Name: N/A
Age: 21
Race: Human
Physical Stats:
Strength: High-Tier Grade 1 (140)
Agility: Mid-Tier Grade 3 (55)
Endurance: High-Tier Grade 3 (103)
Chi Stats:
Chi Capacity: Mid-Tier Grade 1 (89)
Chi Control: Low-Tier Grade 3 (5)
Chi Sensitivity: Low-Tier Grade 3 (19)
Ethereal Stats:
Willpower: Special-Tier Grade 3 (154)
Instincts: Mid-Tier grade 2 (72)
Vincent fought back a yawn as he stared at the, for lack of a better term, status window floating before him. It's more or less how he spent the last day or two. Between a fever, exhaustion and general disbelief, it's not like there was anything else he could've done.
All that time just left him full of questions.
Why was there no name displayed? Was it safe to assume low-tier was the lowest ranking displayed between the stats? Was special-tier above high-tier? Were there more tiers? And the grade system; did that correlate to the range of the numbers? Why was he seeing this thing in the first place?
And, perhaps just as intriguing as the question before it, what was Chi?
It'd been years since he'd paid any real attention to anything Genshin related but he was pretty sure most characters drew their powers from elemental energy. Did this Chi have something to do with that process or was it totally unrelated?
He held back a sigh.
This felt like the start of some isekai anime or novel featuring transmigration. He was pretty sure this body existed before he found himself in it. The high physical stats, a dulled vision, and having been found out at sea of all places; it all pointed to this body having its own history but for the life of him, Vincent couldn't recognize the silver haired man depicted on the status window.
"Here, kid." A wooden bowl phased through the window as though it didn't exist. Vincent took the offered food -some salted fish with some kind of hardened biscuit – with a mutter of thanks.
Unlike the first day he found himself in this bizarre situation he wasn't alone, many spread throughout the room on their respective beds. Most were eating identical meals while others slept the early hours away. All thanks to the storm that'd raged on finally letting up, he assumed; the room didn't sway as much compared to previous days and the crashes outside weren't nearly as loud.
He quietly ate the offered food, the salty and dry meal far from the greatest thing he ever had, but nothing he'd be complaining about. If this was all real, he'd say he lucked out. Despite some of their rougher appearances everyone was nice enough and he was kept fed. And that was after being nursed back to health.
One of the room's doors cracked open and in walked Beidou. With how casually the crew greeted her as she passed, she looked more like a friend than a captain. And, assuming this odd situation was in line with the bits of lore and events he recalled, that made sense. He distinctly remembered Beidou being well liked and respected despite her lack of what might be called formality.
"You're looking better, kid." Beidou said as she stopped beside his bed. "Remember anything about where you came from yet?" He shook his head.
He'd settled on a story of partial amnesia since there was no way he was telling the truth and to make things easier on him. How this body ended up at sea and its personal history? He was as much in the dark as every other person on this ship so there'd be no need for acting on his part if anything happened involving it. He doubted he was a good enough actor to feign ignorance over basic information like country names so this worked out well.
"Doesn't look like sitting around will do you much good then. About time we got you on your feet anyways." Beidou said. "Up for a trip topside?"
That…that sounded good. Maybe seeing more than the same old swaying room would help him get a grip on things.
Despite the body not being his own, Vincent had no trouble setting aside his food and standing up now that the weight of exhaustion had passed. It felt scarily natural to be puppeteering a body so different than his own.
A sway forced him to take a step back, his center of balance all out of whack. He quickly followed Beidou, walking through a long wooden hall and to a stairway leading upwards. He barely made it halfway up before another sway stole away the balance he'd been struggling to maintain, a painful fall awaiting him.
"With legs like that, we can scratch off you being a sailor." Beidou siad, having easily caught his arm to steady him. She waved off his thanks and led them up the rest of the stairs and out of a door.
Crystal clear waters that stretched out in every direction as far as the eye could see. A sky, just as blue and just as boundless, clear of any clouds. The smell of salt and the feeling of cool winds brushing through his hair.
It was as beautiful as it was depressing.
Honestly, he hadn't really come to terms with this whole thing and seeing this just made him feel numb.
He was far from home.
Beidou clasped his shoulder, patting it as she passed.
She led him around the busy deck, plenty of her crew running about and completing whatever tasks they had. They headed up another flight of stairs up to the upper portion of the deck, Vincent managing to keep his balance this time.
At the massive ship's steering wheel was an older man who, unlike most on the ship wore the sort of long-sleeved traditional garb that Vincent would likely to those of martial artists of the east.
"The old man here is the one who looked after you." Beidou said.
"Thank you." Vincent instinctively said as the older man gave up the steering wheel, Beidou taking over.
"A polite one. The lot of you could learn something from him, Captain." The old man said getting a snort from her. He stroked his beard, greying like the full head of hair he still possessed despite being on in years. "Amnesia aside, it is good to see that you are doing well young man. You may call me Hei."
Vincent could help but wonder if he'd be saying that if he knew the truth of this situation?
"See this old fossil if you thinking you're coming down with something. He'll fix you up or at least tell you how you're dying." Beidou said. An interesting way to inspire trust in who must've been the crew's doctor or at least the closest thing to one.
"Cap-Captain!" One of the crew, a young man that Vincent could at a glance was nowhere near as experienced as the others, stopped beside them, a box of what looked like some kind of fruit held in his scrawny arms. Beidou and the old man both took one and the young man turned to leave only for a sway to trip him up, the box's contents spilling out.
Vincent joined him in gathering up the fallen food before it could roll away too far.
"T-Thank you." The young man said with bow as Vincent handed over the final one.
"Hold on." Beidou ordered before the young man could get too far. "Why not join him, kid? It'll beat wasting away in bed and who knows, maybe moving around will help jog your memories."
Vincent nodded. It's not like he had any real complaints about being given something to do. He doubted it would jog his memories as she put it, but it would hopefully keep his mind occupied.
…
Handing out food, scrubbing the ship clean, running to and fro on any errands other members of the crew sent them on. On paper it sounded like it should've been an exhausting way to spend the day.
Vincent glanced to the bed beside his, Shi, the name of the inexperienced sailor he'd been tasked with helping, was out like a light. By looks of him, the tasks were as tiring as they sounded but Vincent didn't feel a hint of exhaustion.
This body was extremely fit, there was no debating that so maybe that stat window was accurate. Not that he even knew where to begin when it came to measuring its claims.
Vincent closed his eyes, not to sleep but rather to meditate. Unsure as he was about this whole thing, that didn't mean he wasn't curious. Chi had to be some kind of internal energy like Ki, Nen, Chakra, or just about any series with a power system, right? And how did the characters tend to learn about their magic like abilities?
Meditation.
What was he basing that all on? Fuck all.
What did he know about Meditation? Jack shit.
Pointless or not, he'd inevitably fall asleep so there was no harm in taking shots in the dark to figure out this Chi stuff.