Victor Wang and Lisa followed the elemental trail out of the city.
"Looks like it's not anywhere near Mondstadt. I didn't expect the thief to run this far."
"Yeah, how annoying."
As they continued tracking, the trail led them farther and farther away. Knowing exactly where the thief was, Victor suggested, "I think we'll be walking quite a bit. Let's speed things up."
Lisa glanced at the sun's position and nodded slightly. "Hopefully we won't miss tea time today."
They quickened their pace and eventually arrived at a teleport waypoint west of the Thousand Winds Temple.
When they reached the spot, Victor activated Elemental Sight again. The elemental markings Lisa had left were clearer than ever—so vivid they had formed visible streams.
Lisa observed them as well. "You can even see the flow of elements here. Follow this direction. Let's retrieve the book."
Soon, they discovered a ruin entrance nestled between mountain cliffs, protected by a veil of elemental power.
"This has the feel of something set up by those disagreeable troublemakers."
"The Abyss Order?"
"Mhm," Lisa glanced at him sideways. "As expected of you. So, in tune with my thoughts."
The moment she said it; Lisa felt a twinge of regret. But seeing Victor Wang focused on analyzing the seal on the ruins, she let the thought pass.
Victor tapped the seal with a Palm Vortex, but the barrier didn't budge an inch.
"How do we unlock a seal like this? Feels complicated."
Lisa replied seriously, "You need to understand the method of the seal to break it. For powerful seals, unless your brute force is many, many times stronger, it's virtually impossible."
"So… we can't get in?"
Shaking her head, Lisa continued, "But I have some research on these. And for a crude seal like this—once you find the flaw…"
She raised her hand. Instantly, a patch of sky above darkened with clouds. Three powerful bolts of lightning struck the seal.
"To think a seal like this could keep me out. How naive."
Without hesitation, Lisa walked into the ruin.
Victor followed behind, reaching toward the entrance. A suction force pulled him inside. It was his first time entering a ruin. Contrary to the narrow mountain crevice seen from the outside, the interior was vast and expansive.
As he adjusted to the spatial distortion, he saw Lisa waiting for him.
"Ruins are truly amazing. How can the inside be so spacious?"
"An interesting question. Just like the sun rises by day and the moon by night, it's common knowledge in Teyvat that ruin interiors aren't what they seem from the outside."
"Oh? But just because it's 'common knowledge' doesn't mean it isn't worth investigating. Like the Vision—isn't anyone curious about how exactly one obtains it?"
"…"
Lisa was taken aback.
As a scholar, Lisa had always regarded Visions as a technological black box: unknown origin, unclear operating mechanism, and an uncertain cost… Her respect for them was rooted in that mystery. But now that Victor mentioned it, wasn't spatial tech in ruins the same kind of mystery? Why dismiss someone's curiosity?
Realizing this, Lisa chuckled. "You really are quite an interesting person."
Victor shrugged, pretending not to understand.
"You're right. Ruins and Domains use some form of spatial manipulation. The outside serves only as a door, no matter how it appears. But for hundreds of years, people in Teyvat have taken it for granted. Research is rare. I think only the Adepti in Liyue have made any real progress."
"Is that so… I was just saying. Anyway, we should find the book first."
The stone-paved roads were neat, lined with glowing minerals or gemstone-like lanterns, and tall pillars supporting the paths.
Most of it had collapsed.
The entire ruin bore the aesthetic of a fallen ancient civilization. Below were heaps of sunken structures and stones. Thankfully, numerous wind currents between the broken paths allowed Victor and Lisa to glide across.
While flying, Victor asked, "By the way, it's my first time in a ruin. If I want to exit, what should I do?"
"Just like summoning an artifact. Hold your hands diagonally upward in front of your chest, forming a triangle. Don't cross them. Think of going out or exiting, and you'll be teleported out."
"So… same gesture as summoning an artifact?"
"Yes, and during this process, you can't move or be disturbed."
As they spoke, they reached the far side of the ruin.
The space here, while large, had only a few remaining buildings suitable for hiding.
Past a section of crumbled walls, they reached a shallowly flooded room.
An Ice Abyss Mage sensed their arrival—the battle began instantly.
Victor and Lisa carefully avoided stepping into the water, all while dodging the icy spikes fired from the mage's wand. Quickly, they split to opposite flanks.
When within range, Lisa's grimoire floated beside her as she summoned a bolt of lightning that struck the Abyss Mage's ice shield. It worked—but only just.
The Abyss Mage let out incomprehensible sounds, waving its staff in rapid succession.
The ice spikes flew either in a line or dropped from above—but Lisa elegantly dodged them all.
Victor, in his fluster, was struck once. A chilling pain surged through his left arm. Thankfully, a basic elemental shield blocked the spike's tip, preventing injury.
Perhaps thinking Victor was the weaker one, the mage shifted focus to Lisa.
This gave Victor the time to pull out a flint and a sheet of paper—lighting a flame mid-battle.
"Take this!"
Holding the burning paper in one hand, he cast a large Palm Vortex with the other, striking the ice shield. The wind current, now turned fiery red from the flame, slammed against it.
The mage tried to teleport, but the wind's suction and the fire's intensity shattered the ice shield in seconds.
The mage crashed to the ground, clutching its head.
A shield less Abyss Mage was as helpless as a Hilichurl—perhaps even more so. Without the right element, however, breaking their shield was a nightmare.
"How did you find this place…? I went to great lengths to hide it…"
"I'm not interested in you creeps. I'm just here to retrieve a stolen book. Time to run and hide, yet not a moment to follow borrowing procedures? No respect for other people's work."
Victor really wanted to ask Lisa if she'd actually let an Abyss Mage borrow a book—but in this mood, pushing her might just get him zapped.
"To think someone in a place like Mondstadt… could understand the secrets in this book. Just who are you…?"
A place like Mondstadt, huh? Compared to the other nations, Mondstadt did seem like the most ordinary—hardly a land of secrets.
In that moment of reflection, Lisa silenced the mage with a jolt of Electro therapy.
A piercing scream rang out.
"Hmph... Those who can't listen deserve punishment."
They searched the area. Victor finally found a perfectly preserved copy of The White Princess and the Six Dwarves.
"Well, that troublesome task is done."
"This is just a fairytale book, isn't it?"
"Yes. Precisely because it isn't a restricted section book, I felt safe lending it to citizens. Since you write fairytales too, why don't you keep it for safekeeping?"
"Whoa, are you just looking for an excuse to dump this problem on me? I'm more curious about the books in the restricted section."
"If you join the Knights and submit a request, even a regular member can read books from the restricted section."
"Huh… Can I join the Knights for just one day, then quit?"
"Hehe."
Lisa chuckled softly, then shook her head. "With a question like that, if I didn't already know you, I'd have called the Knights to arrest you. But if you're serious about joining, I can be your sponsor."
Becoming a part-time Knight like Lumine was rare. True membership meant full-time work… No way I'm going back to corporate life!
"Ahaha… Never mind then."
"Giving up that easily? Beg me nicely and I might give you special access."
Heh. Victor scoffed and switched to puppy-eyes mode. "Lisa~ Sis Lisa~ Let me see them, pretty please~"
Lisa shivered slightly.
The restricted section wasn't some explosive trap—it was simply full of books unfit for public access.
After some serious thought, Lisa finally relented. "I can use my privileges to let you browse the restricted section for one hour. Consider it payment for helping me. But I'll report this to Acting Grand Master."
"Lisa-sis, you're the best!"
"Just call me Lisa, please."
With the recovered book in hand, Victor and Lisa used the ruin's teleportation circle to return to the surface, arriving back at the library before tea time ended.
Lisa placed the roses into a vase, brewed herself a cup of black tea with caramel and milk, then pulled a ring of keys from her pocket and handed it to Victor.
"You have one hour. If I find anything missing from the restricted section…"
Gripping the warm, faintly rose-scented key, Victor quickly promised, "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of person!"
The restricted section was on the library's lower floor, directly beneath the Knights' Hall. Victor had assumed it'd be large, but the actual space was no bigger than Jean's office. Just five bookshelves, lined up opposite the door.
With so many books, even his excellent memory couldn't compete with quantum reading. He had to actually look at every page to memorize them. One hour wouldn't be enough.
He asked Lisa if there was any categorization. Lisa smiled and shook her head.
To prevent an entire genre of restricted books from being taken at once, they were deliberately shuffled. Whether it worked on others or not, it definitely left Victor at a loss. He had no choice but to flip through each book briefly and move on.
"Official History of the Anemo Archon, Elemental Material Guide, Ley Line Monitoring Log, Alchemy Basics?"
Skimming at lightning speed, Victor used his bio-scanner to memorize everything from Alchemy: From Basics to Burial.
"Mondstadt's Terrain Evolution, Vanessa's True Biography… The Anemo Archons of Mondstadt!"
After reading a few pages, he put it back. "Three Archons can fill an entire book, and it still made the restricted list? Where's the secretive Time Archon of Mondstadt? Eaten, maybe?"
After thirty minutes, Victor's verdict on the restricted section was clear: Mediocre. After all, from his god's-eye view in the past, he'd already seen much of Teyvat's hidden lore.
"Yeah, countries that published books like Before Sun and Moon are already gone. Who would keep something that dangerous?"
Then his eyes landed on an unassuming title.
"Geographical Record?"
An old volume by the look of it. Compared to the earlier Mondstadt Terrain Evolution, which at least had links to the Anemo Archon, why was this one in the restricted section?
After flipping a few pages, Victor was shocked to find it contained a complete map of Teyvat. Not just rough sketches, but detailed descriptions of every region in each of the Seven Nations, including the land of the Scarlet King. The data was old, and some areas didn't match current geography.
Further in, he found places he'd never seen before. "Is this… a map of Khaenri'ah? But it's already fallen... sigh…"
He spent a minute memorizing the entire Khaenri'ah map—likely never useful, but if it was, it would matter a lot.
Then, turning to the last page of the book, Victor felt his heart skip a beat.
"This is…"