Avidya Forest, nighttime...
A barrage of arrows shot at Marana, an Abyss monster that took the form of a mushroom plant and could infect other mushrooms to become its army. Despite its injuries, Marana retained the ability to move its body and launch attacks against those who had harmed it.
"Master, this Marana is too strong!" A green-haired girl exclaimed as she stepped back. The rangers she led followed suit.
"I'll finish the rest, Collei. You return to Gandharva Ville."
"Yes, Master Tighnari!" Collei and her team exited the forest area.
The man named Tighnari then pulled up his sleeve, revealing a wristband with a round object in the middle. Then, Tighnari pressed a small button on the right side.
Instantly, the object lit up, revealing a green heart-shaped logo. Mist enveloped Tighnari, and a second later, black and green metal armor covered his entire body. The head of the armor has a design like a fennec fox, an endemic animal of Sumeru.
A large bow and arrows suddenly appeared in Tighnari's hand. He aimed the weapon at Marana, pulled the bowstring before releasing the arrows. Greenish light coated the arrows, and they multiplied into three. All of them hit Marana.
The Marana cracked, its form disintegrated into countless fragments, and disappeared as if it were merely dust. Tighnari went down from the tree branch towards the reddish-black portal. He aimed an arrow at the portal, Marana's gateway, from the void into the Avidya forest. The portal disappeared as if consumed by the earth. The area surrounding the forest went back to its state before Marana arrived.
Tighnari deactivated his hero mode. His appearance returned to normal. He walked out of the Avidya forest, towards Gandharva Ville, which was 1.5 kilometers from this area.
Gandharva Ville is a village located 10 kilometers away from Sumeru City. The residents are mostly forest rangers, whose job is to safeguard the tropical rainforest from people who want to destroy or the Abyss that can appear at any time.
The forest rangers, equipped with an arsenal of weapons, possess the capability to defeat groups of Abyss monsters, ranging from low to mid-class. They can defeat high-class monsters by combining their strengths. However, high-class monsters are often difficult to defeat—for example Marana—so they need help from Tighnari, the head of the forest rangers and a Hero with the nickname Vulpes Zerda.
Tighnari finally arrived at Gandharva Ville. The man walked towards his house, which was located at the end, precisely at the top of a large tree branch that was 20 meters high. Tighnari's home was situated close to the Sumeru City border.
He entered his house. Inside, there was Collei, who was placing a snack on the dining table. On the chair sat someone who was his childhood friend, Cyno.
"Yo, Tighnari." Cyno greeted the forest ranger upon his arrival.
"Since when were you here, Cyno?"
"Since Collei came back from fighting Marana," he replied. "What about the monster?"
"As usual, I've dealt it." Tighnari took the snack that Collei had provided earlier.
"Master, since Master Tighnari is here, I'll go home first."
"Have you brought the snack, Collei?"
"Yeah." Collei showed Tighnari the bag she was holding.
"Okay. Good night, Collei."
"Night, master." The girl then left Tighnari's house.
"Why are you here?" The head of the forest rangers asked after hearing Collei's footsteps moving away from his house.
"There is a person who knows my identity as Lupus Aureus."
Tighnari, who was chewing his food, quickly swallowed and then said, "How is that possible? You know the code of ethics, no one is allowed to know the real identity of a Hero."
"Of course I know. I just didn't expect that when I was far away and took off my hero form, that person could still see me."
"So you just helped someone. Who?"
Recounting the event that unfolded at the Grand Bazaar, Cyno explained how he had witnessed a Humanoid Abyss disguised as a beggar searching for victims. Cyno observed the monster for two hours until a girl named Lumine gave the 'beggar' some money. Following that, she and the monster exited the Grand Bazaar. Cyno also told all the details of the incident at Chinvat Ravine until he gave Lumine advice.
****
At the same time, in Lumine's apartment....
Lumine, with her eyes closed, repeatedly shifted and adjusted her body's position on the bed. However, sleepiness did not come to her. She then pulled herself up to a sitting position on the bed.
The near-fatal encounter with the Abyss monster remained etched in Lumine's memory. Then she remembered Cyno, a fellow student, a young man with the power of a Hero, Lupus Aureus. That unexpected nighttime event was unlike anything Lumine had ever encountered in Mondstadt.
"What actually happened in Sumeru City?" she muttered.
Lumine recalled that Sumeru City was silent at the night she departed the city center. The convenience store where she stopped her motorbike was also closed. She did not expect that the city center, where Sumeru Akademiya and her apartment were located, would stand in stark contrast to the city's outskirts.
Lumine was lucky at that time. Cyno was there to save her from the clutches of the Abyss monster. She couldn't imagine what she would be like now if Cyno wasn't there.
Lumine lay back down on the bed, trying to sleep after letting go of all the thoughts that had clouded her head earlier.
While her eyes were closed, Lumine made a note in her mind: no outdoor activities in Sumeru after 8 pm.
****
"I see..." Tighnari nodded as he responded to Cyno's story.
Tighnari sighed. The exhaustion was evident in his face, a mask of fatigue, a slack jaw, and weary eyes. The long hours at Akademiya and his night job as a forest ranger had drained him. A story from his friend increased Tighnari's fatigue.
"According to the code of ethics, I must take you to the Temple of Silence in the Great Red Sand desert immediately to be given counsel. But since I'm your friend, I just want to tell you... don't let it happen again. Not all people like that girl, who immediately obeys when you told her."
"I'll be more careful." Along with that answer, Cyno and Tighnari's wristbands both lit up, blinking. That meant there was an Abyss near them.
"Impossible! Gandharva Ville is tightly guarded by forest rangers. There shouldn't be any Abyss here!" Tighnari couldn't hide his surprise.
"Something must have happened outside." Cyno then stood up. "I'll take care of it."
"No, I'll do it. This is my territory, and it's my duty as a forest ranger to protect the Avidya forest." Tighnari also stood up from his seat.
"You've been working all day. If you fight the Abyss while exhausted like this, it will be risky."
"But—"
"Tighnari, please rest."
Tighnari returned to his seat. While massaging his forehead, he said, "Alright. I'll leave it to you. Make sure no one sees you become Lupus Aureus, not even the forest rangers."
"Got it."
Cyno walked out of Tighnari's house. He crossed the bridge and then went down the stairs, which spiraled around an enormous tree. Cyno's wristband began blinking more rapidly as he reached the bottom.
His eyes widened when he saw Collei standing across from him. The girl was not looking at Cyno, but at the villagers's houses. From the side, Collei's gaze was blank.
"What are you doing here, Collei?"
The girl flinched, then turned to Cyno with a lopsided smile. "I thought it was Teacher Tighnari. Turns out it was you."
"Why do you need to see Tighnari?"
"There's something I want to tell him. But it seems like he's already asleep?"
"Tighnari is upstairs, still awake."
Collei gave a slow nod. "Thank you."
They walked past one another. Just as Collei turned her back to Cyno, the white-haired man activated his spear.
Then, they faced each other. And....
"Urk!"
Cyno stabbed his spear into Collei's chest. Instead of blood, a thick, black, ink-like liquid poured from the girl's mouth.
'Collei' instantly transformed into a purplish-black skinned creature with a human-like posture, the form of a Humanoid Abyss monster. Not long after, the monster's body cracked and shattered into pieces before finally disintegrating like dust.
"Collei never used the term 'teacher' to refer Tighnari." Cyno straightened his spear as the base touched the ground.
"Warning! Warning! Abyss appears simultaneously at several locations." A voice came from Cyno's wristband.
"It looks like Tighnari has to delay his sleeping time. How unfortunate...."
Cyno then activated his Lupus Aureus form by pressing a small button on the round object on his wristband. When he was in full armor, he shot up and landed in Tighnari's courtyard.
The door was opened roughly by the house's owner.
"The Abyss monsters are approaching Gandharva Ville."
"I guess they're angry after I killed their friend who disguised itself as Collei."
"What?! No wonder the forest rangers didn't suspect a rat had entered here."
Tighnari then activated his power. Now he was in the form of Vulpes Zerda.
"Humanoid Abyss are getting smarter," said Tighnari.
From the courtyard, they watched the forest rangers leaving Gandharva Ville. Only a few remained in the village, one of them was the green-haired girl, Collei.
"The Abyss that appeared were low, middle, and upper middle class." Tighnari looked at the details of the report that appeared like a transparent screen from the round object on his wristband.
"The portal is in the Avidya forest." Cyno chimed in while looking at the report that also appeared on his wristband. "They probably appeared shortly after you finished fighting a Marana."
"What a drag!" A bow materialized in Tighnari's hand, which he then gripped it.
"Let's head directly to the portal to prevent more monsters from spawning."
Tighnari nodded. In a matter of seconds, they sped away from Gandharva Ville and to Avidya forest.
Along the way, Abyss monsters charged at them. However, they quickly overcame the low-class monsters. Cyno and Tighnari arrived at the portal location. The portal was being guarded by an Abyss monster that resembled a lion. He roared when he saw the two Heroes.
"You ready, Tighnari?"
"Yep."
Tighnari aimed his bow at the monster. Cyno ran towards the creature. Just as Cyno was half the distance from the monster, Tighnari shot his arrow coated in greenish light. With Tighnari's arrow hitting it, the monster was destroyed and vanished.
Cyno immediately threw his spear towards the portal where the Abyss monsters came out. A purple lightning-like flash enveloped his spear as it embedded itself in the portal's center.
The void portal disappeared from sight.
"To ensure no Abyss appears, the forest rangers and I will conduct another patrol," Tighnari stated, releasing his Vulpes Zerda form.
"You should go home. It's already two in the morning." Tighnari said while looking at Cyno.
Cyno also dropped his Hero form, then he said, "That goes for you too, Amurta professor. Tomorrow you have to be at Akademiya at 9 AM."
Hearing that made Tighnari sigh. "Only 30 minutes of patrol. If I don't do it, I won't be able to sleep well."
"Hm... okay."
Cyno nodded in understanding of his close friend's actions. Once Tighnari's mind is set, it's nearly impossible to change it.
He bid farewell to the head of the forest ranger. After arriving at Gandharva Ville, he left the village for Sumeru City on his sports motorcycle. Cyno arrived at his apartment, which was close to the city center.
Without further ado, he immediately changed into his pajamas and lay down on the bed.
Right before he drifted off to sleep, Cyno realized he had neglected his thesis that day.