The stars hang above in their night-veiled skies.

The Abyss lies beneath in chthonic depths.

None can know what lies beyond the bespangled heights, just as none can perceive that which dwells in lightless depths.

As the ancient Khaenri'ahn augur once said:

"Venturing out into the universe and down into the abyss are the same—"

"In that both are braving the dark unknown."

In the days after the underground civilization collapsed, upon a patch of unremembered, scorched earth—

The one who despised destiny plucked a young girl from the hand of fate.

Once she had grown up, she too saved a child ensnared by providence.

How good it would be, if warmth could be the measure of all things, if all tales could end in joy...

Yet the road ahead is uncertain, the sights beyond unknown.Her existence is like an unproven rumor...

Sometimes, past the stroke of midnight, a taverngoer will swear he had glimpsed her, waving hands painting a story of a person that nobody could be sure ever was.

For a very long time, Skirk has journeyed through Teyvat like a shadow, avoiding anything more than brief contact with others, only gathering intel when absolutely necessary.

It wasn't until very recently that there came to be one who could claim to know her...

"Oh, my master? Haha, she's the type to keep to herself."And, let's see... She's an alright cook. Could've been the creatures in that space tasting a little off in general, of course."

"We initially agreed to swing by my place after leaving. I wanted to let her try my family's homemade sausages this year. It's a real shame she couldn't make it..."

"But enough of that. After all, what matters most about my master is her strength... and the sheer arrogance she has to go with it!"

"Hmm? Oh, no, I know what I said. I'm not being ironic, and I mean no insult."

"As I, Tartaglia, grow stronger every day, I get the chance to know my master's strength anew with each and every sunrise."When we first started my training, she only needed one hand to beat me. That was undoubtedly her arrogance shining through. But when facing a weak opponent, I believe that arrogance is an aesthetic unto itself."

"To crush them outright would be unbecoming, yet to feign humility, only to turn the tables later on? That, dear comrade, would be far too deliberate."

In the present day, this "review" of Skirk reached her ears while she was drinking in a tavern. She furrowed her brow.

"As I've said before, I still communicate normally with those who possess some measure of skill. And the food in the Abyssal rift only tasted off to him because he's an ordinary human."And about training — I don't really care how many hands I use, but I do care how many he'll have left when I'm done teaching."

"He still needs to live in Teyvat, so he can't just make new limbs for himself with Abyssal energy like I can."

"Arrogance and carelessness are both dangerous things. It's good that he wants to improve, rather than to show off."

"Otherwise, I'd start worrying about finding his corpse in some strange nook or cranny."Let's go. She's not going to make it."

"But, our orders were to..."

The young child held on to her broken, bloody arm, and watched the two figures before her through blurry eyes.

In the end, the one who seemed to be in charge bade the other to stop talking. They turned around, then vanished into the distance.

Not long ago, her people had learned that the universe held more civilizations than they ever imagined. In the past, the chance to interact with those beyond their world had been limited to a wizened, scholarly few.

Just a few months ago, the leaders had announced that trade relations were amicable. So why...?Beams cracked and splintered under tongues of flame. In the infernal maw the little girl lay, suffocated by smoke, heat, and blood loss.

As the debris and charred wood that buried her were dug away, she heard a sound... Something squeaking.

Her eyelids had been crusted shut with dried blood. But even so blinded, she could sense the light's intrusion.

And she could hear footsteps crunching on scorched terrain, each footfall shattering the broken bricks beneath it.

The newcomer easily freed the little girl from the wreckage restraining her. Then, placing one massive hand on her shoulder, they yanked her out.The pain of being pulled so suddenly made her think that all her limbs had been torn off at once. She cried — and as tears forced their way through her eyelids, they washed away the coagulated blood.

She was surprised to find that she was still hydrated enough to cry.

But the feeling lasted barely a moment. The next thing she knew, the agony sent her spiraling into unconsciousness.

She was surprised to wake up again. She had not thought she would be granted the mercy of opening her eyes a second time. Though her vision still swam, she could make out a bonfire, and the tall man who sat before it cross-legged. Off to the side, a hulking rat-like beast cowered in the shadows, inky eyes mirroring the fire's wild flicker.Awake, then? Don't waste your breath on asking questions unrelated to your survival."

The man did not so much as glance her way. He continued to tend the bonfire with his blade.

"So. Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

She wanted to ask him why she was still alive at all. She wanted to ask who he was. But he had warned her not to waste her breath.

So the girl simply turned her gaze to the starry sky and nodded.Having received her answer, the man plucked his sword from the embers, and slew the rat-like beast in one swing. He cut the meat from its legs, skewered the chunks using his weapon, and cooked them over the open fire. At last, he stood up — something he seldom did — and shoved the meat between her teeth. Bland as it was, the oiliness of the fat was more than a feast for the starving girl.

At the very least, he didn't ask her to feed herself. It seemed he understood that her limbs were ruined beyond repair.Once the girl's wounds had stabilized, the man allowed her to ask some trivial questions.

"Are you also one of the survivors?"

"I am not."

"Then why can I understand you?"

"There is only one state of chaos, and only one definition of the void. Order, by contrast, can be assembled a thousand different ways."

"The people of your planet once relied on their great adaptability to make contact with the Abyss, and even after death, the lingering power they carried retains some... trace records of this. That power is similar in essence to my own."

"So I wove together the dying echoes of countless souls, and spent quite some time learning from them — half a day or so, I believe."Just to learn our language? Then, my father and mother..."

"Are dead. Devoured as meager meat for strength — gulped down like scraps."

The man answered the second question, then continued:

"At first, I believed those people went through the trouble of eradicating all life on this planet because there was something worth destroying. Some incredible technology with which the Abyss might be wielded, perhaps."

"But I was mistaken. Your methods are crude, your technologies primitive. One might think your civilization lacked even one individual who possessed any ambition — or strength — in all its history."You...!"

"Are you not the same? Did you not eat the flesh of the creature that dug you out of the ruins?"

"Though, I should mention I brought it here from another planet, since all life on yours is extinct."

"I doubt I will even find a single species adept at looking for things here."

The girl wanted to say something, but no words rose to her lips. Instead, she decided to ask something else.

"Why am I still alive?"

"Your civilization coexisted with the Abyss. Though none ever used it directly, each and every one of you was tainted in some way.This strengthened your constitutions slightly. Had an ordinary human been in your place, they would have been suffocated, roasted, then crushed by the collapsing ceiling."

"So you can use this power to get stronger?"

The man's eyes glinted in the firelight, a perceptible change within them. "Do you wish to become stronger?"

The girl nodded.

"Even if it costs you everything? Even if you are judged and damned for using foul means to emerge victorious... Do you still wish to become stronger?"

The girl answered, her words blown away by the winds sweeping that desolate planet. was now called Skirk.

Her severed tendons and shattered bones were restored by the man known as "The Foul." But this was no cause for celebration.

For the man made her wield a blade every day and train until her limbs were ruined anew. It was as though he simply wanted her to feel pain.

Every day, after training, her broken body would be restored yet again.

She traveled across the universe with "The Foul," bearing witness to the trail of enemy graves he left in his wake.

A weapon forged using the pooled resources of an entire star system. A god manifested by the unity of a whole civilization's beliefs. The mightiest warrior among billions...Her pain receptors, having been overloaded and utterly numbed over the long years, would never again fire a signal.

Pain was simply a biological avoidance mechanism. So, Skirk knew what her body was telling her:

She was very strong. Few things could now pose a threat to her.

This gave her some confidence. One day, she decided to dredge up the question she'd been waiting to ask all this time:

"Why did you save me back then?"A weapon forged using the pooled resources of an entire star system. A god manifested by the unity of a whole civilization's beliefs. The mightiest warrior among billions...

He buried them all. And as Skirk grew from the strength to strength, a revelation came upon her: Nobody had ever forced her master to use the true extent of his power.

If it was a wicked beast, he ate its flesh. If it was a god or a machine, he absorbed its energy.

If it was a warrior or mage, he played with his food — forcing them to use every trick in their book, then cutting them down once he tired of the charade.

To her master, this was what it meant to "devour."

Skirk's limbs were replaced with Abyssalphantasms. Never again would they hurt.After seeking the strongest warriors the universe has to offer, there may no longer be any further strength for me to seek."

"How did that story go again? 'Distance is measured by the heart, and my heart is slightly larger than the universe.'"

"Once the whole universe becomes my front lawn, all I shall see from then on will be two anthills waging pint-sized war... I shall be in my prime then — and at my most weary."

Of course, Surtalogi was not one for reading stories. This quote only came to mind because, some time ago, he had come across a scrap drifting through the universe, one carrying the scent of his homeland.

He took one look at the title and preface before throwing it away. It just so happened that those introductory words contained the aforementioned passage.

"So, the thought came to me of taking disciples, then waiting for them to mature before seeking them out for my amusement. You are the first of them."

"And once you leave, I will see you as my student no longer."

"I will strip you of everything: That which I gave you, that which you have claimed for yourself, even the unrelated miscellany around you... all will be reduced to ruin."

Skirk knew none of this was some untruth meant to spur her on. Between her and Surtalogi, there was no deep master-student bond, no great care or far-reaching intent.

Everything Surtalogi said, he meant at face value. One day, they would surely fight to the death.There are many paths one can take in the world, but once you step on one, the alternatives wither away.

From that day onward, it was like a blade had descended from nowhere and now hung above Skirk's head. Her destiny, her life... All of it now melded together and crystallized into a singular goal: "Getting stronger."Master, since you mentioned that your group once divided enough Abyssal power amongst yourselves to overturn an entire world — or at least a sixth of it..."

"How is it that you are now many times stronger than an entire world, even when alone?"

"Did I save an idiot back then?"

"Listen well. When the fruit of a tree dies, its seeds are sown in the rotten soil. Naturally, these seeds may grow into stronger trees that bear harvests a hundred, or even a thousand times richer."

"Even if only one or two survivors escape a doomed world, their will alone can become strong enough to reforge the very world they lost."With their parting imminent, Skirk no longer bothered to feign reverence or obedience.

Fear only serves as a spur for the weak. But when you grow stronger, unconquered fear will become naught but a shackle.

In the end, she resolved to bid her master farewell. She headed back to Surtalogi's homeland, to the world known as "Teyvat."

She wanted to find that mother-tree. The tree that had borne corrupt fruit, whose tainted seed had grown into a truly formidable arbor.

From that moment on, a great darkness had loomed over the whole forest — the shadow her master cast over the universe at large.

All across the sea of stars, other civilizations that saw her naturally regarded her as an ally of "The Foul."Every community she encountered during her travels took her for a member of the "Cosmic Calamity," and kept their distance in wary defense.

...Except for Teyvat, where the one who supervised its borders lowered her guard after talking to Skirk. Upon the establishment of an agreement, she granted the latter limited passage within the world.

"You do not belong there. It is not your home."

The words of The Foul remained etched in her heart, never to fade away.

But what if a wish, flung at a shooting star as it passed in fire-fraught trails, could stitch even the faintest thread between it and the world?The "Seven-Shifting Serpent" is a little trick that The Foul passed down to Skirk.

It was originally known as "Chaos Permeation," a minor spell developed by Khaenri'ah's Universitas Magistrorum, and it was made to mock Teyvat's wielders of elemental power. Users of this spell could use Abyssal energy to evoke effects similar to the Elements. The underlying principle was analogous to using the Abyss to permeate reality, creating specific forms of negative pressure to thereby call upon the flow of a corresponding Element's energy.

To Khaenri'ah, "Chaos Permeation" was a mere party trick employed in performances and parades.As a warrior, The Foul knew nothing of this technique at first. But as his understanding of Abyssal power deepened, he came to master it almost instantly. While ordinary performers could spend months practicing the shifting of a single Element just to scrape by as street entertainers, The Foul was able to effortlessly cycle through all seven on his first attempt.

He passed this technique down to Skirk, but not so she could fall back on performances if she was strapped for Mora. After all, demonstrating mastery of Abyssal techniques across the seven surface nations was something only a glutton for punishment would do.

"In my homeland, the Seven Elements represent the natural order of things. So if you wish to conceal your power for longer, disguise it using this trick."

At Liyue Harbor Skirk, I was wandering around the secluded areas.