Thanks for the invite, I'm in Honkai, leveling up stats

Chapter 32: Facing Reality, Staying Grounded

Before Gwen could even think of an answer, the greatsword before him slowly dissolved into white light and vanished.

Realizing what had happened, Gwen quickly closed his eyes, following the instructions he had learned.

When Gwen opened his eyes again, he was back in the room where he had just chosen his enemy.

At this moment, the large screen in front of Gwen displayed his recent training record.

Upon carefully examining the training record provided by the system, Gwen saw, as expected, a description of him strengthening his weapon with Honkai energy, which answered the question in his heart.

"So, it wasn't that the death soldier's body was too fragile, but rather that the strengthened greatsword's power was too high for a normal death soldier?"

With his question answered, Gwen recalled the feeling he had just experienced and started another simulation. His opponent was still a Scythe Soldier—

Although Gwen had instantly killed it just now, it didn't mean there was a vast difference in their capabilities.

On the contrary, the gap in their pure, raw strength wasn't that large; each had their advantages and disadvantages.

The reason Gwen could instantly kill the Scythe Soldier was largely due to exploiting its slow attack wind-up. He had used speed to overcome its lack of agility.

In other words, Gwen could still gain a lot of experience from this most common type of Scythe Soldier—

Soon, the scene replayed. The Scythe Soldier, charging rapidly, swung its scythe down with a sharp gust of wind.

This time, instead of attacking its wide-open center with speed, Gwen sought the feeling of strengthening his greatsword and blocked with his sword held horizontally.

The moment the scythe and greatsword collided, an almost irresistible force slammed Gwen to his knees. The immense ringing sound temporarily deafened him, and his brain felt dull and heavy.

His powerful blow blocked, the Scythe Soldier didn't pause. It twisted its wrist and exerted force, attempting to pull its scythe back.

As the Scythe Soldier moved, its large scythe blade rotated. The blade that had just been swung down vertically now swept horizontally, as if intending to hook Gwen's greatsword away.

Furthermore, the tip of the gleaming scythe blade was aimed directly at Gwen's neck.

Although he couldn't see the scythe blade behind him, Gwen felt a chill at the back of his neck and instinctively ducked to dodge. His greatsword simultaneously swung down towards the Scythe Soldier.

However, this time, the Scythe Soldier didn't get dismembered by Gwen like before. Instead, it easily dodged with speed far exceeding that of an ordinary person.

Retracting its scythe, the Scythe Soldier didn't pause. It raised its scythe again and swung it at Gwen.

Gwen's hands were still somewhat numb. He didn't attempt to block head-on again. As the scythe swung down, he swung his greatsword, striking the sharp scythe blade, trying to deflect it like Xing Tian's Cloud Sword in his memory.

However, it was ultimately a move he had only seen on screen, not a technique he had personally learned. Gwen felt a tremendous force transmitted, and while it didn't cause him to drop his greatsword, it also didn't allow him to successfully deflect the scythe.

His micro-control failed. Fearing the Scythe Soldier might unleash a surprise move recorded in the data, Gwen instinctively swung his greatsword downwards, forcing the Scythe Soldier back. He also took two steps back to adjust his stance.

After being forced back by Gwen, the Scythe Soldier didn't relentlessly attack like a mad dog. Instead, it slowly circled Gwen, dragging its scythe.

Although its movements were slow and lacked the previous swiftness, the pressure it exerted on Gwen was even greater.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Gwen struggled to regulate his breathing, his eyes fixed on the Scythe Soldier's movements, ready to face its next attack.

After the failure with the Cloud Sword, Gwen had also abandoned his somewhat unrealistic ideas—

"I should focus on exploiting its weaknesses and finding openings. As for techniques... I'll use them once I've learned them properly..."

Following this thought, Gwen quickly found an opening in the second exchange, exploiting the Scythe Soldier's slightly slower attack wind-up compared to its swift movements, and defeated it.

With a blink, Gwen was back in the control room.

This time, Gwen didn't immediately restart. He carefully read the training record and thoroughly reviewed the battle he had just fought before starting the third simulation.

Although Destiny, which was relatively short-handed, didn't have the resources to provide one-on-one guidance to every student, the training records provided by the virtual training room were sufficient until combat skills reached an extremely high level.

This system, built with information contributed by a certain unremarkable A-rank Valkyrie who wished to remain anonymous, not only provided Gwen with detailed training records but also sent them to a Destiny Archbishop who was monitoring the area with the highest authority.

"Possessing the keen combat intuition to defeat a Guard Death on the first try, and the desire to develop techniques—this child is truly outstanding, Otto..."

Looking at the training records transmitted by the system, Void Archives spoke with a hint of admiration.

"Isn't that only natural?"

Otto's lips curved slightly, and he continued to remotely monitor Gwen's training.

However, deep within Otto's eyes, a hint of deep worry was hidden—

While Otto was indeed pleased with Gwen's combat talent, his attempt to develop techniques during his second battle with the Guard Death had triggered some unpleasant memories for Otto.

Five hundred years ago, a young Otto Apocalypse was equally confident, but he ultimately made a grave mistake due to his confidence, or rather, his foolishness.

If Gwen showed such a tendency, Otto would need to prepare to teach Gwen a good lesson.

Fortunately, in the subsequent training records, Gwen did not make any more dangerous attempts. He simply continued to fight the Guard Death using the most basic combat techniques, honing his combat intuition, and at most, gradually increasing the number of enemies.

"Hoo...

It seems his father raised him with excellent character..."

Not witnessing the situation he had worried about, Otto breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely thanked his father, whom he had never met.

Outside the virtual training room that Gwen was using, Anna, who couldn't directly view the combat records like Otto, paced nervously.

"Hoo..."

Realizing she was being too anxious, Anna let out a breath of stale air, sat down on a chair, and looked at the green light indicating the user was safe, trying to calm herself down.

However, her legs, now appearing even more slender and long, encased in pure white stockings, trembled slightly despite her calm expression, betraying Anna's inner turmoil.

Time trickled by, and just as Anna sat back down for the fourth time, the training room door slowly creaked open.

"Gwen!"

Anna, who had just sat down, sprang from her chair and rushed to Gwen's side as he slowly emerged. She steadied his somewhat stiff body, her pretty face filled with concern.

"How are you?

Was the training smooth?

Did you run into any problems?"

Chapter 33: Anna: Immense Pressure

"Anna?"

Gwen, who thought Anna had gone to her own training after he started, smiled slightly at the barrage of questions from the girl.

"Don't worry, the training went smoothly.

Mere Honkai Beasts are nothing to worry about!"

"Liar!"

Seeing that Gwen's emotions were stable and he even had the mood to joke with her, Anna immediately felt relieved.

However, as an active B-rank Valkyrie, Anna quickly noticed something unusual about Gwen, her pretty face turning serious.

"If the training was normal, why does your body show symptoms of phantom pain that clearly indicate an injury sustained during virtual training?"

As she spoke, Anna reached out and poked Gwen's side, which was twitching unnaturally beneath his clothes.

"There was a small mistake..."

Gwen's smile turned a bit awkward at her words, but he explained as if nothing had happened.

"A single Honkai Beast was too easy, so I chose multiple enemies and accidentally got a little injured. But I still managed to eliminate the last few."

"You chose higher-level enemies?"

Hearing Gwen's nonchalant explanation, Anna, who had just helped Gwen sit down, raised her eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips, looking down at Gwen with a displeased tone.

"Of course not."

Understanding that Anna was upset, Gwen shook his head decisively.

"I promised you, Anna, that I wouldn't engage enemies stronger than Honkai Beasts. Of course, I wouldn't break my promise."

"Mmm...

Good boy..."

Hearing this, Anna's tense little face relaxed. She smiled and patted Gwen's head.

"Anna, I'm just shorter, not a real child. Don't keep patting my head. Be careful, when I grow up, I'll rub your little head every day."

"Hehehe~"

Anna completely ignored Gwen's threat, her smile filled with a hint of smugness.

"We'll see about that when you've grown up..."

Saying that, Anna withdrew her mischievous little hands and handed Gwen the energy drink she had prepared while he was training.

Ignoring Gwen's helpless expression, Anna, with a beaming smile, turned and walked away. She retrieved the authentication card Gwen had inserted when entering the virtual training room and casually picked up the report that had just finished printing.

Although she wanted to help Gwen alleviate the phantom pain from his virtual training injuries, Anna, knowing that such sensations were beneficial for Gwen's growth, suppressed her impulse and began reading Gwen's training report.

Looking at Gwen's almost effortless performance against the Honkai Beasts in the report, Anna couldn't help but be a little surprised, even though she had expected it.

Anna remembered that she had been quite nervous the first time she faced Honkai Beasts in the virtual training room and had to exert considerable effort to defeat them.

Anna's red lips parted slightly, and she bit down on her lips, which felt inexplicably dry. She continued to flip through the rest of the report.

Anna thought she had become accustomed to the surprises Gwen brought, but upon seeing the descriptions in the later part of the report, her tightly pursed lips couldn't help but part slightly.

"Honkai Monsters?"

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar description in the report, Anna blinked, a hint of confusion flashing across her pretty face. After a moment of thought, a look of realization dawned in her pink eyes.

However, even though she had guessed the answer, Anna still took the report and sat beside Gwen, pointing at it and asking.

"Gwen, the Honkai Monsters you chose here... do you mean the beasts that were corrupted and mutated by the Honkai in history?"

Honkai Monsters, in a broad sense, refers to all enemies related to the Honkai. However, in a narrow sense, it can also specifically refer to the monsters that originated from beasts corrupted by Honkai energy in the early days, before the Honkai produced standardized monsters like Honkai Beasts.

"Clever, just as expected of Teacher Anna..."

Gwen deliberately emphasized the word "Teacher," earning a glare from Anna. His smile slightly faded, and he said seriously, "Although in the system's rating, Honkai Beasts are of higher quality and more dangerous than those Honkai Monsters, it doesn't mean they are useless—

At my current stage, where I haven't started practicing any techniques, the virtual training room is mostly for training my reaction speed and adaptability.

While Honkai Beasts are stronger than those mutated beasts, they are not as... varied as the latter.

For me now, the latter offers greater improvement."

"Indeed..."

Listening to Gwen, who was a head shorter than her, speak eloquently, Anna didn't pat his head in annoyance this time. Instead, after a moment's thought, she nodded slightly:

"While the Death Corps are generally stronger, their attack patterns are relatively limited. Once you get used to them, they're not very useful for training anymore.

In comparison, those beasts are much more suitable for training our on-the-spot reaction skills."

As she spoke, a smile of encouragement appeared on Anna's pretty face.

"To realize this on your first time using the virtual training room... I guess I should expect no less from you, Gwen?"

"Mhm?"

Gwen shrugged with a smile.

"Isn't it all thanks to my great teaching, Instructor Anna?"

"Oh, please. I know exactly how much I've taught you, and what you've figured out has nothing to do with me."

Although Anna felt a surge of joy in her heart at his words, she still shook her head slightly.

While teaching smart students was very reassuring, facing a student as talented as Gwen also gave Anna a sense of urgency as an instructor.

She let out a soft sigh, pushing away the sudden sense of urgency that had surfaced in her heart. Anna tidied the report in her hands and said, "Gwen, you should rest a bit longer. I'll go tell Bianca and Rita the news."

"Yeah, even though they're out on a mission today, they taught me a lot these past two weeks. I should tell them so they can be happy too."