Invited, In Honkai, Leveling Stats

Gwen, who was showing his white undershirt and extending an invitation with a solemn expression, left everyone in silence, though some found their breathing quicken.

Perhaps to the elders, Gwen's words made sense and also saved face for everyone.

But to the younger generation, it was blatant provocation.

They usually handled multiple opponents with ease, so why was he boasting so much?

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Gwen didn't wait for them to make the first move. He stepped forward, as if exposing himself to all his weaknesses.

Facing Gwen, who seemed full of openings, Andrew exchanged a look with his brothers, nodded vigorously, and as Gwen approached, he suddenly struck. A fist the size of a sand pot came swinging towards Gwen.

At the same time, Andrew's two cousins also attacked Gwen, one with a stomp and the other with a sweep kick.

However, these attacks, which would have been enough to send someone to the hospital if they were anywhere else, landed on Gwen with dull thuds.

It was as if they weren't hitting someone wearing a light shirt, but were attacking the earth itself.

But regardless of the three brothers' reactions, their movements were like pressing a start button, causing the other restless youths to not want to be left out. With shouts, they charged at Gwen, who stood there unmoving.

Watching the youths quickly descend into a brawl, the elders, unable to intervene, could only sigh and retreat—

Based on Gwen's earlier words, he should be reasonable and measured.

Since that was the case, they might as well let the children learn about the disparity in the world.

And so, the once quiet hall instantly transformed into a battlefield for a group of young people brawling…

Chapter 71: Recognition and Respect

"I believe I have proven my qualifications."

Gently shaking his right hand, Gwen casually tidied his slightly wrinkled shirt and looked at the elders, who had retreated to the back the moment the brawl started. He calmly asked.

Gwen detected no malice from the elders; in fact, he could now feel a faint sense of goodwill and admiration.

Therefore, Gwen didn't suspect that these young people were incited by them.

Or rather, even if they were, it no longer mattered—

Now, in the hall, everyone except for a few elders was lying on the ground, too exhausted to even stand. Only Gwen, who wasn't even out of breath, stood leisurely amidst the crowd, a stark contrast to everyone else.

"You are a remarkable young man…"

Looking at Gwen's face, which inexplicably reminded him of someone, an elder sighed. His gaze swept over the fallen youths who were trying their best to hold back their cries, and he shook his head slightly, looking at another elder beside him.

"Third Brother, you and the others stay here to look after the children.

I'll take this child to the back to discuss some matters…"

"Alright!"

Upon hearing this, the elder, who was third in line among his generation, nodded and, along with the other elders, began checking the injuries of their fallen clansmen.

As for the elder, who was still full of vigor, he led Gwen into a small room behind the hall.

"Sigh…"

After observing Gwen for a long time, the elder still found him familiar but couldn't recall which of his unruly sons he resembled. He sighed and began, "Young man…"

The elder briefly introduced himself. He was of the same generation as the previous-previous head of the Caslana family. He was the eldest, and his cousin, who was the previous-previous head, was second in line.

After a few pleasantries, the elder got straight to the point, informing Gwen of matters that a patriarch should know—

As a knightly family of Destiny, the Caslana family had a consistently high fatality rate for its patriarchs.

Therefore, many secrets that should have been known only by the patriarch had to be entrusted to other family members who did not engage in combat, to ensure the continuity of these secrets.

Although Gwen's actions today had a somewhat authoritative air, the elder acknowledged Gwen's words—

The young people in the hall alone could not uphold the prestige of the Caslana family.

Only a genius like Gwen… or rather, a strong individual, could support the framework and honor of this knightly family, once one of Destiny's three major pillars.

Furthermore, although this elder wasn't as skilled in combat as his cousin, he had accumulated wisdom throughout his long life. He was also one of the few who recognized that the person most likely to have instigated Gwen's arrival was the current Grand Bishop of Destiny, whom the current Caslana family could not afford to offend.

Since Gwen's position within the Caslana family had already been implicitly accepted, the elder saw no point in withholding these so-called secrets.

As Gwen listened to the elder's leisurely narration, he, who had initially been somewhat indifferent and was only listening attentively out of respect for the elder, found himself gaining valuable insights and became even more focused.

An hour later, when the two returned to the hall, the young people and strong middle-aged men, who had been unable to stand after being defeated by Gwen, had all risen again. Their gazes towards Gwen were now filled with a complex mix of emotions.

However, before they could speak, Gwen spoke first:

"My apologies, everyone. To simplify matters as much as possible, I resorted to some rather crude methods. I hope you can forgive me.

Of course, if you are unwilling to accept this, you can simply pretend I don't exist.

After all, the Earth will continue to spin without any one of us, and life will go on even if there's one less person in your sight."

"…"

Faced with Gwen's sudden apology, everyone, with their words stuck in their throats, fell silent.

Suddenly, a chuckle echoed from the crowd. Gwen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a middle-aged man, who appeared more dapper than his peers, with a cleanly shaven jaw, looking at him with a smile—

"You're very good. More responsible than that brat Siegfried!"

The middle-aged man smiled and gave Gwen a thumbs-up before turning to leave.

The middle-aged man's words seemed to have started something. The other Caslana family members either approached Gwen with a calm expression and patted his shoulder, or nodded with a complicated expression before leaving the hall.

Finally, as the elder beside him left, Gwen was the only one remaining in the hall.

According to what the elder had told Gwen earlier, this hall and the manor originally belonged to the lineage of the family head and also served as the gathering place for the family.

After the previous family head's defection a few years ago, only its function remained.

Now that Gwen had taken on the responsibility of the family head, this manor automatically transferred to Gwen's name.

"..."

After watching the elder's figure disappear into the distance, Gwen returned to the hall. He looked at the magnificent building bathed in bright sunlight and let out a soft chuckle.

Undoubtedly, compared to a group of scheming individuals, interacting with these more straightforward people was much more pleasant.

"..."

In the Sea of Quantum, Kevin, who had witnessed everything, remained silent for a moment. However, hearing Gwen's laughter, he finally spoke.

"You may have earned their respect through your strength, but you haven't convinced them completely..."

"This is for the best."

Gwen shook his head dismissively.

"Although Otto values me highly right now, no one can say for sure whether I'll become Destiny's first S-rank knight or the next Siegfried. If they get too close to me, they might get implicated."

Gwen didn't try to hide his potential conflict with Otto from Kevin. After all, before the final Herrscher descended, Kevin would be a decent boss candidate. At the very least, Kevin could help boost Gwen's attributes a few levels later.

"..."

Hearing Gwen's words, Kevin fell silent again.

Although World Serpent could still contact Kevin while he was in the Sea of Quantum, it was quite difficult, so Kevin's understanding of Destiny, or rather Otto, was very limited, mostly superficial. However, in the few days since establishing contact with Gwen, Kevin had learned about another Otto from him.

Gwen, long accustomed to Kevin's silence outside of their training sessions, didn't mind. He casually took off his jacket and pulled out the key Amber had given him a few days ago from his pocket.

"If nothing unexpected happens, this key should be the key to that so-called secret vault..."

Recalling the secrets the elder had told him just now, Gwen muttered to himself and walked towards the location the elder had mentioned.

Chapter 72: Crystal Flower?

Although Gwen didn't have high expectations for the so-called secret vault, he was quite interested in "opening a blind box" to see the Caslana family's foundation. After all, while the world of Honkai Impact 3rd wasn't a casual fantasy setting, there was still the existence of the previous civilization. Destiny itself could even be considered to have started as an archaeology-based organization. Coupled with the precedent of the Apocalypse family 500 years ago, who kept Void Archives and guarded the black box without being able to utilize it, Gwen held a little hope of discovering something valuable in the Caslana family's secret vault...

Although it was highly likely that Otto had already taken anything valuable since the key ended up in his hands, there was always a chance, right?

With expectations he perhaps shouldn't have, Gwen found the location of the secret vault. He used the key in his hand to unlock the door and then put in considerable effort to push open the two heavy doors, which even two strong adults might struggle to open.

Upon opening the doors, Gwen was surprisingly not met with any dampness in this vault, which theoretically hadn't been opened in over a decade. During his conversation with the elder, Gwen had learned that the key to the vault had been lost by his cousin, the previous family head, and it hadn't been opened for over ten years, confirming Gwen's earlier thoughts.

However, despite being called a secret vault, this one was clearly built decades ago and had electric lights. As the switch was flipped, the previously dark vault was instantly illuminated. While it diminished the sense of exploration, it allowed Gwen to clearly see the items neatly arranged in various cabinets.

Gwen strolled among them, curiously examining the contents of the cabinets. As he had expected, most of them were of little value to him. However, some items did catch his attention.

Several broken swords were placed together. Judging by their hilts, they were clearly mass-produced industrial products, yet they exuded an aura of history from being weathered by time. Beside these broken swords, Gwen even found an intact, golden greatsword in a sword case, shining as if it were made of gold.

Looking at the golden sword, which gave him a strong sense of déjà vu, a startling thought suddenly surfaced in Gwen's mind. Could it be...

"This is the tenth Divine Key, the Key of Domination. Although its strength is somewhat lacking compared to other Divine Keys, it's sufficient for you now... if you can activate it."

Kevin's voice echoed in his mind, confirming Gwen's guess. However, considering that he had obtained the key from Otto, it was highly probable that this intact Key of Domination was not originally in the Caslana family's vault, but rather prepared for him by a certain unnamed Archbishop of Destiny.

With this thought, Gwen's expression became somewhat complex. Otto had been genuinely good to him so far, perhaps even exceptionally so. If Gwen hadn't known the plot, knowing that in this Archbishop's heart, everyone except Kallen was merely a pawn to be used and sacrificed, and that he himself was already one of them, soon to be involved in some plan, and that everything Otto had given him was just part of a "give to take" strategy, he would have been completely overwhelmed. As for the origin of the Key of Domination, Gwen had his suspicions...

It was highly likely that Otto dug this up from somewhere unknown when he was excavating treasures from Fu Hua's memories.

While Gwen speculated on how Otto had acquired this Key of Domination, he didn't rush to take it down—

Gwen hadn't activated his Hyper-Evolution Factor nor practiced the Tai Xu Sword Intent, so he wouldn't be able to use it for a while. He could just take it with him when he left later.

Gwen's gaze then shifted from the complete Key of Domination to the broken sword beside it—

"Since you recognize this as the Key of Domination, Kevin... did you leave these damaged Keys of Domination here?"

Kevin had not revealed his identity as a Pre-Civilization Pioneer to Gwen, and Gwen had no intention of exposing that he knew his identity, as if he were just treating him as an ordinary Caslana ancestor.

"……

Mm……"

After a moment of silence, Kevin, who was observing the broken swords with Gwen's gaze, responded in a low voice, "If you need them, feel free to take them..."

Although Kevin said this, Gwen, who could detect a rare emotional fluctuation in his cold voice, didn't really believe him—

"Could these be some of the Keys of Domination that Kevin brought back from the moon battlefield after they were broken by Qian Jie?"

While pondering the source of Kevin's emotional fluctuation, Gwen continued to explore the Caslana family's secret vault, wanting to see if there was anything else worth noting.

However, apart from the Key of Domination that Otto had deliberately left behind, there seemed to be nothing else in the vault that was worth Gwen "snatching up," until he discovered a box in a corner, not placed on a shelf but simply lying on the ground.