The next day, 9:00 AM. In the coastal waters off Sapphire City.
Shu and Bianka hovered face-to-face above the surface of the ocean. Shu glanced back at the distant coastline before finally coming to a halt.
Bianka slammed on the brakes as well, coming to a stop directly opposite him.
The two maintained relative stillness before slowly widening the distance between them until they were exactly five meters apart.
Bianka could fly now. During the recent battles, she had basically been forced to learn how to fly out of sheer necessity.
However, flight was one of the very few ways she actually knew how to utilize the power of [Wish].
In Shu's hands, [Wish] was an absolute cheat code. Yet, in Bianka's hands, its application was incredibly crude. Aside from basic utility and minor support functions, she had absolutely no idea how to properly wield it.
But that couldn't be helped.
Bianka knew perfectly well that [Wish] was an incredibly miraculous and powerful ability. Otherwise, how had Shu managed to dismantle so many terrifying enemies and literal Divine Keys with his bare hands?
Moreover, during that "selection test" gang-beatdown, Bianka and Kiana had faced Shu's overwhelming pressure head-on. Back then, Shu was like a hundred-ton runaway freight train—completely unstoppable. He kept yelling something about "it's not easy being me" while effortlessly punting both her and Kiana across the battlefield.
In terms of raw physical strength alone, Kiana (in her fully powered state) was actually roughly on par with Shu, perhaps even slightly superior.
When the two exchanged punches with absolutely no evasion, Kiana technically had the upper hand.
But Shu only gave Kiana the opportunity to trade one punch. Aside from raw power, Kiana was glaringly deficient in every other category.
If Bianka hadn't been there to barely keep up with Shu's endless bag of tricks, Kiana probably would have been kited into oblivion and eliminated from the fight.
Even in a two-on-one scenario, with their abilities perfectly complementing each other, Shu had effortlessly manipulated the pace of the battle. It was only when they burned through absolutely everything they had that they barely managed to force Shu to reveal his trump card.
It was precisely because she had witnessed Shu's true power firsthand that Bianka realized just how badly she was squandering the potential of [Wish].
As for the theory that Shu was inherently overpowered and [Wish] was just along for the ride?
Absolute nonsense! It was clearly a perfect match! A match made in heaven!
It definitely wasn't just Shu using brute force to smash through all his problems while carrying [Wish] on his back to the top of the world!
The ocean breeze blew in from the open sea, carrying the salty tang of the water and the lingering chill of the early morning.
Today, Shu was here to tutor Bianka.
There was simply no instructor at St. Freya who could teach her. Theresa couldn't do it, and neither could Joachim.
The only things those two could teach were tactical maneuvers—which Bianka's brain couldn't process—or close-quarters combat techniques—which Bianka didn't need to learn.
When you can punch someone a kilometer away or tackle straight through a mountain without taking a scratch, what's the point of learning standard martial arts?
Are you supposed to use the godlike strength capable of vaporizing an enemy to... lightly toss them a few meters and hope they break their neck on the landing?
The logic of high-tier combat was fundamentally different from low-tier combat. In a low-tier setting, fighters might have to adhere to specific forms, rigid martial arts routines, and compete over whose techniques were more refined or whose cultivation method was superior.
But high-tier combat?
The moment you lock eyes, hundreds of mathematically optimized, lethal "solutions" are instantly jammed down your throat.
Forms? Techniques? Non-existent.
Unless it was a completely blind encounter where neither side knew anything about the other, no one would ever bust out a move that wasn't the absolute most optimal solution.
If I can't invent a customized fighting style specifically designed to hard-counter your entire existence within three moves, I don't deserve to be called a high-tier fighter.
From there, it devolved into infinite layers of counter-predicting, aggressively dismantling the opponent's "solutions" until, eventually, it ultimately boiled down to a contest of raw stats.
Which inevitably led to a question.
"So, does that mean at our level, combat stats don't actually matter?" Bianka asked innocently, raising her hand high.
Shu shook his head.
"Definitely not. It's true that 'technique' doesn't hold as much weight for us, because pure technique rarely decides the final outcome.
"But to put it another way: technique is the absolute minimum prerequisite. Only by mastering the most extreme, pinnacle techniques do you even qualify to step onto the battlefield. Only then do you earn the right to not be treated as a casual speed bump by opponents of the same tier.
"When you and Kiana teamed up against me, didn't you feel it? Even when you went all out, you couldn't even touch me. The only time your attacks actually landed was when you relied on sudden flashes of inspiration and unorthodox maneuvers."
Bianka's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
"Yes! That's exactly what it felt like! All of our calculated, step-by-step attacks and coordinated maneuvers were completely useless. The only time we managed to do anything was when I literally had no idea what I was doing myself..."
Shu: "...?"
Wait, so those hits only landed because you were fighting entirely on pure, unga-bunga instinct?
Hold on, does that mean Kiana was also...
Shu suddenly felt a headache coming on.
He remembered that during that fight, Bianka had primarily been playing a supportive role for Kiana, and her personal damage output was far lower than Kiana's.
He had genuinely thought Kiana's rich combat experience had allowed her to seamlessly guide a complete rookie into effectively pressuring him.
Turns out it was just two meatheads activating their "Ork Logic"?!
Rubbing his temples, Shu quickly let it go with a wry smile.
Whatever. It wasn't just "unorthodox maneuvers"—it was top-tier combat intuition, something he had personally validated the hard way.
For two people to team up for the very first time, unleash their full power, and actually manage to make him suffer a loss? If that wasn't pure talent, what was?
"Exactly. And that is what I am going to teach you today.
"However, I'm not worried about your ability to improvise. Your combat IQ and adaptability are both excellent. The only issue is that you haven't truly mastered your own power.
"Take yesterday's fight against the construct, for example. When your hand was trapped in the wall, you instantly made the decision to sever your own limb to break free. That proves your talent.
"But because you aren't familiar with your own power, you were forced to resort to that decision. That is where you fall short.
"Therefore, today—and for all our subsequent classes—we only have one singular objective." Shu raised his hand, conjuring a sphere of prismatic, iridescent light.
"To help you completely master the power of [Wish]."
Bianka pressed her lips together and gave a firm, determined nod.
Shu smiled. He closed his hand, instantly snuffing out the prismatic light.
"Excellent. Then let's start by discussing what exactly [Wish] is."
Bianka's face immediately fell.
Why is there a lecture portion?! She thought Shu was just going to fast-forward straight to the part where he taught her how to punch things harder using [Wish].
Despite her internal groaning, Bianka forced herself to pay absolute attention, her ears practically perking up as she listened intently.
"First and foremost, [Wish] is not Honkai Energy. In fact, strictly speaking, [Wish] isn't even a form of energy at all." Shu pointed a finger, summoning a tiny, brilliant mote of golden light.
The next second, the speck of light began to shift and transform continuously before her eyes.
It stretched into an infinitely long line of light, then flattened into a small, luminous plane, before finally gaining volume and rapidly morphing into various three-dimensional geometric shapes.
With a final wave of his hand, Shu dispelled the light entirely.
"If you imagine the Honkai Energy I channel as the raw fuel and materials, and my Authority as the engine or the furnace...
"Then [Wish] is the mold that dictates the final shape of the manifestation."