[Dungeon Name: Song of Wind and Poem of the Dragon]
[Difficulty: Beginner]
[Introduction: In the free city-state of "Mondstadt," appease the wrath of Stormterror and uncover the plot of the Abyss Order.]
"Ho."
Blake's eyebrows twitched as he looked at the "NEW" dungeon.
Stormterror?
Mondstadt?*
Abyss Order?*
This... isn't this that game that was insanely popular in my past life, "Genshin Impact"?
The arc of his lips widened.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Against these three brats who've never seen the world, this is a complete dimensional takedown. It can show them the vastness of the world, it lacks the gore and violence of Garp's dungeon, and the training effect will be maxed out.
Perfect!
"Alright, brats."
Blake closed the panel and clapped his hands, attracting three pairs of shining eyes.
"Close your eyes, relax."
"Your first tutoring session... begins now."
Before his voice had even fallen, a white light, much softer than the one that had swallowed Garp, enveloped Ace, Luffy, and Sabo.
The three small figures vanished from the spot.
Blake lay back down in his rocking chair, casually pulling up a giant virtual screen in front of him. On the screen was a real-time live feed of the three kids.
"One million for a beginner dungeon, ten million for intermediate, one hundred million for advanced..."
He crossed his legs, swaying leisurely.
"You three had better be promising."
"I'm counting on you to clear high-level dungeons and get me some divine-tier equipment."
"Don't die on the first level. My one million would be a total waste."
Weightlessness.
After a brief moment of weightlessness, the feeling of solid ground returned.
Ace was the first to open his eyes! He instantly tensed his entire body, warily scanning his surroundings!
And then... he froze.
The azure sky was so clean it looked as if it had been washed, without a single impurity.
A giant, slowly turning windmill stood atop a city-state in the near distance.
The air was filled with the fragrance of green grass and dandelions.
Where... is this?
"Waaaaah!"
Luffy's cry of amazement shattered the silence!
He spread his arms and began to run wildly across the endless, verdant grassy plain!
"This is amazing! It's so beautiful here!"
"A windmill! Such a big windmill!"
Sabo was also looking at the scene in shock.
He crouched down, picking up a pinch of soil, then looked up at the completely unfamiliar architectural style.
"Ace... this place... it's definitely not any island we know."
His voice was filled with disbelief.
Just then, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang out in all three of their minds at the same time.
[Welcome to the dungeon world: Teyvat]
[Current Dungeon: Song of Wind and Poem of the Dragon]
[Main Mission: Enter the free city-state of Mondstadt and appease Stormterror's wrath.]
[Mission Rewards: To be settled based on degree of contribution.]
Teyvat. That was the name that had appeared in the mechanical announcement.
Ace's mind went blank.
He stared at this completely alien world, a world so beautiful it didn't seem real. The distant city, the giant windmills, the sweet, grassy scent in the air.
All of this was violently impacting the cognition he had built up over ten years!
"This is..."
Ace spoke with difficulty, his throat terribly dry.
"Boss Blake's... ability?"
An ability to send people to another world!
What kind of...
What kind of god-like, unfathomable power was this!
"Unbelievable."
Sabo clutched his forehead. He felt his head buzzing.
As someone who loved to read and had some knowledge of world geography, he could be 100% certain that no place in the Grand Line, the Four Blues, or any known territory had this style of architecture or this kind of climate!
"We really... have come to a brand-new world."
Sabo murmured to himself. In his blue eyes, besides shock, there was an indescribable excitement.
A brand-new, unknown, vast world!
To a boy who had pursued freedom his entire life, what a fatal temptation this was!
"Waaaah! This is awesome!"
Only Luffy, that single-celled idiot, wasn't thinking that hard.
He was simply cheering for the beautiful scenery, running across the grass with his arms open, and then, carelessly, he tripped over his own feet and rolled head over heels for several meters.
"Hehehe!"
He climbed up, his head covered in grass clippings, and grinned foolishly at his two brothers.
"This place is so fun!"
Ace and Sabo looked at each other, both seeing the helplessness and wry smiles in each other's eyes.
This idiot brother of theirs never grasped the important points.
Ace took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
"That prompt just now said..."
"Our mission is to enter that city up ahead, and then appease... Stormterror's wrath?"
Sabo nodded, his expression turning serious again.
"Right. Mondstadt, and Stormterror. It doesn't sound like a simple mission."
"It also mentioned an organization called the Abyss Order."
"And the rewards... are settled based on 'degree of contribution'." Sabo's eyes glinted with thought.
"In other words, everything we do in this world will be seen by Boss Blake, and he'll use it to evaluate us."
Ace clenched his fists.
Get strong!
He had to get strong!
He had to earn that man's approval!
He had to get the power to protect everything!
"Hey! Sabo!"
Just as Ace and Sabo were analyzing the mission, Luffy's boisterous shout rang out again.
He climbed up from the ground, patting the dirt off his clothes, and tilted his head, curiously pointing at Sabo's waist.
"When did you get that green thing hanging there?"
"Huh?"
Sabo paused, subconsciously looking down.
Ace also cast a questioning gaze.
There, on the belt of Sabo's faded blue noble suit, an odd, palm-sized ornament glowed with a faint cyan light. It had appeared at some unknown time.
The main body was a spherical glass orb, inside of which was a wisp of feather-like cyan energy. It was encased in a bronze-colored, wing-like metal frame.
It just hung there quietly, as if it had always belonged to him.
"What... what is this?"
Sabo's eyes flew wide!
He reached out his hand, trembling, and touched it.
He swore, before he entered this place, he absolutely did not have this thing on him!
Did Boss Blake give it to me? Or...
The instant his fingertip touched the ornament.
Voom!
The cyan ornament suddenly lit up!
A soft, visible cyan airflow surged from the ornament. It swirled up Sabo's arm as if it had a life of its own!
A gentle breeze, without any warning, spread out from Sabo!
It blew Ace's black hair.
It also blew the grass clippings from Luffy's head.
"Whoa!" Luffy's eyes instantly sparkled with countless stars. "It glows! And it makes wind! That's so cool!"
Ace was also staring at Sabo in shock.
"Sabo... you..."
Sabo himself was completely stunned.
He could feel it.
He could clearly feel a strange, light power, one that felt incredibly familiar to him, pouring endlessly from that ornament into his body.
It was...
The power of windd