Taking over the Abyss

8- Life is hard when you're coded to drop loot

You didn't sleep very well, kept up by thoughts of what Mona's divination revealed. Naturally, you were a bit groggy, something both Aether and Paimon recognized. That didn't stop either of them from going about their daily commissions. Since you didn't know if they gave primogems, you mostly zoned out for the ones that didn't require any of your help.

Actually, did primogems exist in this weird isekai-verse? You didn't have a way to check, although you assumed that original resin was still a thing. If primogems existed... could you pull characters...? Though, given that you could see and talk to the pullable game characters in-person and just ask for their help, it wouldn't make much sense. Weapons too, given that it seemed every character had either their best-in-slot, or one that fit with their aesthetics.

Caught up in thoughts about whether Albedo had Summit Shaper or Harbinger of Dawn, you remained quiet and rather motionless. Until stupidly loud footsteps caught your attention. Looking up, you saw was probably the target for the last commission of the day. Hopefully. You shuddered at the sight of the Ruin Guard.

It's not like you didn't have faith in Aether being strong enough to defeat it, it was more of having no archers and no way to stun it. Your control over your Hydromancy was still shaky, and grabby tendrils weren't the sharpest things around. Regardless, Aether seemed confident enough in his skills to fight it without any other outside.

Checking to see if it had noticed the two of you yet, you internally breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of it pacing around a small area. The quickest way to take it down would involve a team of four, but it was just you and Aether here. Then again, things didn't exactly work the same as they did in the game... your eyes drifted over to the cliff dropping down into the ocean, then up to Aether.

There were stories about how Barbatos' wind terraformed Mondstadt by blowing ice and snow into the ocean. Now, maybe a Ruin Guard wasn't 'ice and snow', but given how much ice and snow needed to be blown to terraform a whole landscape... hopefully, Aether could manage. His elemental powers did come straight from the statues, so that should count for something.

"Aether, wait," you gripped his shoulder tight enough to catch his attention, "Let's push it off the cliff into the ocean."

Aether resisted the urge to wince at your tiny claws digging into his shoulder, "And how do we do that?"

"You use Anemo, right? You can push it off, and I can pull it," you slid your staff out of your sleeve to show it to him, in hopes he'd understand you were serious. Seeing that he had no other plan other than 'whack until it stops moving', he quickly agreed. Even with the battle plan, you were still a bit nervous. You hadn't checked your level after you woke up in the morning, so you weren't sure where the hell your stats were at.

As the three of you neared the Ruin Guard, it quickly took notice and turned to stomp towards your group. Relieved as you were that it hadn't thought to launch a barrage of missiles, you still shuddered at the sight of it making its way over to you. Following your idea, Aether ducked under its arm and stood near the cliff, baiting it into walking closer to him.

The hulking brown machine changed its direction to follow after you and Aether, the light radiating from its core unblinking. Up close, you could really see how much care had been put into designing these war machines. Your admiration died when its torso 'clicked' out of place and began to rotate.

You didn't even need to tell Aether to skedaddle, he recognized the spinning and booked it. Bashing his foot into a rock, Aether stumbled and made the quick choice to fling you and Paimon to safety. Paimon shrieked and clung to you, as you bounced off the grass and rolled. Shaking your head to get rid of the weird numb feeling your pain resistance created, you stood up and held your staff tightly.