Chapter 248: Clinging to Rovel's Thigh
The greasy remnants of their KFC meal had barely been cleared away before Rovel dragged Himeko and Wendy straight to the training grounds. He wanted them to see the reality of the situation with their own eyes.
Through the observation window, the rhythmic clatter of wooden training weapons and the heavy panting of exertion echoed through the hall. Kiana and Mei were drenched in sweat, executing drills with absolute focus.
Faced with the obvious visual evidence, Himeko and Wendy were forced to swallow a bitter, cruel truth.
They had genuinely been played by the Paramecium.
"What we said from the very beginning was eating KFC and training. That's right, that's exactly what we meant," Himeko said, nodding with absolute, unblinking solemnity as she tried to salvage her dignity.
"I'm still just a child! How could my pure thoughts possibly drift to such lazy places?" Wendy chimed in, shamelessly hoisting her age up as an impenetrable shield.
"Hmph." Rovel let out a dry, amused huff, crossing his arms. He was far too lazy to expose their blatant backpedaling.
"So, what exactly are you teaching her?" Himeko asked, smoothly pivoting the conversation to safer ground.
"Taixu Sword Qi," Rovel answered straightforwardly.
"Taixu Sword Qi? Isn't that martial art long lost? I've seen records of it in Schicksal's database," Wendy blurted out, her eyes widening in surprise.
As a former top student at St. Freya Academy, Wendy possessed a solid theoretical understanding of the legendary technique. Looking back through the long, bloody annals of Shenzhou's history, the presence of this specific martial art was monumental. It was universally recognized as the absolute pinnacle of combat—the [Supreme Martial Art].
Himeko nodded in agreement, her expression turning serious. "Our Valkyrie psychological conditioning is actually modified based on the [Heart Essence] of the Taixu Sword Qi. You could consider it a heavily abridged, modernized version." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Even the standard close-quarters combat techniques taught at the academy have the lingering shadows of its [Form Essence] woven into them."
Rovel nodded. He had already discovered these exact parallels during his time learning the authentic Taixu Sword Qi directly by Red Kite's side.
"The learning curve for Taixu Sword Qi is absurdly steep," Rovel explained, leaning against the wall. "It demands extremely high requirements for both physical aptitude and natural comprehension."
He looked at the young girl first. "Wendy, you are a Herrscher. You can natively control the power of the Gem of Desire, which means you don't need to learn the [Heart Essence]. The [Form Essence] is entirely useless for your fighting style, the [Intent Essence] strictly requires the Xuanyuan Sword to execute, and the [Soul Essence] wouldn't offer you much practical benefit. So, it seems you can only cultivate the [God Accumulation]."
He then shifted his gaze to the red-haired woman. "As for you, Himeko, your age makes you unsuitable for cultivating a Sword Heart from scratch. Regarding the Sword Form, only the [Opening Sword Form] actually suits your heavy, aggressive fighting style. Aside from that, only the [Sword Soul] remains a viable option for you."
Rovel laid out the brutal truth of their martial prospects.
Wendy's innate talent was significantly higher than Rita's. After all, she had been on the verge of being promoted to an S-Rank Valkyrie at the tender age of twelve. She had reached that terrifying height entirely on her own, without the crutch of any special bloodline or artificial Stigmata abilities. With her monstrous aptitude, mastering the elusive [God Accumulation] wasn't an impossible dream.
Himeko's talent, on the other hand, could only be considered upper-middle tier. She would likely only ever barely scrape the threshold of true Taixu Sword Qi. Even if she miraculously mastered the [Soul Essence], the actual improvement to her current, established combat power wouldn't be particularly explosive.
"Where did you even get the complete, unedited version of the [Taixu Sword Qi]?" Himeko asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Uh... let's just say it counts as a special channel exclusive to a Descender," Rovel deflected smoothly. "If you want to learn it, I can teach you."
"Sigh, I'll pass. I really don't have the patience to bother with all that mystical stuff," Himeko said, waving her hand dismissively.
She had always leaned heavily toward a fighting style built on overwhelming brute force and heavy strikes. complex, philosophical combat techniques simply didn't hold much appeal for her.
Besides, was her original purpose for coming here really to learn martial arts? Obviously not.
Rather than blindly trusting that Kiana could provide her with an opening, Himeko figured she might as well create the opportunity herself. She intended to take the initiative and secure Rovel in one decisive swoop. Her wolfish ambitions had long been transparent to Mei anyway. Seeing how exhausted Mei looked lately, the girl probably wouldn't refuse someone generously offering to help her 'share the burden' a little, right?
"I want to learn!" Wendy declared without a second of hesitation.
If she agreed to learn, it meant she had a perfectly valid excuse to stay glued to Rovel's side for a while longer.
A short while later, Rovel logged out of the game. The hiss of the game pod opening filled the quiet room, and he noted that the nutrient solution inside the tank was more than half empty.
Stepping out, he looked around the dimly lit apartment. A strange, lingering sense of detachment washed over him. The mundane walls and quiet hum of the city outside actually felt a bit unfamiliar. The time he had experienced in the Seven Swords era had been entirely real to his senses; mentally, he had lived through years of history.
Shaking off the phantom memories, he sent a quick text to Yuki to report his safety, took a long, hot shower to wash away the lingering VR fatigue, and sat down at his computer to check what had transpired in the real world over the past half month.
The headlines were chaotic. The Far East region had apparently been exposed for secretly training a [Death Soldier Legion], sparking massive international panic.
People in the real world were already acutely aware of how terrifying the Honkai was from the game. If the Honkai forces were somehow dragged into reality, humanity would be doomed.
However, the Far East Prime Minister, Kusaida Takashi, had only issued vague, non-committal statements, dodging direct answers at every press conference. She clearly understood that if the allegations were officially confirmed, she and her administration would instantly become the public enemies of the entire world.
When the time came for 'Fat Man'and'Little Boy' to come knocking on her country's door again, it wouldn't be a joke.
Aside from the brewing geopolitical nightmare, there wasn't much else worth his immediate attention.
Not long after, the familiar, aggressive screech of braking tires rang out from the street downstairs. It was obviously Yuki.
"Bro~ther~!"
Her voice pierced through the walls before he even saw her.
The moment she scrambled out of the car, Yuki bolted toward Rovel's apartment at the speed of a hundred-meter dash champion. She burst through the front door like a small hurricane and threw herself directly into Rovel's arms, burying her face in his chest.
"It's only been half a month in the real world, there's no need for all this," Rovel chuckled, patting her head.
Yet, the moment he saw Yuki's bright face, the lingering disconnect vanished. The comforting sense of familiarity with his own world finally anchored him back to reality.
"For Yuki, not seeing Brother is the exact equivalent of the proverb 'a day apart feels like three autumns'! So, mathematically speaking, we have effectively not met for forty-five years!"
Declaring her flawless logic, Yuki hugged his waist even tighter, forcefully sniffing the fresh scent of soap on his clothes.
"I missed Yuki too..." Rovel murmured softly, wrapping his arms around her. To him, the time spent in the martial world was real. He truly hadn't seen his sister in years.
Yuki paused, pulling back slightly to look up at him with blinking, confused eyes. Then, her expression perked up, instantly transforming into one of dangerous excitement. "Hmm... Brother is acting a bit strange today. Could it be that you've finally figured it out? Are we going to start our forbidden romance now?"
"That's not it," Rovel sighed, flicking her forehead lightly. "But there is indeed something worth celebrating. I now have the absolute ability to take you out of the Zhou Family."
"Ah." Yuki's excited expression wilted noticeably. "Although that is technically good news, it really doesn't compare to the much better news I just proposed."
She pouted for a second before getting back to business. "But is Brother really sure you can do it? Currently, the average player's synchronization rate is only at five percent. On the surface, the absolute highest anyone has managed to pile up is around ten percent. By the way, Yuki's synchronization rate is already at fifteen percent!"
She puffed out her chest, proudly standing with her hands on her hips.
"Hmm? Have you already figured out the specific methods to increase the synchronization progress?" Rovel asked, genuinely surprised.
"Mm-hmm! There are two primary methods to force the synchronization progress higher," Yuki nodded, instantly transforming into a serious lecturer as she held up two fingers.
"The first method is to fundamentally change your species in-game, becoming a [Death Soldier], a [Ninja Death Soldier], an [Artificial Weapon], or other existences that lean heavily toward the [Honkai Side]."
She ticked off her fingers as she explained. "The synchronization rate for a basic [Death Soldier] is currently locked at ten percent. A [Ninja Death Soldier] is what a standard one evolves into when it hits level twenty-five, and that bumps the synchronization rate as high as thirty percent!"
"As for the [Artificial Weapon] class, it is a unique, highly classified product of the World Serpent. The synchronization rate for that is a massive seventy percent! But the fatal price is losing your free will and being completely controlled by the World Serpent's hierarchy."
Yuki looked up at him seriously. "Brother should still remember the specific example of Funahiki Gyō, the one who attacked us before, right? She is a direct product of the World Serpent cadre, Jackal."
Rovel frowned, absorbing the heavy information. "...Is all of this public knowledge now? Won't releasing this guide sick, power-hungry people to willingly defect to the [Death Soldier] camp?"
"Of course not. This first set of information hasn't been released to the public at all," Yuki said, shaking her head. "Although some underground circles know that becoming a [Death Soldier] boosts your real-world power, due to strict national control, converting oneself into a Honkai entity is classified as a severe crime. So, not many people actually dare to cross that line."
", those people don't know the exact mathematical synchronization values. The specific data I just told you was secretly shared with me by an insider."
"Who is kind enough to leak that kind of classified data?" Rovel asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"This person is someone you also know," Yuki replied, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Her name is Funahiki Shin."
[Inorin's Note: