"This Geo elemental power's mesmerizing," Reisen Riou mused, lifting his hand from a Mora coin.
Legend claimed Mora was Morax's flesh and blood—obviously false. Reisen Riou sensed no elemental being's aura in it, and Ley Line Blossoms of Wealth occasionally spawned Mora.
Still, he confirmed Mora held high-tier Geo elemental power. If a fresh Geo Vision user wielded a quantity and quality of 1, Reisen Riou's was 20 and 10. Mora's? Quantity 5, but quality 1,000.
This ultra-pure elemental power made Mora a lubricant and catalyst in alchemy and weapon enhancement, its denominations allowing precise use.
Post Raiden Ei's breakthrough advice, Reisen Riou's forging didn't skyrocket but progressed steadily. He could craft most 2-star weapons, his Willpower growing. Soon, he'd forge them reliably.
He wasn't rushed. Daily, he trained archery, studied forging, and tinkered with unique youkai spells.
Every couple of weeks, he visited Bona down the mountain.
Bona, now collecting Ritou's hydrographic data, was swamped. He slimmed down visibly, rarely at his station. His academic passion shone—normal folks couldn't handle such grueling work. Ritou's seas, near the Dark Sea, were treacherous, crawling with pirates and monsters. Only Bona's non-commercial status spared him from raids.
He sailed thrice monthly, spending five or six days per ten-day cycle gathering data, then charting and analyzing.
Time flew. Seven or eight years passed.
Ritou Shrine's junior mikos turned over twice—some trained at the Grand Narukami Shrine, others married and left.
Recently, Reisen Riou's forging hit LV5. Anko Kanno's condition stabilized, but at a cost.
Her body density was seven times a human's, but she wouldn't live long. Her uneven enhancements—digestive, circulatory, muscular, and partial nervous systems—evolved under her will.
For three years, it was fine. The slow pace let other systems adapt passively.
Reisen Riou got thrashed weekly.
By year four, her endocrine system buckled, ready to quit. Raiden Ei fixed it, but Anko's other organs, overworked, stopped responding to her evolutionary call.
The enhanced systems kept strengthening, even without her urging.
Recently, her respiratory system failed. Her lungs, overwhelmed, hit respiratory failure. Raiden Ei stayed, guilt-ridden.
…
Anko Kanno died—ironically, from being too strong.
Per her wishes, she was buried at Ritou Shrine.
Why? Reisen Riou's doing.
He'd whispered he could revive her, but only if buried on Ritou. Skeptical, she agreed.
Only on Ritou could he tap the Ley Lines to pull her back. Elsewhere, who knew if the Ley Lines would recognize a youkai like him?
After her burial, the Kanno clan's mourners left. Ritou Shrine grew quiet, save for a dozen junior mikos and…
"You're bold," Raiden Ei said, appearing behind him.
She'd lingered in the shadows.
"She was a comrade. Her reaching that realm? I pushed her. I'm responsible," Reisen Riou said, a touch helpless.
He didn't mention wanting to test his revival ability. Years of analysis gave him confidence, but without practice, he feared mishaps.
"How sure are you?" Raiden Ei asked.
"Less than ten percent. I can't do it alone," he admitted. "Good thing I prepped early—since her lungs started failing. Follow me."
He turned to lightning, vanishing from the shrine via his Glimmer Technique—a fusion of explosive and long-range movement honed over years.
They reappeared in a mountain hollow.
"Ley Line clog and amber. You're recreating your birth?" Raiden Ei frowned. "Impossible. Every youkai's origin is unique."
"Science thrives on repetition," Reisen Riou countered.
Though Teyvat's rules trashed much of his past-life science, scientific thinking kept him advancing.
"Now, let's hope her will shines bright enough."
His shrine guardian robes faded, revealing his youkai true form: ultramarine clothes with gold trim—his Youkai Feather Cloak. His aura turned eerie, fully unleashed for the first time.
Sensing the Ley Lines, he found scattered memory and soul fragments.
Locating Anko's burial site, he guided Ley Line energy to hasten her body's decay.
Soon, a faint shade rose from her remains.
It seemed to hold some intellect. "Follow me," he said.
The shade didn't move. Sighing, he gathered refined Ley Line energy, nudging it toward the amber, channeling the clog's energy to craft Anko a new body.
"She's coming!"
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