“You said that you are a human?” Corcell asks Feng who is walking beside her. 

 

At first, the two had asynchronous paces due to their height difference. He walked a little faster, she walked a little slower. 

 

At first, neither noticed this, until the distance between them grew. 

 

Then, they made changes: he moved a little bit slower than usual, she moved a little bit quicker than usual, and now the both of them are moving side by side together.

 

“Yep.” Feng answers. It’s been, what? 10 hours since he reincarnated. Certified human right here, 2-year warranty. 

 

“I have never seen a human vanish on the spot before and open a door that connects two places.” Corcell retorts. 

 

“Oh, my portal gun.” Feng lets out. “A very special toy.”

 

“Why can't we use that to get to my city?”

 

Feng shrugs with a slight smile. He shoots a couple of portals on the ground, and Corcell watches as the once opaque light disks become the color of the sky. “I need to aim first. And I can't see where your city is.”

 

She now understands that Feng needs to shoot the light door at a surface for them to connect. Too bad she hid her city quite well within the clouds. 

 

They go on, and soon arrive at a massive campground. The area is full of poorly-built tents and huts. Campfires are placed left and right. There's nearly half a city's worth of population settling at this place and it's loud as f#@k with all the crying children, arguing families, and aggressively bargaining merchants with products that would put a flea market to shame. 

 

Feng is reminded of why he prefers to never go outside. He doesn't like crowds. 

 

The said crowd soon notices the duel approaching them. The moms hug their children tighter. The comparatively stronger individuals step slightly forward to their families, shielding them. The elders watch with their hands trembling even though their visions are blurry. 

 

A young man and a young woman walk side by side. The man's tall and handsome, but even he is overshadowed by his charming partner. 

 

Corcell's clothing is nothing like what those people have witnessed before, not even on their own Archon. The Chatelaine of the Cloud City stands like a phoenix amongst a group of hens. Her elegance and stature are seconded by none. Many would come to realize that her beauty surpasses even that of the prettiest person they could dream of. 

 

Despite such a sight to behold, Feng finds it strange that he sees in all of those people's eyes: fear. 

 

Indeed they are afraid. Those are the people who were impacted the most by the currently-going Archon War. Never mind those fancy outfits, an ordinary human can't even manage to stay clean out there with how the world is right now. 

 

Staying fine despite the monsters and various other Archons all looking to devour something from someone else, the duel before the crowd is most likely Archons themselves. 

 

This is precisely why those people are afraid. Seeing an Archon during the Archon war usually means disasters. They stay still, unmoving. They want to run away, but they can't. Partly it's because they're exhausted from the travel, but more so because they know by heart that humans can never outrun an Archon. 

 

Corcell is observing the people, while Feng is thrilled. Yes! Civilization! I don't have to go bear grylls anymore.

 

It's also when Feng realizes that he isn't hungry, thirsty, or tired, despite having mined out an entire mountain and hasn't rested for over 10 hours now since his reincarnation. 

 

“Where is your Archon?” Corcell loudly demands. Feng was just about to introduce himself, but now he stays silent. 

 

Corcell's tone isn't threatening, yet also leaves no room for retorts. The crowd is silent, but soon a small voice shatters it. 

 

“Mommy, is that the Adeptus from Liyue that you told me about?” a little girl asks her mother while pointing to Feng. 

 

Everyone instantly turns their eyes to the family, and the parents of the little girl are terrified. The mother quickly hunches down and demands her daughter to be quiet. 

 

Feng was just beginning to feel awkward by the silence when he heard someone talking. With his near non-existent ability to read social cues, Feng thought: great! Someone to talk to. So he casually approaches child. 

 

Seeing Feng walking this way, the mother begins to have tears in her eyes. Every Archon that they have encountered so far has been horrifying beings that brought them peril. She drops to her knees and starts kowtowing hard at Feng. 

 

(Kowtow: verb; to kneel and touch the ground with the forehead in worship or submission. Yep that's a word.)

 

The mother lowers her head in the hope of calming the Archon. She can only hope that such an act would protect her child because their own Archon has shown to be unable to protect them from anyone. 

 

Feng is, naturally, baffled, even shocked by the mother's actions. Just over 10 hours ago he was in a civilization where everyone is living equally in a democratic modern society (just with some more equal than others), and now a woman has lowered her head to the ground at him for unknown reason. 

 

“Um…” 

 

It took quite the effort for Feng to explain to that group of people that he, a freaking university student, isn't going to murder anyone. 

 

While Feng has managed to calm down the people nearest to him, a panic still almost erupts if it weren't for the figure that suddenly emerged from the crowd. 

 

A woman wearing slightly better clothing walks towards Feng. The other people voluntarily move aside to make way for her as she walks. 

 

Feng observes the girl. She looks pretty cute, even though her clothing is a tad bit away from elegance. The impression she gives off makes Feng imagine a princess who has lost her empire to her enemies. Now that she wonders the world, no longer in royal clothing, but instead rags. 

 

He looks towards Corcell, remembering how that's kinda what she has been through. On their way to this camp, Feng and Corcell talked a bit here and there, and he now knows a little bit more about this girl. 

 

The glance also made Feng decide that Corcell looks much better than this other girl, even if their outfits had switched. 

 

“You must be their Archon?” Corcell questions, and the newcomer bobs a curtsy. 

 

“Greetings, My name is Havria. I am the Salt Archon, and they are my believers.” Havria gently lets out. She also wants to know who Feng and Corcell are and why they are here. But Havria dares not to speak too much. 

 

“I am Corcell, the Cloud Archon, and he is…” She gestures to Feng. Corcell is wondering about his identity as well. 

 

“Ah? Oh! Hello! My name is Feng. I'm a human.” Feng speaks in a hurry. 

 

The cloud Archon wonders why Feng is disguising himself, but she doesn't pry. Everyone has secrets. It's just that she has a strange feeling that the man beside her somehow knows a lot of her secrets. 

 

Feng's slightly embarrassed. He has been curious about something to the point he forgot to speak. Havria said that she is an Archon, yet she just bobbed a curtsy to them. A curtsy is that bowing gesture that maids do to show manners to their masters. If anything, he would not expect that a goddess would bow to strangers. 

 

Aren't Gods the kind who goes: “Bow before me, mortals!” How come this goddess is the one bowing? She appears humble, even lowly. 

 

Havria sees that the duel isn't going to elaborate further, and continues: “To what do I owe the honor to your visages?”

 

“Yep, she's being way too respectful.” Feng thinks to himself. 

 

The two exchange their story, and Feng learns that Havria is bringing her people to Liyue to seek protection from the Geo Archon Morax. They are resting at this location, partly due to exhaustion, but also because the sudden earthquake from a few hours ago has frightened them greatly. 

 

“Oh! That earthquake! Yeah, it was a lunatic cultist. He demolished the base of a mountain. What an ass, am I right? Think of the people he could've hurt.” Feng speaks, not looking anyone in the eye, just as he isn't thinking about how most of that mountain's base was hollowed out by him when mining. 

 

“What happened to your own nation?” Corcell asks Havria. It isn't natural for the Archon to travel with their believers like this unless they have lost their territory. Also, she can relate to that at this point. 

 

Havria's lips quiver a bit, eventuating in a bittersweet smile, and asks in return: “Well, which number of nations are you referring to?”

 

Crocell didn't expect such a reply. Havria has lost her territory, and from the sound of it, multiple times. 

 

Feng doesn't fully understand what they are talking about. He instead turns towards the mother and the daughter from before and asks: “Where do all of you come from, and where are you all going?” 

 

The mother, though still a bit shy, is beginning to open up to Feng. From his friendly interactions, Feng does appear to be quite different from the other Archons: mostly blood-lusted monsters. 

 

“We are the believers of Havria: the Salt Archon.” She explains. “Our home was conquered again by other Archons, and we are migrating towards Liyue. Legends have it that Rex Lapis, the Geo Archon, has managed to protect the Liyue Harbor from all outside forces. Our Archon seeks to gain his protection.”

 

Feng gets the feeling that the mother isn't telling the whole story. He turns to the little girl. She shies away behind her mother's legs. 

 

“That's why you've told your child about the Adepti of Liyue?” Feng asks. 

 

The mother nods.

 

Feng takes a closer look at the people around, and he can't help but notice that each of them seems to have a lump at the base of their neck. Whether it's children, adults, or elders, each of their necks appears swollen to some degree. 

 

“I'm, I'm very sorry, but I didn't capture your name great Archon.” The mother carefully speaks. 

 

“My name is Feng.” he replies with a gentle smile. “And, I'm not an Archon. I'm a human, just like all of you.”

 

“But you have a thin neck.” the little girl says from behind her mother. She too, is beginning to approach Feng. 

 

Feng tries his best to not scare the little girl. Judging from her dirty outfit and how malnourished she appears, she has been through a lot. 

 

“Oh? Whatever do you mean?” Feng asks.

 

The mother still can't help but panic a bit. She quickly explains “In our country, all human's neck will swell up at some point in their lives. Only our Archon, Havria, seems to not have that happening.”

 

Feng feels like he has heard of something like that on the internet somewhere before. But he can't recall right now. 

 

“How will you all spend the night?” he asks. 

 

The woman shrugs: “This is all we can have. There are some huts, but, my family couldn't get one. We hope it won't rain tonight.”

 

Feng looks across the crowd, most look like they're lucky to have even just a campfire. 

 

He then looks at his inventory. Not too many materials left, safe for around 30,000 blocks of stone. 

 

He stretches, and says to the two: “Just this once.” 

 

The mother and the daughter aren't sure what Feng meant by that. They watch as Feng walks away for a bit, then suddenly a big block of stone materializes right in front of them. 

 

Human, he said, yeah right. 

 

Feng inspects the stone block. A little too thick to be used as walls. His first wooden hut also felt a little awkward. Feng breaks the Block with his pickaxe, then places down a workbench. 

 

Meanwhile, the people around Feng are losing their shite seeing things just appearing and disappearing around him. Some thought that the Archon has been angered, and annihilation will soon follow. 

 

Feng is too tired to explain anymore. He begins to craft metric tons of stone walls. 

 

Sometime later, Feng walks to the now emptied space, flattens the ground, and begins constructing stone houses. 

 

The people watch as buildings made of cobblestone erect one after another. 

 

As a veteran Terraria player, Feng is intimately familiar with the building of NPC prisons houses. Sadly he doesn't have enough gel for torches or furnaces. He doesn't even have enough wood for furniture. But Feng tries his best to make every house as comfortable as he can. 

 

A simple stone hut with a few openings on the sides as windows and a single door. 

 

They aren't luxurious by any means, but they are sturdy, easy to build, and much better than even the best grass tents that the people themselves could construct. Few even have a torch as a light source.

 

Feng gestures to the mother and the daughter to head inside the hut, and begins to build more. 

 

The mother and the child watch in disbelief. When they step into the stone hut, it radiates a bit of comforting warmth. Inside each hut is a few blocks of stone. They are meant to be beds. Not comfortable to lay on, but it can elevate people off the ground at night. 

 

Words soon spread that a new Archon has descended to grant the people shelter. 

 

The crowd is a bit spread out, and Feng builds his huts a little low to conserve materials. But in time, buildings appear before each person's eyes. 

 

They rush to secure a house for themselves, knocking each other off as they frantically sprint toward Feng. 

 

Each person has been through just about enough, following Havria. Aggression spills like boiling milk on an unattended stovetop. Even mothers with children can't be spared from the yelling and beatings from stronger individuals. 

 

Havria senses the aggregation in her people and immediately stops her chit-chat with Corcell. Apparently, they are friends of a friend to each other, and the common denominator is the Dust Archon: Guizhong. 

 

They rush to see chaos, and Corcell recognizes the texture of the newly emerged huts. They look just like that floating block of stone that she saw Feng jumping on before. 

 

“It's Feng!” Corcell says. She rides on a piece of cloud and tries to find him. She isn't sure what he has done to cause such a riot. But when she finds Feng, she sees him nervously looking around, a half-complete building beside him. 

 

Feng is dumbstruck. Who knew free housing would result in this? 

 

When he sees Corcell, he asks her to let Havria calm down the crowd. But after she lets the Salt Archon know, all that Havria can do is slightly raise her voice. 

 

The people who saw and heard her fall silence. They lightly nod, but do not slow down one bit in their conquest to a shelter. 

 

Havria's voice of reason is drowned in the ocean of frenzy, and Feng can't help but to think to himself: “Burh, this? An Archon? THIS!?”

 

Corcell is in no hurry to calm the crowd. She plans to try and reduce the chance of rain in this region tonight. However, she isn't obligated in ordering the believers of another Archon. 

 

Feng notices that he's on his own, and the salty one is useless. With his teeth clenched he himself begins to loudly shout for orders. But he is only human, and a single person’s voice can drown out that of a crowd as effectively as an all-nighter can reverse 6 weeks' worth of procrastination. No one gives a shite about Feng; everyone’s out for the shelter. 

 

Veins pop out on Feng’s temple, and seeing the mother from before knocked down to the ground by the crowd, desperately shielding her daughter under herself, Feng decides to take action. 

 

He stands on a tower of stone blocks, and mine out the ones beneath so that he is on a single levitating block in the air to assert dominance. With a block also placed on his head, Feng takes out his Celebration Mk2 and fires upwards. 

 

Several explosions are heard, and bright, colorful lights shine on top of the crowd even if it is still not yet night. This time the people all become quiet. Seeing the levitating man, the thunderous sounds, and the rainbow-colored lights, many fall to their knees from instinct. 

 

Corcell shakes her head in disappointment. Not towards the people, but Havria instead. It’s pretty unquestionable at this point that Feng isn’t ordinary, no matter how much he pretends that he is. However, for the believers of an Archon to this easily kneel down to another Archon, that means that their belief can not be strong, just like the Archon herself. 

 

Havria knows this as well, but what can she do?

 

Feng shouts at the top of his lungs, which, now that the crowd is silent, is surprisingly loud; he is angered by the sight of mothers and children being trampled: “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! EVERYONE SHUT. THE. F%@K. UP!!!!!”

 

He leaps off of his floating block and takes out his Solar Flare Pickaxe. In a few swings, Feng swiftly mines down that half-built stone hut. The people closest watch as the building vanishes right before them. 

 

“I can assure you that there will be enough huts to shelter everyone! I don’t care how many of you are there. I HAVE A SMALL MOUNTAIN IN MY PANTS RIGHT NOW!!! So if I see anyone fight over anyone else for a hut, one more time, I am going to demolish every single building I’ve erected and leave you all to the cold dark night! And I’ll make sure to let everyone know that the exact people who stir up the conflicts are the SOLE REASON behind all of your continual homelessness!” Feng has never yelled in anger like this in his life. Blood is rushing through his body and he is breathing heavily. 

 

He points to Havria and says: “YOU! You are a f*#king god so for your-sake act like one and grow a GODDAMN SPINE!”

 

“With all of those said, will we have order?” Feng once again builds himself up in the air and scans his surroundings. Everyone is facing him, most are kneeling down and facing the ground and shaking in fear. Havria stands there with her head lowered. Her fists clenching on her robe like a little girl who has just been scolded for doing something wrong. 

 

With everyone now properly frightened, Feng goes on to finish building the huts. Indeed by nightfall, everyone is inside a stone hut. Some people have to stay with roommates they don’t like, but no one dared to complain ever since Feng rebuked everyone. 

 

Feng isn’t feeling the happiest. He recalls how before in his own world, some people would treat him in the same forceful way. Even if they had good intentions, Feng promised himself to never be like them. Today, he has failed to keep his promise, even if the end result is arguably good. He simply really dislikes threatening people, by force or otherwise. 

 

The night falls, and Feng goes out to relax a bit. He kept only a bit of wood and stone left for himself after spending most of them on the houses for those people. He is now almost certain that post-reincarnation, he no longer needs to sleep. Feng walks to the nearby beach and sees a mesmerizing silhouette by the ocean. 

 

He approaches her, and finds Corcell standing there, the wave of the ocean periodically splashes on her boots. 

 

“Calm down now tiger?” She asks without turning back her head. 

 

Feng briefly remembers what game has tigers. Honestly neither Terraria nor Genshin. But Terraria does have tiger skins.

 

Either way, he doesn’t care about that too much. With a sigh, he stands beside Corcell. “Sorry you had to see that.”

 

“What are you feeling sorry for?”

 

“For losing my temper, for threatening those people, for opening fire in the middle of a crowd.” Feng lets out. He isn’t feeling sorry for Corcell, but he needs someone he can let out at least a little bit of negative feelings to. He never got that often, especially not when he was back in his world. 

 

Corcell shifts her sight from Feng back to the ocean and wonders: “Feng, why were you so angry back there?”

 

Feng is a bit baffled by this question. “I saw those people hurting each other; they looked so vicious, yet so desperate, it’s quite ugly. But it's also...so sad.”

 

Feng doesn't know how to put what he felt into words. Was their aggression towards each other wrong? Feng thinks it was. But also, just imagine what those people must have gone through to end up acting like the way they did.

 

Corcell now realizes that Feng has observed the sufferings of those people. Such discovery is quite normal for Archons, and some like Morax will even be sympathetic towards them. 

 

Rex Lapis once said before he set out to protect Liyue Harbor: “This is an age of gods and monsters. I wish not for dominion, yet I cannot watch the common folk suffer.”

 

However, Corcells looks towards Feng, seeing that he is still in a low mood, she knows that he’s different. It wasn’t just sympathy that Feng felt towards those people; Feng himself has felt their suffering as well; he understood what those people has gone through, not just from the physical harm, but also from when he had threatened them. Aside from sympathy, Feng was also empathetic towards those people. People, who were total strangers. 

 

Gods may pity humans, love them, and protect them, but few will learn to understand them.

 

“I guess you weren’t trying to disguise yourself after all,” Corcell lets out. 

 

Feng looks at her, not entirely sure what she meant by that.

 

“You really aren’t an Archon. You are a human.” Corcell continues as she looks back at him. “And now, I am more curious than ever.”

 

“Curious? Curious about what?” Feng asks. 

 

“A couple of disasters are approaching this beach.” Corcell says while staring unmoving at the horizon. “Once they arrive, those people back there will not be shown mercy. Their Archon will not be able to protect them. She is too weak, and that’s why her people’s belief in her is low.”

 

Feng also looks at the horizon. He can’t imagine what Corcell could possibly mean by disasters. 

 

“Havria thinks that by settling near Liyue’s border they’d be shielded by Mroax, but just outside the Harbor’s border is also where the battles are fought when Liyue has to defend itself. By then, those on the battleground seldom remain. So I’m curious,” Corcell tilts her head back and stares at Feng. 

 

Suddenly, her cloud-like outfit transforms into what resembles a dark storm. Her cloud-like Qipao dress shifts into rainclouds, and the back piece extends into a cape. Her short boots turn into a pair of high heel boots that end near her knees. Corcell’s black hair that barely touches her shoulders extends in length, reaching her waist, and shifts to be snow-white. A shade of red is seen spreading in her blue pupil like a drop of ink put into a cup of water, changing her eyes into a menacing crimson hue. 

 

Feng is in awe. 

 

“So I’m curious, Feng, what would a human like you do, when you know that a disaster that you probably can’t stop is going to wipe out those strangers back there?”

 

I'm testing out this "Author's Note" Feature. Chances are I'm not doing it right. But once I have it figured out, the comment section will be free from all my rants. Thanks for reading everyone. This chapter came quickly because inspiration hit, but the plot did not move forward because I had to use a lot of words to display Havria being weak. Anyway, I hope you had fun.