***

Each floor of the spiral abyss had a so called “Challenge”, a red, floating key in the middle of a platform that they were supposed to take down.

Touching the key would immediately initiate the challenge, summoning enemies and monsters out of their respective corners of the abyss to attack them.

When the challenger touched the key it was their responsibility to kill enemies while defending themselves, or other objectives from the monsters.

The monsters spawned by each challenge were all different.

“Each particular monster here, isn’t real. They’re all copies of memories of the world, and these ‘Challenges’, sprout all around the world. We, as humans, need to take care of them or else they go out of control and spawn monsters that attack nearby human settlements.”

Lisa explained to them as she walked on the platform, checking every corner of it for traps.

“Memories? Are you saying we are fighting the monsters that are already dead?”

Yomite wondered aloud.

“Yes, and no…” Lisa replied, looking at Yomite with a serious expression in her eyes. “Ley Lines remember all things that happen in this world, from the surface down to the deepest depths. The memories of monsters that were alive, or resentment of monsters that died because of humans, is what’s being used as a projection, so no. It’s not just memories of dead monsters.’

“What are Ley Lines? I’ve never heard about them before.”

“The Ley Lines are a network of elemental energy and memories of everything that has lived and died in the world of Teyvat, both on the surface and down in the Abyss. It makes up the very fabric of our reality. Our memories are connected to those lines, too. Though there are some… exceptions…” Lisa said, turning her head towards Yomite, who gave her a confused look.

“…There are certain, anomalies that prevent Ley Lines from gathering memories of individuals, who do not belong to this world.”

She stated, giving Yomite a meaningful look as she approached him again. “You, for example, are one such anomaly.”

“…”

Yomite didn’t answer anything. One thing was clear in his mind though.

Lisa knew he wasn’t part of this world and he didn’t know how she found out. Of course, she wasn’t like any normal person, but it was still unsettling to have her know more about him than he did about her.

Even Zhongli managed to figure him out with one simple glance, but he was an Archon, one of the strongest gods…in that comparison, Lisa seemed like a normal librarian taking care of her books.

“At any rate, since dear Rosaria here, defeated past four challenges all by herself, we will have to start at a harder difficulty. As for me, I’m going to help you if you truly need it, but don’t count on me. This is a bare minimum you need to do by yourself.” Lisa explained to them, walking up to Rosaria and patting her shoulder.

“As for you, I’m a bit vexed at you right now, we’ll have a nice talk now.”

Rosaria gave Lisa an annoyed look, “What made you think I’ll talk to you? Piss off.”

Lisa chuckled lightly, shaking her head at Rosaria before slapping her arm lightly.

“Now, now. I can understand your frustration after losing to me in a literal second, but you shouldn’t be so short tempered about something like this.” She told her, chuckling.

“I could take you on in a fight at any time. Circumstances just allowed you to beat me.” Rosaria snapped back, crossing her arms over her large bosom. She believed it to be true.

Back then, Rosaria was exhausted from swimming all the way to the shore, and wet from head to toe. She was completely soaked, and as everyone knew, water conducted electricity quite well.

Simply put, she was “Electro-Charged” which was the Elemental Reaction triggered by inflicting Electro on a target that was already affected by Hydro or vice versa.

In that sense, even a weak spell containing electricity could knock her out when she was wet.

“If you want to get stronger, you should learn to accept defeat gracefully, instead of trying to prove you could do better under a different scenario. You’d be amazed at how much easier it is to die, rather than to defeat me in any scenario. Don’t start a fight you can’t win.” She told her, patting her shoulder once more.

“Tch… you’re as annoying as that guy…” Rosaria spat, clearly irritated by Lisa’s attitude.

“Oh? Handsome, you mean? I wonder what he ever did to you? Broke your heart, perhaps?” Lisa asked, cocking her head at Rosaria with a wide smile.

“Never. And none of your business, stay out of my way, you old hag.”

“…That can’t be. We can’t have that. In the Spiral Abyss, anything can happen, so you’ll either have to cooperate with us willingly, or I’ll be make you do so by force.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Hearing that, Lisa looked around, and leaned in closer to her.

“Hmm…I truly wonder how I should ruin that little cutie Barbara’s face for you. Maybe I’ll give her a permanent scar across her face…Mhmmm, maybe tear off her vocal chords so she could no longer sing all that happily?…That’ll definitely teach you a lesson, wouldn’t it?” Lisa whispered into her ear, making Rosaria shudder.

“You…You’re a sick bitch,” Rosaria murmured, “If you dare do something like that…”

“Then what? You’re going to do something? To me? I find that hard to believe.”

“Tch!”

Lisa laughed, “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just joking around. Don’t be so grumpy all the time and join us. Have some fun, darling.”

“Whatever, you’re a sicko bitch…stay away from me and Barbara.”

***

**

*

The Spiral Abyss had twelve floors, each containing three chambers, which meant that Rosaria managed to complete twelve challenges before she arrived to the fifth floor.

Each floor also had something like a notice board, where they could find information regarding the current floor, including the number of enemies and their types.

Lisa’s test was a simple one. They had to complete all floors including the floor twelve, which contained the boss chamber. Which meant a lot of killing.

As there was a need to have two teams, Yomite’s group would split in half.

Team Yomite would consist of Yomite himself, Barbara, Rosaria and Hu Tao.

Team Lumine would be Lumine herself, Paimon, Iris and Fischl.

Lisa would be spectating both teams, watching how they handled the challenges, and helping them whenever it was truly needed.