Individual Progress

Some say that cherry blossoms fall at a speed of five centimeters per second.

Unfortunately, it's still winter, not the season for cherry blossoms to bloom. So, what's drifting in the wind in front of Lin Wei aren't cherry blossoms, but just a few light pieces of paper.

Everything around is covered in dust, mixed with mud, moss, and various unrecognizable pieces of garbage. The few clean, crisp sheets of paper falling from the sky look somewhat out of place in this environment.

A small, damp, and chilling wind blows from the distance, swirling the aimlessly falling pieces of paper. It brushes past Lin Wei, who stands not far away, eyes closed in contemplation.

Lin Wei suddenly opens his eyes, his gaze sharp and piercing.

Hua had said that if one's fist is powerful enough, they could shatter a falling napkin like a brick.

He adjusts his breathing, focuses his energy in his lower abdomen; he takes a step and gently exhales.

He throws a punch at the gently falling pieces of paper – but nothing happens.

The gust of the punch stirs the air, causing the paper to stick to Lin Wei's fist before floating away unscathed. The punch has no effect.

"Tch..."

Lin Wei was somewhat prepared for this, but he is still a little disappointed.

He plucks a sheet of paper from the air and holds it in his hand. With his other hand, he pulls out a pistol, firing a few shots "bang, bang." Small sparks blossom in the air, burning away the trash floating in the air, making a small contribution to Nagazora City's sanitation efforts.

"This thing is still more useful..." Lin Wei complains. He glances at the surviving white sheet of paper in his hand. It's too clean, which Lin Wei finds odd, and decides to examine it.

The paper is ordinary, as if just torn from a book, with some practice problems written in childish handwriting.

teacher takes a look, and there are quite a few mistakes.

This handwriting... is this Lyle's?

Lin Wei is speechless. Did that guy throw his homework away again?

I'll deal with you when we get back!

"...You shouldn't have let something like this interrupt your meditation," Yae Sakura's voice echoes in his mind, laced with reproach, like a stern teacher facing a disobedient student.

Lin Wei chuckles, "Just wanted to try it out."

Meditation is one of his daily training regimens.

After leaving the Elysian Realm, Lin Wei was bad at everything, and his previously balanced, hexagonal stats became skewed.

His consciousness had grasped ample combat skills and awareness in the training within the Elysian Realm, as well as the instinct to deal with various emergencies.

As a Stigmata, Yae Sakura also seamlessly integrated all of the Elysian Realm SAKURA's signets. After more arduous training and battles, she has also greatly improved. In a sense, Yae Sakura got the script she deserved from the Elysian Realm journey.

The result is obvious:

Consciousness can be trained through simulations, and energy can also be enhanced through simulations. Thus, Lin Wei and Yae Sakura both gained a lot from the Elysian Realm trip.

One has made up for many of his shortcomings, and the other's combat power is quite considerable, not inferior to Elysian Realm SAKURA.

At least, that was something he had heard her admit herself.

Therefore, while the various shortcomings were rapidly being addressed, the one aspect that couldn't directly benefit from the Elysian Realm—Lin Wei's original body— suddenly became the most glaring weakness.

Therefore, Lin Wei's gains in the Elysian Realm, aside from the Stigmata and Pandora he already had, mainly exist as "potential" within his body, waiting to be developed and explored.

Meditation is one of the methods to achieve that.

Finally found a beginner village, but it turned out to be a test server...

(ノへ￣,)

Of course, for Lin Wei, the biggest gain is not this.

During the half year of fusion with Yae Sakura, the Stigmata has been subtly nurturing and strengthening his body, with significant results over the past half year.

If we use "land reclamation" as an analogy, Lin Wei's original, barren land can now try to grow wheat.

He can utilize Honkai energy, meaning he has a ticket to this "Honkai game"!

Of course, there are also losses.

Lin Wei's move is like "wiping his account and starting over." The quirky tactics he used to fool RIN before probably won't work anymore.

Whenever Lin Wei thinks about this, he can't help but laugh sadly.

After all, if there's a wide road to take, who would choose to walk the precarious single-plank bridge!

As the saying goes, why use your brain when you can solve it with muscles?

I, Lin Wei, a transmigrator, will be a musclehead!

"Swoosh!"

A sudden sound of something cutting through the air rushes towards him.

Is it an arrow? Lin Wei is startled. He instantly judges the direction of the attack and subconsciously tries to dodge to the side.

Unfortunately, his body's reaction is a little too slow. Just as Lin Wei begins to turn, the swift arrow is already about to pierce his chest!

Looks like I still have a long way to go...

Even though his body tenses up from the fear of impending death, his back covered in sweat, Lin Wei sighs inwardly with resignation.

"Clang!"

His arms draw his swords as if they have a mind of their own, accurately slashing the incoming arrow in mid-air.

"Pride and complacency, those aren't virtues you should have." A kind reminder comes from within. The sudden attack was obviously attracted by the earlier gunshots, a result of his own actions.

"I'll leave the rest to you." Yae Sakura returns control of the body to Lin Wei, letting him clean up the mess he caused.

Lin Wei looks up in the direction from which the arrow came from. On the dilapidated second floor, between the exposed tangled rebar and shattered concrete blocks, stand three slender, pale-skinned Zombies, two wielding sickles, and one drawing Their bow and aiming at him, clearly the one who just attacked him.

Is this never going to end?

Black light gathers in Lin Wei's hands, forming two black pistols as he prepares to retaliate.

"No."

Yae Sakura's cool voice sounds again.

Lin Wei pauses, understanding her intentions. This is an impromptu real combat training session, with a restriction of close combat.

Well, if the coach speaks, the student has no choice but to obey, right?

Lin Wei puts away his guns, dodges behind a pillar to avoid the archer's second arrow, and then quickly runs up the broken stairs, grabbing the exposed rebar on the wall to climb to the second floor.

The two sickle Zombies, sensing the sound of his footsteps, attack Lin Wei from both sides, nimble and fast, like living beings. The archer Zombies in the distance also nocks a third arrow, ready to deliver a fatal blow.

Lin Wei throws out a chain with his left hand, binding one of the sickle Zombies to the ground; with his right hand, he throws a spear, pinning the archer Zombies to the ground. At the same time, he quickly retreats to the left, avoiding the third Zombies's attack.

"If this is a training exercise, then you should come at me one at a time."

The sequence of actions was manageable for Lin Wei.

This is the thrill of real combat, something he experienced often in the Elysian Realm, but this is the first time in reality.

Lin Wei laughs, feeling quite pleased.

The only Zombies left standing silently raises its sickle and rushes towards Lin Wei, not caring about its fallen comrades. Perhaps, in their brains that have long since died and only have killing instincts left, the concept of "comrade" no longer exists.

Lin Wei laughs and charges forward instead of retreating. He inhales, contracts his abdomen, exhales, and throws a punch at the Zombies's chest and abdomen. With a "thump," the blow forces it to take a step back.

"Ouch... hiss... that's really hard, that hurt like hell..."

Lin Wei's attack was effective, but he doesn't follow up. Instead, he quickly retreats, his face a mask of pain.

No wonder they're silicon-based life forms, they're really hard!

Lin Wei's eyes are spinning from the pain. It felt like he hit a stone, and he felt like he almost broke his hand.

Durandal, you're using your bare hands to hit these things every day?!

Lin Wei can't help but mentally complain, suddenly realizing the true difference between him and a frontline fighter.

Yae Sakura was right, I really can't be complacent, Lin Wei reflects.

"Forget it, looks like I've tested out my true level."

Lin Wei feels like he had fun.

Last year, he was being poisoned just by breathing the air, and now, he's able to go toe to toe with a Zombies!

What does this mean?

It means that he can start playing low-level matches!

This is progress!

And...

Black light emanates from Lin Wei's hands again, quickly forming two grotesque gauntlets that protect his hands and extend to his forearms.

"But, the reason humans are human is because they are good at using tools! Don't run, kid! Take another punch!"

Strengthened, Lin Wei steps forward again, starting the second round.

…

On a rooftop several hundred meters away, Raven sits idly on the edge of the roof, watching Lin Wei's direction with a speechless expression.

Perhaps because this is her "home," Raven has taken off her hood, revealing a delicate and cute face, a tuft of hair on the top of her head swaying in the wind. She looks quite relaxed and comfortable.

"...That guy, he's actually going back and forth with a Deadly Sin, can he show a little more promise?"

Below her dangling legs, a Knight-class Honkai beast is looking around blankly. It was originally attracted by the gunshots from Lin Wei's direction and came over to investigate. But here it heard something like the call of a comrade but couldn't find its source.

Raven waves her hand casually, and the Knight-class Honkai beast seems to have heard some kind of command and leaves the area.

Raven glances at the retreating Honkai beast, her lips curving into a wry smile, as she mutters to herself:

"You're such a big kid... Speaking of which, how could a person like him be favored by a Divine Key? It's unbelievable; am I dreaming?"

Raven thinks about the Third Divine Key that she has to treat like a precious ancestor and her heart feels more unbalanced.

"Tch, looking at him being so useless, suddenly the Herrscher seems not so scary..."

Heavens, the nightmare that was deeply rooted in Raven's heart suddenly doesn't seem so terrifying anymore.

......

Schicksal, Sky Island, Immortal Blades Training Room.

During a break in training, Yuno drops a pile of wrecked equipment and walks to a nearby rest area, unscrewing a bottle of water and chugging it down.

When Yuno starts training, she basically has the training room all to herself. She can release her full power here, but she leaves at least half of the training time for the Immortal Blades team members to use.

This is a silent understanding between her and the Valkyries, they don't disturb each other.

Yuno knows that she is a monster, and also knows that the other team members are somewhat afraid of her, so she doesn't want to bother with them.

Yuno looks back at the twisted wreckage that still has sparks coming off them, and frowns in dissatisfaction.

These boring toys aren't enough to vent my frustrations.

This cursed power, if I don't release all of it, Yuno feels like she won't be able to sleep at all.

Yuno hates her own power.

It's a disaster, a nightmare, the claws of the Honkai, and now it's lodged within her body, trying to become one with her!

Yuno glances at the full-length mirror standing nearby. The girl reflected is still cute and delicate, but the furrowed brows seem to suppress anger forever.

Yuno doesn't like herself like this. She waves a vine and shatters the mirror into pieces, her expression turning more disgusted.

It was it that turned her into this hateful monster!

Alright, enough rest.

Yuno taps the control panel a few times, and the training room's large intelligent system quickly cleans up the wreckage, and soon it is as clean as new.

Those training devices are useless. I should switch to memory projections, Durandal's projections are much more durable.

"Yuno! Yuno! So you were here…"

While she was operating, the training room door was suddenly pushed open with a "bang," and Anna excitedly ran in, grabbing Yuno's arm without saying a word and trying to pull her out.

"Come on, I'll take you to a good place!"

"Anna, what happened?"

Yuno suppressed the restless fire in her heart. She didn't want to show any malice towards this Valkyrie who was smiling at her, especially since she also felt some guilt towards her.

A few days ago, Yuno was also working up a sweat in the training room. This girl had also burst in like this.

Yuno, who was in a state of excitement at the time, thought it was just another ordinary memory projection and attacked her without thinking.

It was not until after a few collisions that Yuno's keen sense of smell, which had long since surpassed that of humans, suddenly smelled the scent of blood. She realized something was wrong and quickly stopped, barely avoiding a disaster.

Don't get the wrong idea, Anna wasn't seriously injured. She was just caught off guard and got a small hole poked into her by an attacking vine. It wasn't in a vital spot, and she was fine after lying in the medical room's treatment pod for a few hours.

Since then, the Valkyries had begun to look at her with greater vigilance, which made Yuno feel even more like an absolute monster.

But unexpectedly, after recovering, Anna quickly came to find her again.

Yuno stops what she's doing, a little lost, wondering what kind of shenanigans this rash girl is planning the second time they've met.

"I'm here to apologize to you. It was my fault for barging into your training room, which caused a misunderstanding. And you did stop at the last minute, didn't you? I saw your worried expression so clearly!"

Anna's smile is bright, as if she wasn't the one who got injured.

"You... don't hate me?"

Faced with Anna's enthusiasm, Yuno can't help but feel a little uneasy.

After all, she knew how inhuman she looked during battle, and Anna had witnessed it herself.

Although she never showed it, she was actually very insecure when facing these Valkyries.

After all, they are heroes;

While she is just a monster, the kind of monster that should be eliminated by heroes.

Even though she also has the title of "Valkyrie," it can't hide the fact.

She couldn't even control herself well, otherwise Anna wouldn't have been hurt before.

"Why would I hate you? Aren't you just another victim of the Honkai?"

Anna's expression is strange, as if Yuno said something she couldn't understand.

The Valkyries are saving humans from Honkai, and Yuno is doing just that, isn't it normal?

Moreover, she is a Valkyrie, and a junior of hers.

This is how the naive Anna understands it.

Besides, she's strong, isn't she?

And so, the two became friends in a daze, the whole process so smooth that Yuno felt somewhat bewildered.

As for her strange appearance, it was indeed scary. When Anna first saw it, she was also taken aback, thinking it was an Emperor-class Honkai beast in front of her.

Anna came for this reason.

"Anna, what's going on?"

Yuno is a little overwhelmed by Anna's enthusiasm.

Anna stops, a mysterious smile on her face, her pale purple eyes similar to Yuno's own color,

"I found Director Nagamitsu of the Stigmata 1504 Research Institute and explained your situation to her. Director Nagamitsu is very interested in your situation. I'll tell you a secret, Captain Durandal has a check-up there a few times every year. It's probably the research institute with the highest scientific power in Schicksal headquarters. I believe they can find a way to help you master your power!"