Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

How does it feel to fight a boss with ninety-nine hp bars?

This question summed up everyone's experience while fighting against Aleph. Aside from the huge pits and craters, they were left with questions on how someone could be that strong.

Even when the second round began, to which Anna joined, they were still beaten up. Worse, they could tell that Aleph wasn't even serious when fighting them. The farthest they forced him was when he used his consecutive Black Flash and Ratio Technique to shatter Anna's icebergs.

This kind of mock battle continued for three more days before everyone disbanded. These three days were far more 'exciting' and 'productive' than fighting against an emperor-class honkai beast—since Aleph was far stronger than it.

'Hm. These rewards…'

Aleph stared intently at the prompts. He already went through the rewards several times, though the uses of the two rewards she got from the major achievements he got after completing the limited instance.

[Albion's Remains: Contains the remains of the true dragon Albion. This reward makes up the rest of the unobtained fragments.]

[Star Rail Special Pass: A mysterious ticket that allows for someone to ride along the star rail train built by the Trailblazing Aeon, Akivili.]

'Star Rail Pass… seriously?'

Aleph recalled the Trailblazers he knew. Each one of them had their special circumstances, with one being more mysterious than the other. There was also Welt Yang, one of Current Era's First Herrschers, who was among them.

He stared at his chest. Unlike before, the darkness contained within his Sephira Crystal could no longer be described as 'black'. It was more appropriate to describe it as a container of nothingness.

Subsequently, Aleph felt that the feedback of Albion's powers increased at a fast rate. He still had debts during his one-week period of fighting against emperor-class honkai beasts since it was 'downed' when Kurumi unintentionally took it to recover.

Add to that his recent battles, Aleph vaguely felt something taking shape.

'Other than it…'

He opened the notebook on his desk. An elegant handwriting filled the pages. Each of them was written in Eastern Characters. He seriously read its contents while standing.

'Blade Mantra.'

It was the technique developed by Hua during the Current Era. It was a technique created to allow humans to harness honkai as their own.

The syllables placed in the "Blade Mantra" would allow someone to enter a state similar to Aponia's Discipline, thus forcing the body to adapt to the honkai. 

It has four stages, namely:

Absolute Calm.

Flawlessly Clean.

Clear Mirror.

Taixuan. (Grand Void)

Eminence, the strongest move out of them all, could only be learned once they have passed through Taixuan.

'...I'm not mistaken. It really had similarities with No Second Strike.' Aleph thought. 'Zhou Tian…'

Zhou Tian, Cosmic Orbit, involved taking in the surrounding energy, more known as qi. Once they are taken, they could be controlled by the user to engulf his surroundings in it, thus forming an area where 'metaphysical pressure' exists. It was the same move Aleph used to scare the deformed humans in the Shibuya Station.

If Juezhao converged force in one point, No Second Strike converges both the force and qi at one point, causing indescribable damage to one's opponent.

Eminence, the final move contained in the Blade of Mantra, used the same concept but with honkai energy. That was the reason why the four stages in mental condition were required—honkai needs to be reined in, unlike the qi in Li Shuwen's world.

 While Aleph was deep in thoughts, a pair of slender arms came from behind him. Two huge mountains were pressed on his back.

Aleph immediately knew who it was.

"Mei."

"Mn."

Mei stuck her face on his back. These acts froze Aleph. All sorts of chaotic thoughts started entering his mind.

'This…'

Mei played with his hands at first. Later on, she became accustomed to hugging his arm. Now, she no longer had any reservations and hugged him. It was just as stimulating as when he woke up to Kurumi by his bedside. It did not help that he occasionally had chaotic thoughts due to his MANTIS surgery.

If not for his self-control, he would have…

'No amount of Heart Sutra can save me.'

While Aleph was somewhere between heaven and hell, Mei enjoyed every bit of his reaction.

'Cute.'

She noticed how Aleph jolts whenever she hugs him from behind. Seeing him flustered was one of the new joys she discovered.

'He's different from before… He's more serious…'

The Mei from two years ago would not have expected that a serious guy like Aleph would be lighthearted now, more so to be such a 'cute boyfriend'.

It remained like this for a while until Mei let go of him.

Aleph turned around and faced her. He took several steps before he took the initiative to hug her.

It was Mei's turn to be surprised. She looked up at him in a daze, only to her lips to be pressed against his. Aleph anticipated her glasses, in turn avoiding the awkward bump.

When Aleph's head moved away, a smile could be seen on his face.

"I finally got you once."

Mei responded with a 'slight' pout. She did not talk to him, instead bringing her face closer to his.

They kissed for a second time. It took more than ten seconds before they separated.

Throughout the entire process, Aleph was the one who was startled.

"Are you sure about that?" 

Mei rhetorically asked with a teasing smile. Her big chest was still pressed onto Aleph. The combination of the two was enough to make his face turn visibly red.

She slowly went out of the embrace before holding his hand. She walked in front of him, to which he followed.

Soon, they reached the small sofa in the office. Aleph looked at her silently. She responded by looking into the sofa.

He immediately knew what she wanted to do.

'She's envious… of what Kurumi did before.'

The past few days—the beginning of their days as romantic partners—were spent on subtly feeling each other's thoughts.

Aleph sat on the sofa obediently. His heartbeat was faster compared to before. His face, though the redness slowly disappeared, threatened to come back. His neck and ears were already red from the mixed sensations he received—be it embarrassment, shyness, or arousal.

Time never stopped moving.

Aleph felt Mei's softness on his lap. It was far more drastic compared to Kurumi. The feeling of touch was enough for Aleph to envision what was beyond her usual office skirt. Another fragrance akin to a lavender assaulted his nose.

His accelerated thoughts and split minds did not help either. The more they processed these sensations, the more overwhelmed Aleph became.

'...I'm done for.'

Aleph blanked out.