Genshin Impact, I'm Slime

Deep within Mount Tianheng in Liyue, in a secluded valley, jagged cliffs cut through the sunlight, casting dappled shadows.

Famas stopped in front of Irina.

The boy's outstretched palm was steady and strong, and a small octagonal nautical compass appeared silently in his palm, as if it had quietly emerged from the dust of time.

The brass material exudes a warm, ancient charm in the dim light of the valley, with specks of deep green patina adhering to its edges.

FAMAS's fingertips rubbed very lightly against the worn edges of the compass.

"Take this, and you'll be able to find Yelan."

"Its pointer always points to the deepest desire in the holder's heart."

FAMAS's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetrating power. He finally lifted his gaze from the compass and looked at Irina.

This compass, known as the Compass of Destiny, was created at the Munata Research Institute during the reign of Famas.

At that time, FAMAS himself happened to receive the favor and promise of the goddess of fate. When this information reached the Munata Research Institute, Rhein-Dort, who was in charge of scientific research, heard about it and his eyes lit up immediately.

The mysterious concept of fate instantly ignited Rheindorf's research passion, and she immediately set about creating a series of exquisite artifacts that attempted to capture the appearance of fate.

Although fate is always unpredictable, Rheindorf managed to devise a standard system that could be observed and quantified for the elusive nature of destiny through her intelligence.

This compass of destiny is the most representative achievement of this system.

From a scientific perspective, the core of a compass lies in its surface pointer, which can actively absorb the randomness of time and space itself and extract the highest probability of future development.

The compass guides the flow of entropy precisely, causing chaos to tilt toward a clearly definable outcome. However, this does not magnify the insignificant or turn the impossible into the possible; rather, it forcibly transforms the unknown into the known.

Therefore, the compass needle does not always point to what the holder desires most, as Famas claimed.

Its principle is to consistently point to the direction in which the holder is most likely to appear in the future.

However, as highly purposeful beings, humans tend to act in ways that revolve around their core objectives.

From this perspective, the direction the compass needle points does indeed indicate the direction the holder desires most, and the two achieve a remarkable unity in their behavioral trajectories.

Of course, Rhein-Dortmund's vision of destiny didn't stop at this compass.

She designed and created a series of related items centered around the mystery of fate. Unfortunately, these creations, which contained the principles of fate, did not attract the attention they deserved by the then-powerful Munata Empire.

When these creations were brought to the Munata royal court and presented to Famas, the boy only had a slight understanding of how the items worked, and casually picked one that looked interesting to keep as a souvenir.

FAMAS didn't know, nor did he care, where the rest of the "Destiny" series items went or who ended up in.

At that time, Munata's territory was vast, its national power was at its peak, and the entire empire was filled with an arrogant sense of superiority.

Inventions that others regard as treasures and secrets of destiny are nothing more than trivial trinket in the eyes of the entire empire.

The Empire became aware of Rheindorf's achievements.

The empire doesn't care.

Rewind to the present.

Famas casually handed the compass to Irina, who silently raised her hand, reaching out with a clear aim for the unknown object resting in the boy's palm. As one of the few elites among the Fools, Irina had naturally received training in navigation and knew how to use a nautical compass.

The moment the compass changed hands, Irina and Famas's fingers inevitably touched lightly.

Although she wields the dual elemental powers of ice and water, Irina's fingers are surprisingly warm, creating a stark contrast to her icy exterior.

Perhaps most people would want to take this opportunity to learn about Irina's past, but Famas was clearly not interested in the Lady with the Hidden Mirror.

More than the warm touch of her fingers, FAMAS's attention was drawn to the unusual thing peeking out from under the cuff of Irina's glove.

Winters are bitterly cold, the land is frozen year-round, and sunlight rarely shines through.

Having grown up in this land ruled by frost and snow, Irina's skin also seemed to be permeated by the cold, presenting a translucent paleness like ice and snow, which could not be concealed even when hidden under gloves.

But that wrist, which should have been fair and soft, was sickly pale, and on this paleness, several twisted, dark, eerie marks, like cracks in parched earth, were crawling.

This is a sign of the abyss's erosion.

FAMAS raised an eyebrow.

He had dealt with that all-consuming abyss for many years, and even now he still draws upon that power; he would never be wrong.

The mark on Irina's hand is the brand left by the power of the abyss after it eroded the living body.

Famas's gaze unconsciously swept over Irina's chest, where an ice elemental evil eye was flickering with an ominous light.

Dr. Dottore, the executor of the Fatui, is indeed a brilliant genius, but he is also someone who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals and treats human life as worthless.

His invention, the Evil Eye, allowed those not favored by the gods to use elemental power, but the price paid by the users was too high to bear.

Irina had probably used this evil eye for far longer than imagined; the erosion of the abyss had penetrated deep into her bones, leaving such clear marks on her body that she had to use gloves to cover them up.

Irina also noticed the lingering look in Famas's eyes and the carelessness in her own gloves.

Her cold and beautiful face instantly tightened, as if covered with a layer of frost.

Without the slightest hesitation, Irina swiftly pulled her hand, along with her glove, back from holding the compass, the movement so fast it stirred a slight breeze.

Then, seemingly casually, she used her other free hand to quickly pull the slipped glove up, covering up all the secrets that shouldn't be exposed, leaving only a trace of warmth still lingering in FAMAS's palm.

The Lady with the Hidden Mirror is someone who covers her eyes and serves the gods. The most important requirement for a servant of the gods is purity, followed by loyalty and appearance.

Having been corrupted by the abyss, Irina had clearly lost the purity of a priestess, which explains why she was assigned to Pantalone as a secretary and sent on a mission to a distant land, instead of hiding in the Winter Palace reciting hymns.

A brief, suffocating silence filled the air. Famas had roughly understood Irina's situation, and neither of them mentioned the traces left by the abyss's erosion.

Finally, the unique voice of the woman from the Hidden Mirror Pavilion, seemingly pierced through mist, broke the silence:

"Lord Famas, what price do I need to pay for your help?"

Irina's voice was devoid of emotion, containing only a faint sense of helplessness and resolve, like frost that would never melt in the dead of winter. (End of Chapter)