Face Reality and Keep Your Feet on the Ground / Anna: The Pressure Is Intense

Facing Reality, Keeping His Feet on the Ground

Before Gwen could think of an answer, the greatsword before his eyes slowly dissolved into white light.

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

When Gwen opened his eyes again, he had returned to the room where he had just selected his opponent.

The large screen before him now displayed the record of his previous training session.

Carefully examining the training record provided by the system, Gwen unsurprisingly saw the description of himself reinforcing his weapon with Honkai Energy, and the question in his heart was answered.

"So it wasn't that the Death Soldier's body was too fragile. The reinforced greatsword was simply too powerful for an ordinary Death Soldier?"

Having found the answer, Gwen recalled the feeling from before as he activated the simulation once more. His training target was still a Scythe Soldier—

Although Gwen had instantly killed it just now, that did not mean there was a world of difference between them.

On the contrary, the gap in their raw strength was not great, and each had their own advantages.

The main reason Gwen had been able to kill the Scythe Soldier in a single blow was that he had seized the flaw in its overly long windup and used speed to overwhelm slowness.

In other words, Gwen could still gain plenty of experience from this most ordinary Scythe Soldier—

Soon, the scene reappeared. The scythe in the charging Guard Death's hand came crashing down with a fierce gust of wind.

This time, rather than using speed to strike at his opponent's wide-open centerline, Gwen searched for the feeling of reinforcing his greatsword from before and raised his blade horizontally to block.

The instant the scythe collided with the greatsword, an almost irresistible force smashed Gwen to one knee. The enormous ringing left him temporarily deaf, and his mind felt heavy and muddled.

With its powerful strike blocked, the Guard Death did not pause in the slightest. It twisted its wrist and suddenly pulled, trying to yank its scythe back.

As the Guard Death moved, the massive scythe blade turned from its vertical chop to a horizontal sweep, as though it intended to hook Gwen's greatsword away in one motion.

The gleaming tip of the scythe was aimed directly at Gwen's neck.

Though he could not see the blade behind him, Gwen instinctively ducked at the chill against the back of his neck, bringing his greatsword down toward the Guard Death as he did so.

This time, however, the Guard Death was not cleaved apart as easily as before. With speed beyond that of an ordinary person, it effortlessly dodged aside.

Retracting its scythe, the Guard Death did not stop. It raised the weapon again and chopped toward Gwen.

With both hands still somewhat numb, Gwen did not try to take the blow head-on again. The moment the scythe came down, he swung his greatsword at its sharp blade, attempting to knock it aside with Xing Tian's Cloud Sword from his memories.

However, it was ultimately only a move he had seen through a screen, not a technique he had personally learned. Gwen felt a huge force travel through his arms. Though it did not knock the greatsword from his hands, neither did it successfully deflect the scythe.

With his fine control having failed, Gwen feared that the Guard Death before him might pull off some unpredictable move recorded in the system. He brought his greatsword down in a follow-up slash, forcing the Guard Death back, then retreated two steps himself to readjust.

After being driven back by Gwen, the Guard Death did not lunge at him like a rabid dog. Instead, it dragged its scythe as it slowly circled him.

Though its movements were slower and no longer as swift as before, the pressure it put on Gwen was even greater.

"Ha... ha..."

Working hard to regulate his breathing, Gwen kept his eyes fixed on the Guard Death's movements, ready at any moment for its next attack.

After failing with Cloud Sword just now, Gwen also abandoned his somewhat unrealistic idea—

Better to exploit its weaknesses and find openings first. As for techniques... I'll use them after I've learned them properly...

Following that line of thought, Gwen quickly seized the Guard Death's relatively slow attack windup amid its swift movements during their second exchange and finished it off.

With one blink, Gwen returned to the control room once again.

This time, Gwen did not immediately restart. He carefully read the training record and seriously reviewed the battle before starting the third simulation.

Though Schicksal was relatively short on manpower and could not provide one-on-one guidance to every trainee, the training records provided by the virtual training room were sufficient until one reached an extremely advanced level in combat technique.

As this system, whose database had been built with the participation of a certain ordinary, unremarkable A-rank Valkyrie who wished to remain anonymous, provided Gwen with a detailed training record, it also sent that record to Schicksal's Overseer, who was watching through the highest level of authority.

"He has the sharp combat instincts to kill a Guard Death on his first encounter, and he even has ideas about developing techniques. This child is truly outstanding, Otto..."

Looking at the training record returned by the system, Void Archives spoke with a hint of amazement in its voice.

"Isn't that only natural?"

Otto's lips curved slightly as he continued watching Gwen's training from afar.

Yet deep in Otto's eyes, there was a trace of profound concern—

Gwen's talent in combat certainly pleased Otto, but the fact that he had begun trying to develop techniques during only his second battle against a Guard Death stirred up some unpleasant memories.

Five hundred years ago, the young Otto Apocalypse had been equally full of confidence, yet in the end, he had committed a grave mistake because of that confidence—or rather, his foolishness.

If Gwen showed such tendencies, Otto would need to prepare a proper lesson for him.

Fortunately, in the subsequent training records, Gwen did not make any more dangerous attempts. He simply continued fighting Guard Deaths with the most basic combat techniques, honing his combat instincts. At most, he gradually increased the number of enemies.

"Whew...

It seems his father raised him well..."

Not seeing what he had feared, Otto quietly breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely thanked the version of himself whom he had never met.

Outside the virtual training room Gwen was using, Anna had no way to directly view the battle records as Otto did, so she could only pace back and forth uneasily.

"Whew..."

Realizing that she was being overly anxious, Anna let out a soft breath and sat down in a chair. Watching the green light that indicated the user was safe and sound, she tried to calm herself.

Yet although her expression had settled, her slender, long legs wrapped in pure white stockings trembled faintly on their own, revealing Anna's unsettled heart.

Time passed bit by bit. Just as Anna sat back down for the fourth time, the training room door finally slowly opened.

"Gwen!"

Anna, who had just taken her seat, sprang from her chair and rushed to Gwen's side in two steps. Supporting his somewhat stiff body as he slowly walked out, her pretty face was full of concern.

"How are you?

Did the training go smoothly?

Did you run into any problems?"

Anna: Overwhelming Pressure

"Anna?"

Thinking Anna had gone off to train herself after he started, Gwen smiled faintly at the girl's barrage of questions.

"Don't worry, the training went smoothly.

A few Death Soldiers are nothing worth mentioning!"

"You're lying!"

Seeing that Gwen was emotionally stable and even in the mood to joke with her, Anna immediately relaxed.

However, as an active B-rank Valkyrie, Anna swiftly noticed the abnormality in Gwen's condition. A serious expression appeared on her pretty face.

"If everything in training went normally, why is your body showing obvious symptoms of lingering phantom pain from injuries sustained in the virtual training?"

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

"I made a tiny mistake..."

Hearing that, Gwen's smile became a little awkward, but he still explained as if nothing had happened.

"One Death Soldier was really too easy, so I chose multiple enemies. I got hurt a little by accident, but I still wiped those guys out in the end."

"You chose higher-level enemies?"

Hearing Gwen's casual explanation, Anna, who had just helped him sit down in a chair, raised her delicate brows. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at Gwen with an unfriendly tone.

"Of course not."

Understanding why Anna was angry, Gwen decisively shook his head.

"I promised you, Anna, that I wouldn't touch opponents above the level of Death Soldiers. Of course I wouldn't break that promise."

"Mm...

Good boy..."

Hearing that, Anna's tense little face softened. Smiling, she patted Gwen's head.

"Anna, I'm only a little shorter. I'm not actually a child. Stop patting my head all the time, or once I grow up, I'll rub your little head every day."

"Hehe~"

Anna paid no mind to Gwen's threat at all. Her smile gained a hint of smugness.

"Then wait until you grow up before saying that..."

As she spoke, Anna withdrew her mischievous little hand and stuffed the energy drink she had prepared while pacing around into Gwen's hands.

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

Though she wanted to help Gwen ease the phantom pain left behind by his virtual training injuries, Anna knew that the feeling was also beneficial to his growth. She suppressed the impulse in her heart and began reading Gwen's training report.

Watching Gwen cut through Death Soldiers like chopping vegetables in the report, Anna could not help being somewhat surprised, even though she had expected it—

Anna still remembered how nervous she had been when she first faced Death Soldiers in the virtual training room. It had taken quite a bit of effort for her to defeat them.

Anna's red lips parted slightly as she pressed her somewhat dry lips together and continued reading the later sections of the report.

Anna had thought she was already used to the surprises Gwen brought her and would no longer be shocked, but when she saw the descriptions that appeared later in the report, her tightly pressed lips still involuntarily parted—

"Honkai Monsters?"

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar term in the report, Anna blinked. Confusion flashed across her pretty face, and only after thinking for a moment did realization flash through her pink eyes.

Yet even though she had guessed the answer, Anna still carried the report over to sit beside Gwen and pointed at it as she asked.

"Gwen, these Honkai Monsters you selected... do you mean those beasts from history that were corrupted and mutated by Honkai?"

In the broad sense, Honkai Monsters referred to all enemies related to Honkai. In the narrow sense, however, it could specifically refer to the monsters created when Honkai Energy corrupted beasts in the early days, before Honkai had produced standardized monsters such as Death Soldiers.

"Smart. As expected of Instructor Anna..."

Deliberately stressing the word "Instructor," Gwen received an eye roll from Anna before his smile faded slightly and he said seriously.

"Although the system rates Death Soldiers as stronger and more dangerous than those Honkai Monsters, that doesn't mean the latter are useless—

Since I haven't started practicing any techniques yet, what I mostly train in the virtual training room is my reaction speed and ability to adapt on the spot.

Death Soldiers may be stronger than those mutated beasts, but they aren't as... unpredictable.

For me right now, the latter can offer greater improvement."

"Indeed..."

Listening to Gwen, who was more than a head shorter than her, speak so confidently, Anna did not rub his head again. After giving it some thought, she nodded slightly.

"Although Death Soldiers are generally stronger, their attack patterns are relatively simple. Once you become familiar with them, there isn't much point in using them for training.

By comparison, those beasts are more suitable for training one's ability to react to unexpected situations."

As she spoke, an encouraging smile appeared on Anna's pretty face.

"To realize that on your first time using the virtual training room, should I say that's just what I'd expect from you, Gwen?"

"Mm-hm?"

Gwen smiled and shrugged.

"Isn't it because our Instructor Anna taught me so well?"

"Forget it. I know exactly how much I taught you. You coming up with this has nothing to do with me."

Though Anna felt quite pleased by Gwen's words, she still shook her head slightly.

Teaching smart students was certainly easy, but when faced with a trainee as overwhelmingly gifted as Gwen, Anna could not help feeling a sense of urgency as an instructor.

Letting out a soft breath, Anna set aside the sudden sense of urgency in her heart and organized the report in her hands.

"Gwen, rest a little longer. I'll tell Bianca and Rita the news."

"Mm. Although they're out on a mission today, they've taught me a lot over the past half month. I should tell them too, so they can be happy."