“So sparkly… not bad,” Jax murmured as he stepped onto the island, his gaze fixed on the glowing core of the meteorite.
If his guess was correct, this was Leonard’s mental core—the culmination of centuries spent adrift among the stars, now fallen to the once-mighty Pinnacle Cap.
Standing before the floating blue-glowing core, Jax considered his next move. Initially, he had planned to destroy it and end this entire ordeal. But as he stood there, he hesitated, his thoughts shifting.
Instead, Jax sat down before the core, quietly waiting.
If it weren’t for the looming threat of the Fatui—who were undoubtedly after this core as well—Jax might have touched it already, allowing himself to fall into the dreamscape of the snowy mountain.
The Fatui’s intentions likely had little to do with the dream itself. But for Leonard, that dream of scaling the mountain was his life’s greatest ambition.
I want to help him, Jax thought. But can I wake up from that dreamscape before the Fatui’s Harbinger, Scaramouche, arrives?
Falling into sleep would mean relinquishing control, leaving himself vulnerable.
Jax had no intention of taking unnecessary risks, so he made preparations.
Donning his Black Dragon Armor, securing his shield firmly on his right arm, and gripping his Black Dragon Spear in his left, he readied himself for battle before finally reaching out to touch the glowing core.
If someone can conquer the peak in this dream… what will happen?
If someone can fulfill Leonard’s unachieved dream, how would it end?
The thought intrigued him.
As he made contact with the core, an irresistible wave of drowsiness overtook him. His consciousness faded, and his body slumped into a deep sleep.
High above, a faint star in the night sky grew slightly brighter.
When Jax’s senses returned, he found himself in a frigid, snow-covered mountain range.
In front of him loomed a peak so immense that it seemed to pierce the heavens. Unbidden, a thought surfaced in his mind—a burning desire to climb to its summit.
Looking up, he saw countless figures ahead of him, all ascending the mountain.
In this shared dreamscape, the unconscious residents of Mondstadt and Liyue were climbing as well.
“Alright then. Let’s begin.”
Jax grinned against the howling wind and snow. “Leonard, you wanted someone—anyone—to conquer the peaks that once defied all. You’ll see it happen today.”
“I’ll make sure of it. You’ll be able to leave satisfied, knowing that someone succeeded where none before could.”
He turned his gaze to the distant summit and the figures climbing ahead of him.
“After all, no true adventurer frowns at a challenge, even in a dream.”
—
Meanwhile, Lumine and her group arrived near Falcon Coast, where the largest meteorite they had yet encountered loomed.
“What a massive meteor!” Paimon exclaimed, hovering in awe. “This has to be the biggest one we’ve dealt with so far!”
“The elemental energy radiating from it is incredible…” Lumine murmured.
“Could the Fatui be after this energy?” Paimon wondered aloud.
Mona shook her head. “If that were the case, elemental creatures would be drawn to it as well. But… I don’t see any Fatui around. Odd.”
“Whatever the case, we need to deal with this meteorite before the surrounding monsters get out of control,” Lumine said decisively, leaping off the cliff and spreading her Wind Glider.
“Traveler, slow down!” Paimon called, rushing after her.
“This obsidian nightmare, if left unchecked, will plunge the land into despair and endless torment!” Fischl declared, summoning Oz and taking flight.
“Yes, my lady,” Oz replied, soaring high to scout the surrounding monsters.
“Honestly! The proper thing to do would’ve been to alert the Knights of Favonius first!” Mona protested. But as the others descended, she let out an exasperated sigh and followed suit.
As they approached the colossal meteorite, the sheer size of it became overwhelming. Its immense elemental energy pulsed outward, driving nearby monsters into a frenzy and pulling more toward its location.
“This is… beyond incredible,” Lumine said, gripping her sword tightly.
“Miss Fischl,” Oz called from above, “a significant number of monsters are converging on the meteorite.”
Fischl relayed the information to the group. “The malice of the snow-cursed peaks stirs, driving the beasts to gather here. My all-seeing gaze has foreseen this!”
“Uh… what?” Mona blinked, baffled.
Lumine translated. “It means the monsters are heading this way. Fischl, can you point out where they’re concentrated the most?”
Gripping her Summit Shaper blade, Lumine planted it firmly into the ground.
Fischl pointed dramatically. “This way, where the malevolent aura is strongest!”
“Lumine, what are you—huh?” Mona’s confusion grew as she watched Lumine channel Geo energy through her sword, forming sturdy constructs in the ground.
Within moments, a massive wall rose from the earth, encircling the meteorite and shielding them from the encroaching monsters.
“Seriously? You can use Geo like this?” Mona gasped.
“It’s all about creativity!” Lumine replied smugly. “If Hilichurl shamans can make a stone pillar, why can’t I make a fortress?”
Perched atop the wall, hands on her hips, Lumine grinned down at the gathering monsters.
“Come on, then! Let’s see what you’ve got!”
With a wave of her hand, she summoned falling Geo constructs, which crashed into the monster horde below, exploding on impact.
“When I play tower defense games with Aether, I never lose!” she declared, laughing triumphantly.
“Lumine… you’re ridiculous,” Mona muttered, still struggling to process what she was seeing.
“Alright, enough gawking. Mona, team up with Fischl and zap some of these monsters! We’ve got a fortress—let’s use it!”
As the first wave of monsters charged the makeshift fortress, Lumine’s group sprang into action.
From above, Fischl’s arrows and Oz’s lightning rained down. Mona’s hydromancy kept the monsters at bay, while Lumine hurled Geo projectiles with devastating precision.
Thus, on Falcon Coast, twenty minutes after the meteorite fell, an epic battle between adventurers and enraged monsters began—a battle that could only be described as Teyvat’s most unconventional tower defense.
—
“So cold…”
Mo San, a miner from Liyue, had been struggling to find work recently due to the ongoing seismic activity in the Chasm, making it too dangerous to mine.
To make ends meet, he took odd jobs wherever he could. But one fateful day, while hauling goods in the wild, he touched a glowing blue meteorite fragment—and everything changed.
In an instant, he found himself trapped in this icy, unforgiving dreamscape—a snow-covered mountain with no end in sight.
He didn’t know why he was here. He didn’t know why he felt compelled to climb toward the peak. Yet his legs moved on their own, unable to stop, no matter how much he wanted to.
The relentless cold, the bone-deep exhaustion, the gnawing hunger—it all weighed on him. Mo San felt crushed by the misery of it all. He wanted to return to normalcy but didn’t know how.
Eventually, his strength failed him. Collapsing into a snowdrift, he curled into a ball, hoping to rest—if only for a moment—before the urge to climb took hold again.
He didn’t care about scaling this mountain. All he wanted was to wake up and return to the life he knew.
Time blurred in the endless cold. Mo San had no idea how long he’d been there, or how much longer he could endure.
But then, through the howling wind, he heard it—a faint sound.
Someone’s… singing?
The melody was soft at first, almost indistinguishable amidst the storm. It carried no words, just a tune—simple and cheerful.
The voice belonged to a man, filled with an odd warmth, as though he were truly happy.
Why? Mo San wondered, his muddled thoughts struggling to make sense of it.
What’s so joyful about this freezing, desolate mountain?
He didn’t understand. Yet the song persisted, growing louder and clearer, joined by faint echoes of other voices.
Then, the singing stopped.
A hand—strong and sure—grabbed him, pulling him out of the snowdrift.
Mo San squinted, his frozen body barely able to move. Through bleary eyes, he saw a man clad in black armor, his face the only part of him exposed.
The man hoisted him up with ease, brushing the snow off his shoulders.
“Hah, found another one,” the man said with a smile, steadying Mo San on his feet. “Can you walk?”
Before Mo San could respond, the armored man patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t fall asleep again. Let’s keep climbing.”
The man’s touch brought with it a faint warmth, spreading through Mo San’s frozen limbs. Slowly, he regained enough strength to move.
Looking around, he saw he wasn’t alone.
There were others here—people from both Mondstadt and Liyue, and even a few wanderers dressed in foreign garb.
“Come on, smile! Don’t just stare at the ground,” the armored man called out.
Perched on his shoulder was a little girl, her bright eyes filled with a mix of wonder and delight, a stark contrast to the grim setting.
Mo San didn’t fully understand what was happening, but the unyielding urge to climb resurfaced. With no other choice, he followed the man ahead.
The storm raged on. The mountain was relentless. Yet the man in black armor pressed forward, unfazed by the wind or snow.
He didn’t climb like someone trapped in a nightmare. He climbed as though he wanted to, like he found joy in the challenge.
He helped others along the way, pulling them up steep inclines and lending his strength to the weary.
Even the little girl on his shoulder seemed cheerful despite the biting cold. She giggled as the man carried her higher, her breath visible in the freezing air.
Somehow, no one was left behind.
Even Mo San, despite his earlier despair, found himself pulled along—literally—by the man’s strong grip.
When they reached a particularly steep slope, the man turned back and extended his hand.
“Hold on tight,” he said with a grin, hauling Mo San upward with surprising ease.
For a moment, their eyes met.
The man’s smile was unshaken by the storm, radiating an infectious energy that seemed to push back against the cold and exhaustion.
It was a smile that defied the hardships of the mountain, as though the climb itself was something to be enjoyed.
The black armor he wore stood out starkly against the endless white of the snow, making him an unmistakable beacon in the storm.
And then, he began to sing again.
The melody was wordless, an aimless hum. Yet it carried the same warmth, the same joy as before.
To Mo San’s surprise, he found himself humming along.
The melody wrapped around him like a faint but growing fire, thawing the icy despair that had gripped his heart.
And for the first time since he’d been trapped in this dream, he felt a spark of hope.
—
This is a fan translation of 武器大师在原神绝不死于徒手 by 徐人双 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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