So Gwen had his doubts about why he had been able to unlock the Gene Lock.
But after thinking about it for less than two days, Gwen tossed the question to the back of his mind—
Who cared whether it was some big shot's scheme from behind the scenes? Without enough strength, without getting past Finality, everything else was meaningless.
Rather than waste time wondering whether a rookie like him had been turned into some big shot's pawn, he might as well think more about how to improve his strength.
Otto: Schicksal Wasn't Some Heartless Organization
Gwen did not have to wait long. Otto, who gave no sign whatsoever of having just been dragged away from his game console by Miss Amber, arrived outside Combat Simulation Room No. 1 with Amber and personally took charge of the assessment.
Of course, at Schicksal Headquarters, Otto's so-called personal supervision of the assessment amounted to activating the simulation room, selecting the difficulty, then handing the remaining work to Amber. As for himself, he took out his game console and continued playing Kallen Fantasy, ignoring the occasional glances drifting his way from Yolandale.
"Everyone knows the Bishop has a habit of slacking off at work, but is it really okay for you to play games so openly in front of everyone?"
Choukai, who had just entered the central control room, glanced at Yolandale, Rita, and Amber, who were fixedly watching the monitor displaying Gwen's assessment, then looked at Otto, who did not look like he was working in the slightest. She casually teased him.
"Of course it isn't ideal."
Otto spoke casually as he pressed the button for the final finishing move, then smiled at Choukai.
"However, I suspect the Institute St. 1504 budget might need a little adjustment next month.
Whether that means an increase or a decrease..."
"Fine, fine, fine. I'm scared of you..."
With Otto holding a knife to her throat, Choukai could only roll her eyes and raise both hands.
"There will be no rumors at Headquarters that the Far East Branch Director's tendency to slack off at work is hereditary."
"Theresa simply hasn't grown up yet."
Otto nodded in satisfaction, then casually added,
"Children will play for a while. Let them play..."
Once they grew up, they would no longer have the heart to play...
As he spoke casually, Otto turned his gaze toward the screen.
Although the final enemy in an A-rank assessment was only a Temple-class Honkai Beast, that did not mean the A-rank assessment contained only one Temple-class Honkai Beast—
At the very least, the assessment Gwen faced was to exterminate all the Honkai Beasts in an urban district after a major Honkai eruption.
"Hah..."
Drawing the standard-issue spear he had selected before entering, Gwen exhaled a breath of stale air and calmed the surging blood and energy within his body.
Although the Valkyrie armor automatically provided during the assessment saved Gwen a great deal of effort, the relatively complex combat environment of a major Honkai eruption in the simulation, along with enemies that were either alone or clustered together, created a complicated battlefield that took considerable effort for Gwen, who had never been on a battlefield before, to adapt to.
After all, the first stage of the Gene Lock only granted combat instincts, not tactical experience such as battlefield analysis.
Fortunately, relying on his sufficiently high physical attributes and his use of Honkai Energy and his supernatural ability, Gwen had been somewhat flustered at first but quickly adapted. By now, he had eliminated every Deadwalker and Honkai Beast except for the final Temple-class Honkai Beast, using up one-third of the assessment time.
As long as Gwen could deal with the final Temple-class Honkai Beast within the remaining two-thirds of the allotted time, he would pass this assessment.
"There are still eighty minutes left. I'll rest for twenty minutes before dealing with it."
After checking the time, Gwen did not rush off to seek a decisive battle with the final Temple-class Honkai Beast. Instead, he found a relatively safe place to rest—
Though it was only an assessment simulation, Honkai Beasts would not stand alone in the final area of the map like game bosses, waiting to be killed. They roamed across the entire map.
So even resting required choosing the right location.
In the control room, Otto watched Gwen, who had already begun resting on the screen. He slipped his handheld console into his pocket and asked Yolandale beside him,
"Yolandale, having watched this far, what do you think of Gwen's performance?"
"He can barely be considered excellent."
Yolandale looked at the various data displayed beside the screen and answered without turning around.
"At the start, he was extremely unfamiliar with the more complex combat environment, and there were some problems with his tactics. That counts as a deduction.
However, after one encounter battle, Gwen quickly adjusted his tactics. He was able to make full use of the environment and leverage his high mobility to divide and defeat his enemies. His ability to adapt to circumstances is a plus.
During combat, Gwen's use of Honkai Energy also far exceeded the standard expected of an A-rank Knight. It was enough to call excellent.
At least based on this data, Gwen should have no problem passing this assessment. Afterward, he should also be able to carry out some solo missions.
However, considering the amount of time Gwen has spent studying and his initial tactical issues, he will still need quite a long period of study and training before he can lead a squad into battle."
"Mm... then it seems there's no problem."
Otto nodded, then asked Choukai, who was likewise staring at the data and occasionally swiping her fingers across the terminal in her hand,
"Choukai, do you see any problems on your end?"
"None. So far, everything is normal."
Choukai answered,
"At least, the current combat intensity is not enough to make that situation happen to Gwen again."
"That situation?"
Hearing Choukai's words, Yolandale cast her a puzzled look.
"About two months ago, Gwen single-handedly and barehandedly destroyed all the missiles Anti-Entropy had used in a surprise attack. He even destroyed the enemy's predetermined position in return, but he immediately fell unconscious afterward. When he woke up, he was already in a nutrient pod."
Understanding that Yolandale's presence here meant certain matters did not need to be kept secret from her, Choukai answered.
"Although it sounds like he unleashed an astonishing amount of power, considering what happened afterward, isn't that something not worth looking forward to?"
Yolandale asked in confusion.
As a warrior who fought on the front lines, Yolandale naturally understood how precious strength was. Yet she also understood that falling unconscious on the battlefield was no different from dying.
Even if that power were to be used, it should be when one was facing a life-or-death crisis, not during an assessment.
"It isn't quite as you imagine—"
Otto explained,
"When the doctors examined him, Gwen's body had already completed its self-recovery. He was merely suffering from an extreme lack of energy.
So we speculated that if he had enough energy replenishment, could Gwen enter that state with virtually no side effects?"
"Is that so?"
Yolandale revealed a thoughtful expression upon hearing that, but she still said,
"If you want to test that hypothesis, you should discuss it with Gwen himself first, right?"
"Haha, of course, my little Yolandale."
Otto laughed as though he could not help himself.
"Schicksal isn't some heartless organization. All experiments must, of course, follow the principles of voluntariness and informed consent."
"Mm."
Yolandale nodded. Having received an answer, she turned her gaze back to Gwen on the screen.
Little Goose
After resting for more than ten minutes, Gwen ended his break with one hour remaining. Spear in hand, he left his hiding place and approached the Temple-class Honkai Beast wandering alone—
"Then... listen to your requiem..."
Looking at the massive boar-like creature before him, Gwen twisted his body and snapped his spear forward. He murmured softly, then transformed into a streak of silver light and charged out...
Although Gwen had heard the saying, "A month for the staff, a year for the saber, a lifetime for the spear," and knew that spears were not easy cold weapons to master, he had a Spark Gun hidden inside the Paraj Bracelet on his wrist. He could not give up a weapon that remained remarkably reliable even in Ultraman worlds full of absurd enemies.
Moreover, with the combat instincts granted by the first stage of the Gene Lock, Gwen's initial learning phase had gone quite smoothly.
So, although he guessed it might become a huge pitfall in the future, Gwen still chose the spear as his weapon.
And Gwen's battle with the Temple-class Honkai Beast unfolded exactly as everyone in the control room had expected—
Speed far beyond what the Temple-class Honkai Beast could handle, masterful use of Honkai Energy, and the decisiveness granted by combat instinct allowed Gwen to suppress the Temple-class Honkai Beast throughout the fight. Finally, Gwen hurled the spear in his hand, driving it into the Temple-class Honkai Beast's core. Its massive holy body finally crashed to the ground.
"Hah..."
Exhaling a breath of stale air and feeling the little energy left in his body, Gwen moved around a little and activated his supernatural ability, summoning back the spear embedded in the Temple-class Honkai Beast's body—
During the days he had spent in Kozukuri Town, Taro had warmly welcomed Gwen's arrival as a fresh fighting force. As an instructor from the Land of Light, Taro had never refused Gwen's requests for guidance. Not only had he pointed out many of Gwen's flaws in hand-to-hand combat, but he had also taught him how to use Ultra Telekinesis. It was precisely through the inspiration of the Ultra Telekinesis taught by Taro that Gwen had finally developed his own supernatural ability and truly put the skills built into the Blue and White Summoner into practice.
Controlling a disarmed weapon and calling it back to his hand was merely one application of telekinesis.
A moment later, the option to exit appeared before Gwen. Without hesitation, he directly selected "Yes."
His consciousness blurred for a moment. When Gwen opened his eyes again, he had already returned to the simulation pod.
Otto personally helped Gwen out of the simulation pod and said with a smile,
"Congratulations, Gwen. You passed the assessment smoothly and have officially become an A-rank Knight of Schicksal."
Regarding what Schicksal's male combat personnel should be called as a profession, Gwen had initially asked Choukai.
However, Choukai had merely spread her hands at the question.
"I don't know."
The next day, Gwen asked Yolandale while training with her. Only then did he get the answer from Rita, who had happened to bring Yolandale breakfast and had also brought Gwen a portion.
"A century ago, when humanity's technology was far less advanced than it is today and the Honkai was far less powerful, fighting the Honkai did not demand such high Honkai Energy resistance.
Because technology at the time was limited and equipment manufacturing was quite underdeveloped, women's advantage in Honkai Energy resistance was not yet obvious. Other than a small number of Valkyries who could wield powerful combat capabilities through equipment excavated from the Previous Civilization, the front lines against the Honkai were mostly manned by male warriors.
In Old Schicksal five hundred years ago, there were even armed knightly orders led by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Though New Schicksal strongly advocated developing technology and training Valkyries under the Bishop's leadership, it was still constrained by the era and continued using the knightly order structure.
It was only in modern times, as fighting the Honkai demanded increasingly high Honkai Energy resistance, that male-dominated units gradually withdrew from the front lines against the Honkai.
However, if Mr. Gwen is willing to join Schicksal, I believe the Bishop would not mind restoring the title of Knight."
Therefore, hearing Otto's form of address now, Gwen accepted it calmly and smiled.
"That is also thanks to Schicksal's combat simulation room. If I had not fought it more than once already, I would have found it difficult to pass the assessment so smoothly."
"Hehe, humility is a virtue, but excessive humility is not advisable."
Otto patted Gwen on the shoulder and smiled.
"The combat simulation room is ultimately only a training room that lets you become more familiar with enemies. The one who truly passes the assessment is still the person themselves."
"The Bishop is right. If you had not trained hard yourself, you would not have been able to pass the assessment smoothly. So stop being so modest, Gwen."
Yolandale also chimed in at this moment.
But as she spoke, the straightforward blonde girl planted her hands on her hips and said seriously,
"However, do not become complacent because of this.
A-rank is far from the end. You cannot neglect the training you should be doing."
"Yes, yes, yes, my instructor!"
Gwen held back a laugh and raised his hands, indicating that he would absolutely not neglect his training because of this.
However, upon hearing Gwen's form of address, Yolandale, who had been so confident just moments ago, became somewhat flustered.
"Eh?
Instructor? I'm not qualified to be one..."
"Haha, all right. You young people can keep chatting. I have things to do, so I'll be leaving first.
Amber will send someone to deliver everything an A-rank Knight should receive later."
Seeing Yolandale's flustered appearance, Otto chuckled twice. Leaving behind those words as Yolandale grew even more awkward, he turned and left with Amber.
"Mm, you two chat first. I still have some work to do in my laboratory."
Seeing this, Choukai stretched and turned to leave.
"Gwen, remember to bring me lunch when you come back at noon."
"Don't worry. I won't let you starve."
That was all Gwen could say to Choukai, who had almost no reserve left after becoming familiar with him.
"Then, let's go train."
At this moment, with the heat on her face fading somewhat, Yolandale saw that it seemed to be about to become her turn. Without waiting for Gwen to speak, she said:
Before you continue