[Genshin Impact] Water, Ice, and Everything Nice

Benny's Adventure Team - 1

Chongyun only had to endure a second of having his whole body squeezed so tight it felt impossible to breathe. The moment he opened his eyes, he was suddenly standing in the middle of Mondstat's public square, a playful breeze ruffling his hair and tickling his skin.

It wasn't his first time in Mondstat. His father took him once when his family was hired to exorcise a certain house to the west of the walled city. That was years ago but it looked like nothing has changed. The same beautiful houses in brown and gray dotted the landscape – dainty vines and peculiar-looking mushrooms blooming like flowers on walls and window sills.

The city was quiet and simple compared to the hustle and bustle at Liyue harbor with its colorful rooftops and bright walls. However, Mondstat was beautiful in its own unique way. It was peaceful and serene and calm and Chongyun liked it very much.

"Well that's weird," Xingqiu was pointing towards the alchemy stand. "Why is there a merchant standing guard over the alchemy stand?"

"For alchemical materials?" Chongyun mused.

"They sell alchemical materials?"

Chongyun shrugged. "So, do you want to tour Mondstat first? Or do you want to go to the Adventurer's Guild directly?"

Xingqiu seemed to ponder this for a moment before replying, "Let's go and meet this pyro-user first. It'd be better to explore Mondstat with him in tow."

Chongyun silently agreed and led the other boy towards the main gateway where the Adventurer's Guild was located. Upon arrival, the two boys greeted Mondstat's Katheryne.

"Ad astra abyssosque!" came the same reply.

"Hello, Ms. Katheryne of Mondstat. We are adventurer's from Liyue Harbor," Xingqiu explained.

"Yes, I've been informed by my counterpart in Liyue about your predicament."

Chongyun was surprised to hear about that. Although Xingqiu did ask the Katheryne back in Liyue to send a message over to Mondstat, he did not expect it to be faster than teleport waypoints. Now that he thought about it, he began to realize that the Katheryne in Mondstat and the Katheryne back in Liyue look astonishingly alike – like identical twins. Could it be that they communicate telepathically?

"I was able to call over Bennet just in time for your arrival. He should be here shortly."

Not a few minutes passed when they heard a distinctive shout coming from the bridge just outside the main gate of Mondstat. It was quite unnerving to hear as it sounded like it came from someone yelping in pain. Katheryne seemed to have noticed the two boys' reaction for she immediately tried to reassure them that everything was okay.

"Nothing to worry about, dear adventurers from Liyue. That must be Bennet."

Shortly thereafter, a young lad no taller than either Chongyun or Xingqiu came striding gleefully towards them. He had pale, ash-grey hair, and a light tan complexion which seemed to highlight the numerous darkened scars in his exposed arms and legs.

Chongyun glanced sideways to see Xingqiu's anxious expression as the blue-haired boy scrutinized the new comer. Chongyun watched on as Xingqiu's eyebrows started to climb higher up his forehead. Once this Bennet-guy was close enough, they could both see his face was covered in fresh wounds, as if an angry cat scratched it over and over again.

"Hello Ms. Katheryne! Is this the team you mentioned about?"

Chongyun noticed that this Bennet guy was smiling. It felt genuine enough to him that he decided whatever Xingqiu might be thinking about this guy's appearance, it shouldn't be a problem.

"Bennet, meet our guest adventurers from Liyue." Katheryne began. "They signed up for an expedition to Dragonspine and we picked you to be part of their team."

Chongyun saw Bennet's eyes grow wild in excitement.

"No one's joined me on an adventure in ages! My name's Bennet, but you can call me Benny!"

Chongyun took the hand that Benny extended for a shake. The other boy's hand, sure enough, was full of callouses and scars.

"I am Chongyun from Liyue's exorcist clan," Chongyun said. "And this is my friend, Xingqiu from the Feiyun Commerce Guild."

"This is your team? Cool! I like the vibe!" Benny answered back, smiling generously at the two. "I'm actually the leader of my own adventure team. We call ourselves Benny's Adventure Team, hehehe."

"Great! That means we no longer have to find another team mate. We can ask on of yours to become our fourth party member." Xingqui suggested.

Benny's hand shot to his head and began to scratch. "The problem is... all my team mates are currently on leave."

Chongyun glanced back after he heard Katheryne coughing quite loudly from behind them.

"Not to worry, though," Bennet quickly added. "I know the perfect guy to join our team. He's an Electro-vision holder and he uses this big sword to breakdown rocks and pummel through monsters!"

Chongyun saw Xingqui raising his eyebrows again.

"You mean that he's a claymore user, right? Chongyun here is a claymore user, too." Chongyun could sense the disappointment in his friend's voice. "Strategically, it makes no sense to have two claymore users in a party."

"Oh. I use longswords!" Benny responded excitedly.

Xingqiu let out an audible sigh. "Unfortunately, we use the same weapon type. I don't think this is going to work. We need an archer, or at the very least, a catalyst-user to balance our attacks out. What do we do if there were airborne monsters?"

Chongyun had always admired Xingqiu's intellect – always quick to analyze situations like this. This time, however, he felt uneasy as Benny was clearly hurt and disappointed.

"Uh hum," Katheryne cleared her throat and the three boys turned to her. "According to the reports we have received from other adventurers who scouted ahead, there were no airborne creatures in Dragonspine. Actually, the reports did mention that there were a lot of sturdy and shield-bearing hillichurls. It would be wise to have two claymore users in your party."

Chongyun could hear the smile in Benny's voice like it was an actual sound. "Oh yeah? Great! Adventure time!"

"Okay, then." Xingqiu answered, traces of doubt still etched on his face. "Now where do we meet this friend of yours?"

"Wolvendom!" cried Benny. "It's just a few minutes' hike from the waypoint. Then we can eat some steak and meat with my friend!"

Chongyun saw Xingqiu giving him a questioning look. "Sounds good to me," Chongyun said.

"Okay. If it's okay with Chongyun, I guess I'm okay with this as well."

"Hooray!" Bennet exclaimed. "I won't hold you back! I promise!"

The trio bid Katheryne goodbye and walked towards the open world just outside of Mondstat's gates. They were met with the same gently breeze that brought with it a mild scent of flowers.

"What's up with your face?" Chongyun said before he could stop himself. He didn't want to sound too nosy but he was wondering how their new teammate got his fresh wounds.

"Oh, these?" Benny asked, pointing at the slashes and cuts in his face. "The pigeons attacked me back there in the middle of the bridge."

"Pigeons? Attacked you?" Xingqiu asked, not bothering to mask his disbelief.

"Uh, yeah." Benny said, laughing softly. "I was carrying some pieces of bread I got from springvale, and they seemd to have smelled it. The next thing I knew, I was being attacked by tens of them!"

"Tough luck," Chongyun managed to say. "You lost your bread and you got yourself injured."

"Luck?" Benny's face looked horrified. "Yeah, well..."