaret tried to catch some of the falling coins with her butterfly net. "This is actually quite lucrative," she observed.
"MARGARET, NO!"
"But sir, I've already made more money than our last three heists combined."
"Those weren't heists, those were mostly us getting lost and asking for directions," Gerald pointed out, then collapsed as his blood loss caught up with him.
"GERALD DOWN!" shouted the rake guy. "MEDICAL EMERGENCY!"
"Is anyone here actually qualified for first aid?" Margaret asked.
"I took a class once," the leader said, finally removing his backwards bandana. "But it was mostly about soup preparation."
"WHY SOUP?!"
"I thought it was a cooking class! The flyer was unclear!"
Haru watched Gerald slowly losing consciousness while the others argued about proper soup seasoning techniques. He sighed, walked over, and quickly froze Gerald's wound to stop the bleeding.
"There. He'll live."
"Oh good," Margaret said. "I was starting to feel bad about this whole thing."
"You should feel bad! This is the worst robbery attempt in recorded history!"
"Actually," said the rake guy, who had been quietly collecting the scattered mora, "I think we've made about 500 mora from this encounter. That's more than we usually get from actual treasure hunting."
The leader stared at him. "How much more?"
"Well, last month we found a chest that had three apples and a rusty spoon in it."
"And the month before that?"
"We got lost for two weeks and had to eat tree bark."
"And before that?"
"Gerald got his head stuck in a barrel and we spent a week trying to get him out."
The leader looked around at his crew—Margaret counting coins in her butterfly net, the rake guy doing calculations on his palm, and Gerald making weak thumbs-up gestures from the ground.
"You know what?" he said finally. "I think we're in the wrong line of work."
"There's a construction company in Mondstadt that's hiring," Haru offered helpfully. "They specifically need people with experience handling tools."
"But we don't have experience—"
"You have enthusiasm. That's worth something."
"Really?"
"No, but it's better than whatever this was."
The leader considered this. "Alright, boys—and Margaret—new plan. We're going legitimate."
"What about our fearsome reputation?" Margaret asked.
"What reputation? Last week a group of slimes laughed at us."
"They were mocking slimes, sir. That's different."
"Not really."
As the newly reformed Barely Competent Brigands helped Gerald to his feet and started walking toward Mondstadt, Haru called after them.
"Hey! Next time you want to change careers, maybe don't start with armed robbery!"
"It wasn't armed robbery!" the leader called back. "It was kitchen utensil intimidation!"
"THAT'S NOT A REAL THING!"
"IT IS NOW!"
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: AURA FARMING DETECTED! Style points: +50. Casual dismissal of threats: +30. Educational mockery: +25. TOTAL EARNED: 105 POINTS!]
[REWARD UNLOCKED: Premium Mount + 100,000 Mora bonus!]
The air shimmered, and suddenly the most magnificent horse Haru had ever seen materialized beside him. Pure white with an intelligent gleam in its eyes, it looked like something out of a fairy tale.
"Well hello there, gorgeous," Haru said, running his hand along the horse's neck. The animal nuzzled him affectionately.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Please name your mount.]
Haru studied the noble creature. Something about its regal bearing and intelligent eyes reminded him of great leaders from history.
"Julius Caesar," he decided. "But we'll call you Caesar for short."
Caesar whinnied approvingly and lowered himself so Haru could mount up.
"This is either the best day ever or I'm about to die horribly," Haru muttered, settling into the saddle. "Let's go save the world, buddy."
The ride to the western domain was surprisingly peaceful. Caesar moved with smooth, powerful strides that made the journey feel more like a pleasant afternoon ride than a trek to battle corrupted monsters. The landscape rolled by in shades of green and gold, and for a few precious minutes, Haru could almost forget about systems and aura farming and the weight of expectations.
Almost.
The domain entrance came into view just as Kaeya arrived from the opposite direction. The Cavalry Captain's usual smirk faltered slightly when he saw Haru riding what appeared to be the horse equivalent of aristocracy.
"Well," Kaeya said, his voice carefully neutral, "that's new."
"I got it from a... merchant," Haru said, dismounting. Caesar snorted, which Haru chose to interpret as agreement rather than indignation.
"Uh-huh. And this merchant just happened to have a legendary-quality warhorse lying around?"
"I'm very persuasive."
"Clearly."
They approached the domain entrance together. Unlike the previous day's wind-and-light portal, this one pulsed with an ominous red energy that made Haru's skin crawl.
"Standard formation?" Kaeya asked, drawing his sword.
"Sounds good. I'll provide support."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Aura farming opportunity detected. Recommended approach: Dramatic heroics.]
Not yet, Haru thought. Let's see what we're dealing with first.
The domain's interior was a maze of stone corridors and chambers filled with the usual suspects—slimes bouncing around like murderous gelatin, hilichurls grunting their way through patrol routes, and the occasional treasure chest that was definitely not a trap.
"Lighter resistance than expected," Kaeya observed, freezing a Cryo Slime solid before shattering it with his blade.
"Maybe we got lucky?"
"In my experience, luck is usually just the calm before the storm."
They progressed through several chambers without incident. Haru found himself falling into the same pattern as the previous day—providing minimal support while letting Kaeya handle the majority of the combat. It felt comfortable, familiar even.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Combat participation: 20%. Still concerning, but slightly improved.]
They reached what appeared to be the final chamber—a vast circular room with corrupted wind currents swirling around a central platform. The corruption source pulsed with malevolent energy, just waiting to be cleansed.
"Alright," Kaeya said, studying the setup. "This looks straightforward enough. We just need to—"
RUMBLE.
The ground began to shake violently, sending loose stones cascading from the ceiling.
"That's definitely not good," Haru said, steadying himself against the wall.
The rumbling intensified. The very air seemed to vibrate with approaching menace. Then, with a sound like the world cracking open, not one but three walls exploded simultaneously.
What poured through wasn't just an army—it was an apocalypse.
Hilichurls flooded in from every direction, their bone masks gleaming in the corrupted light. But these weren't the usual scattered bands Haru was used to. These moved with military precision, forming ranks and battle lines like actual soldiers.
Behind them came the mitachurls—massive, scarred beasts that had to duck to fit through the breaches they'd created. Their clubs dragged across the stone with sparks, leaving gouges in the floor.
But it didn't stop there.
Samachurls materialized on elevated platforms, their elemental shields crackling with power. Pyro, Cryo, Electro, Hydro—a rainbow of elemental destruction preparing to rain down.
And still they kept coming.
"Mother of Barbatos," Kaeya whispered, his usual composure completely shattered. "There must be over a hundred of them."
Haru did a quick count and felt his stomach drop. One hundred and twenty hilichurls, minimum. Fifteen mitachurls. Eight samachurls. And more still pouring through the breaches.
"This might be significantly harder than I thought," Kaeya said, his voice tight with stress.
The hilichurls began their war chant—a bone-chilling sound that echoed off the chamber walls and made the corrupted energy pulse faster. The mitachurls pounded their clubs against the ground in rhythm, creating a thunderous drumbeat of impending doom.
"Leave this to me," Haru said, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Are you insane?!" Kaeya grabbed his arm. "There are too many! We need to retreat, get reinforcements—"
"I'm sure."
Haru's red eyes began to glow.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: AURA FARMING MODE: MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE! Boss rush detected! This is what legends are made of!]
[RECOMMENDED SOUNDTRACK: "One Winged Angel" but for ice powers. RECOMMENDED ATTITUDE: Absolute annihilation. RECOMMENDED OUTCOME: Make them remember your name.]
The temperature didn't just drop—it plummeted so fast that frost exploded across every surface in the chamber. The hilichurls' war chant faltered as their breath began misting. Even the corrupted wind currents started freezing solid.
Haru took a step forward.
The ice spread outward from his foot like a shockwave, racing across the floor in crystalline patterns that looked almost alive. Another step, and the walls began coating themselves in permafrost. A third step, and the very air started crystallizing.
"Shall we dance?" he said, his voice carrying impossible authority.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ENTRANCE RATING: MYTHICAL! The temperature sensors just broke! Style points: MAXIMUM ACHIEVED!]
The hilichurls charged as one—a wall of fury and weapons rushing toward him with murderous intent.
Haru raised both hands toward the ceiling.
What happened next could only be described as "winter's apocalypse."
Ice weapons materialized by the dozens—no, by the hundreds. Swords, spears, halberds, axes, daggers, and shapes that had no names but looked absolutely lethal. They filled the air above the chamber like a celestial armory, each one perfectly crafted and gleaming with deadly promise.
"First movement," Haru said calmly.
The weapons fell like a meteor shower.
The front ranks of hilichurls disappeared under the barrage, flash-frozen and shattered simultaneously. But the ones behind kept coming, leaping over their fallen comrades with savage determination.
A massive mitachurl broke through the chaos, swinging its club in a devastating arc aimed at Haru's head.
Haru didn't dodge. Instead, ice erupted from the ground, forming a shield that caught the club and held it fast. The mitachurl roared and tried to pull free.
"Second movement," Haru said.
The shield exploded outward, sending ice shards through the mitachurl like a thousand frozen bullets. It toppled backward, already turning blue from hypothermia.
But three more mitachurls were already charging from different angles, their clubs raised high.
Haru spun, and as he moved, ice flowed around his hands like living water. When he completed the turn, he was holding his chain-kunai—but this time, it was longer. Much longer.
"Now this," he said with deadly appreciation, "is what I call proper choreography."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: WEAPON EVOLUTION DETECTED! Chain-kunai has achieved "Legendary Boss Fight" status!]
The chain extended impossibly far, the kunai multiplying as it moved. What had been one blade became five, then ten, then twenty—all connected by chains of living ice that moved with serpentine grace.
Haru began to dance.
There was no other word for it. Every movement was fluid perfection, every gesture a work of lethal art. The multiple kunai flowed around him in spiraling patterns, each one finding its mark with surgical precision.
A hilichurl lunged at him from the left. Without looking, Haru sent a kunai curving around his body to intercept, the blade taking the creature in the chest before yanking it away and tossing it into a group of its companions.
Three samachurls launched elemental attacks from their platforms. Haru's response was to send his chain-kunai skyward in an impossible corkscrew pattern, the blades weaving between the incoming projectiles and striking each caster before they could cast again.
A mitachurl tried to ambush him from behind. Haru simply stepped sideways and let momentum carry the massive creature past him, then wrapped it in chains of ice that contracted until it shattered like glass.
The battle became a deadly ballet. Every enemy attack was met with perfect counters. Every group that tried to surround him found themselves frozen, sliced, or simply outmaneuvered by someone moving too fast and too gracefully to pin down.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Combat rating: TRANSCENDENT! This isn't just aura farming anymore—this is art!]
But the enemies kept coming. For every ten Haru destroyed, twenty more poured through the breaches. The chamber floor was becoming a maze of ice sculptures and frozen corpses, but still they pressed forward with mindless determination.
"Impressive," Haru admitted, breathing slightly harder now. "But I haven't shown you my finale yet."
He planted his feet and raised his hands to the sky.
Every piece of ice in the chamber—every frozen enemy, every crystalline weapon, every shard of permafrost—began to glow with internal light.
"Third movement," he said, his voice echoing with power. "Grand finale."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE DETECTED! PREPARE FOR MAXIMUM AURA HARVEST!]
The ice exploded.
Not outward—inward. Every frozen element in the chamber collapsed toward Haru's position, forming a swirling vortex of crystalline death that caught every remaining enemy in its embrace. The very air became a weapon as ice crystals sharp enough to cut stone filled the space like a blizzard of razors.
The vortex spun faster and faster, the sound building to a crescendo that made the chamber walls vibrate. At its center, Haru stood perfectly calm, his red eyes glowing like coals in the winter storm.
Then, with a sound like breaking glass amplified a thousandfold, the vortex collapsed.
Silence.
When the ice mist cleared, the chamber looked like a museum exhibit titled "What Happens When Winter Gets Angry." Perfectly preserved ice sculptures filled every available space—hilichurls frozen mid-charge, mitachurls caught in poses of eternal rage, samachurls with their mouths open in silent screams.
Not a single enemy remained unfrozen. Not one had escaped.
Haru stood in the center of it all, his chain-kunai slowly dissolving back into elemental energy. Frost clung to his hair and clothes, making him look like some ancient god of winter who had just finished remaking the world according to his whims.
The only sound was Kaeya's shallow breathing and the gentle tinkle of settling ice crystals.
"Wow," Kaeya managed, his voice barely a whisper. "Just... wow."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: COMBAT RATING: BEYOND LEGENDARY! BEYOND MYTHICAL! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO INVENT NEW RATING CATEGORIES!]
[AURA FARMING COMPLETE: Status - ABSOLUTELY NUCLEAR!]
But Haru held up a hand for silence. His enhanced senses had picked up something Kaeya missed—a faint whimpering from behind a pile of rubble.
"It's not over yet," he said softly.
He walked toward the sound with predatory grace. Behind the rubble, cowering in absolute terror, was an Abyss Mage.
"There you are," Haru said.
The mage let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the domain and probably half of Mondstadt.
Miles away, in his corrupted sanctuary, Aether heard the scream and felt his jaw clench.
"Tch."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: BOSS ENCOUNTER DETECTED! TIME FOR THE FINISHER!]
[FINISH HIM!]
The Abyss Mage gibbered in terror, its teleportation magic failing in the face of Haru's overwhelming presence. Ice began forming around its shield, creeping inward like grasping fingers.
"Please," it chittered, "mercy! I surrender! I—"
"Tell your master," Haru said quietly, his red eyes glowing in the dim light, "that his games end here."
The ice closed over the mage completely, creating a perfect crystalline prison. The creature's panicked movements slowed, then stopped entirely.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: FLAWLESS VICTORY! REWARDS CALCULATING...]
[REWARD UNLOCKED: Full Mastery of Geo Element!][REWARD UNLOCKED: Master-tier Chain-Kunai Combat!][REWARD UNLOCKED: Legendary Outfit - "Crimson Dominion"!]
[AURA FARMING COMPLETE: Rating - MYTHICAL!]
The rewards flooded through Haru's system. He felt the familiar sensation of new power integrating with his abilities, but this time it was different. Stronger. More complete.
"We should go," he said to Kaeya, who was still staring at the frozen battlefield with something approaching religious awe.
"Right. Yes. The corruption source."
They cleansed the domain's core without incident—difficult to have incidents when one member of your team has just achieved what could only be described as "mortal kombat-level fatality status."
The journey back to Mondstadt was quiet. Caesar seemed pleased to see his rider again, nuzzling Haru affectionately before allowing him to mount up.
They met Diluc on the road leading back to the city. The usually stoic man took one look at Haru's new horse, the lingering frost patterns on his clothes, and Kaeya's shell-shocked expression, then simply nodded.
"Successful mission, I take it?"
"Very successful," Kaeya managed.
"Good. The storm is dissipating. Whatever you did, it worked."
True enough, the unnatural winds that had plagued Mondstadt for weeks were finally calming. The sky looked clearer than it had in months.
At the Knights of Favonius headquarters, Jean was waiting with Lumine, Paimon, and Lisa. All three teams had completed their objectives successfully.
"Excellent work, everyone," Jean said, though her eyes lingered on Haru with curiosity. "The corruption sources have been cleansed, Stormterror's power has been significantly weakened, and Mondstadt is safe once again."
"Does this mean we get a reward?" Paimon asked hopefully.
"Actually, yes." Jean smiled. "For your exceptional service to Mondstadt and the Knights of Favonius, I hereby grant both Haru and Lumine the title of Honorary Knights."
She presented them with official certificates and ceremonial badges. Lumine looked genuinely moved by the recognition.
"Thank you," she said. "This means a lot."
"You've earned it," Jean replied. "Both of you."
As the group dispersed to celebrate their victory, Haru felt a strange sensation in the back of his mind. Like static, or a radio trying to find the right frequency.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Alert. Alert. System update required.]
What kind of update? Haru thought.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Major version upgrade detected. Downtime required for installation. Estimated duration: Unknown.]
Haru's blood ran cold. What does that mean for me?
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: All aura farming abilities will be temporarily unavailable during update process. Standard warning: Do not attempt to activate system functions during maintenance period.]
For how long?
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Duration unknown. Could be hours. Could be days. Could be—]
The voice cut off abruptly, leaving Haru standing in the plaza with a sick feeling in his stomach.
No system. No aura farming. No supernatural confidence boost.
Just him, alone, in a world full of gods and monsters and expectations he might not be able to meet.
"Haru?" Lumine's voice seemed to come from very far away. "Are you alright? You look pale."
"I'm fine," he said automatically. "Just tired from the mission."
But as they walked back toward their apartment, Haru couldn't shake the feeling that everything was about to change.