Genshin Impact: The Daily Life of Inazuma's Youkai

"Ugh, Inazuma's produce is so scarce. Can't even eat meat freely," Reisen Riou grumbled, eyeing the leftover meat with a pang. "Gotta hit Sumeru for a real feast."

Meat in Inazuma, especially pork, was pricey—even for a Fifth Scribe like him. Fish was plentiful, but pork? Rare. On Ritou, he'd set up pig farms, enough to eat heartily. In Inazuma City, though, prices were outrageous. This half-slab was smuggled in his Vision's storage.

His Vision's vast, categorized space was a perfect knapsack, with preservation to boot. Only its clunky access wasn't ideal.

Noticing the darkened sky, he sliced meat for Amemuki Uji and Yuyame Tarou as a late-night snack. Hearing Yurei return from drinking with a Tengu—his social circle was vast—he cut a piece for him too.

After distributing the meat, Reisen Riou asked Yurei to review his clone technique and climbed the signal transmitter.

"Bubble Shadow Retention Technique!" His form blurred, spawning figures atop the transmitter. They turned into light orbs via Streaming Light Archery and scattered.

Moments later, they returned, reforming. "Well?" one figure asked.

"That's the real you, right?" Amemuki ventured, pointing.

The others dissolved, leaving the chosen figure. "Still flawed," Reisen Riou muttered. "Black Fox, any advice?"

"Not really advice," Yurei said, "but your main body's Electro orb was brighter."

"Got it. Hold on." Reisen Riou sat atop the transmitter for half an hour, tweaking. He tried again, figures blurring into light orbs—some bright, some dim, some nearly invisible.

"Now, can you tell?" all figures asked in unison.

Amemuki and Yuyame, now near bannerman level, were stumped. Yurei pointed. "That one."

"How'd you know?" Reisen Riou kept the clones up, curious.

"A trick," Yurei admitted, stroking his beard. "Your clones' breathing intervals are identical. The real you's is slightly off."

"Sharp as ever, Black Fox. That's tough to fix," Reisen Riou said. The Bubble Shadow Retention Technique aimed to confuse enemies for escapes or pre-battle chaos. Fooling most was enough.

He dismissed Amemuki and Yuyame and told Yurei to rest. The technique was nearly complete—its theory and timing solid. Now, he needed to cut its activation time. Needing focus in a fast-paced battle wouldn't do. Instant casting would perfect it.

These shadow clones were combat-capable, with a tenth of his strength but weak durability, crumbling after one or two bannerman-level hits.

Over days, he documented the technique's principles while simplifying it. A clone art needing no soul fragments, just elemental energy, was too good not to refine. Soon after uploading it to Ritou's server, Reisen Anko bombarded him with messages.

"It's too hard! Simplify it!" she demanded. Anko, a clone technique user, suffered pain and side effects from soul-fragment loss. A fragment-free art thrilled her—until she saw its complexity. The math-heavy symbols and logic baffled her, lulling her to sleep.

Reisen Riou sighed. Simplifying the Bubble Shadow Retention Technique was no easy task with its dense math. After revisions, he copied the finalized scroll: one for the Shoryou for Narukami's review (likely to be archived), two for Komore Teahouse (Yashiro Commission), with a request to forward one to the Grand Narukami Shrine.

After daily work, he handed a copy to the Shoryou's Okuzume guards.

…

Months later, at a picnic, the Narukami quartet—Makoto, Ei, Yae Miko, and Torachiyo—sparred post-meal. Ei and Torachiyo, naginata masters, clashed fiercely but safely, their divine control precise.

Suddenly, Ei blurred, spawning three to five clones. They hurled Torachiyo like a baseball. Yae Miko, wielding the Hakushin Ring, unleashed spells. Two clones blocked them, while three repelled a charging Torachiyo.

"When'd you learn that?" Makoto asked, eyeing an empty spot.

Ei appeared there. "I mastered the Bubble Shadow Retention Technique recently, merged it with my Fleeting Bubble Shadow, creating the Fleeting Bubble Shadow Retention Technique. It spawns three to five clones with seventy percent of my strength, no soul fragments."

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