For the current Leo Ash, what he undoubtedly lacked most was time...
—and a life-and-death crisis.
Yes, although Leo Ash was someone who feared death, for him right now, he really did need a 'life-and-death crisis' to strengthen himself.
The System's reward mechanism was, to put it bluntly, 'remind you when you're about to die and then give you something to protect yourself,' and 'give you a reward after you win, making you a bit stronger before the next danger.'
Compared to being helpless against future powerful enemies, Leo Ash felt that it was safer to face some manageable risks now and strengthen himself.
The grind now is for a better retirement later!
[Occasionally, this System wonders if you even know what you're thinking.]
[It's fine to fool your buddies, just don't fool yourself.]
Huh?
What are you talking about?
[What this System means is—now that you finally have some skills to protect yourself, the number of people in the Honkai world who might bear you ill will and can actually beat you can be counted on one hand.]
[This System thinks you can really relax a little. You don't need to be so wound up.]
If anyone else had said that, I probably would have been touched.
But if the one saying it is you...
So what's your idea of relaxing?
[Host, first let's confirm one thing. You are human, correct?]
Right on.
[Then, as a human in your adolescence, you should have an extremely strong instinct to procreate!]
[Look at the emo junior next door! The adoptive sister who cares for you from afar! The master who feels eternally guilty towards you! The classmate who adores you now and is trying to become stronger for you! The little sister next door who would even sacrifice her life to heal you, who might not be a loli in size but is one in age!]
[What are you hesitating for, right now—use your Abyss to heal their Flower! Let them feel love from both body and soul! GO!]
Listening to the System's words, an unsurprised Leo Ash propped his head up with his hand and stared silently at the wall before him without a word.
[Sigh, how dull.]
[Host, you're being really boring. Any of this System's other hosts, after gaining extraordinary power, would have started acting all high and mighty within a few days.]
[But you, not only do you not cause trouble, you act like an ascetic, waking up early to practice boxing and memorizing books at night—is this the kind of life a transmigrator should be living!?]
Well said—so where are my predecessors who don't sound like good people?
[Well, about that...]
I know the answer without you telling me—'Why do you think this System ended up with you,' right?
I'm begging you, you can only relax if you're qualified to relax.
The final battle that's supposed to be three years away might be shortened to one year. One year... one year is jack shit.
And at a time like this, you're telling me, 'Hey bro, it's time to go out, fall in love, and sleep with women'...
[Isn't this considering that if you kick the bucket in the future, at least you'll die with fewer regrets?]
So the future is still really dangerous, isn't it!
[What do you think? After all, you've already caught Otto's eye, and you just bullied World Serpent's executives.]
[When Kevin gets out, he'll beat you up one way or another, and Otto will mess with you for the sake of his plans.]
[You're already trapped in the vortex and can't escape, so you might as well—]
Might as well?
[Might as well be a Casanova before you die.]
This is bad. Even the System doesn't have faith in me.
No, I have to grind even harder.
[No, no, no, this System was just kidding—hey, don't you dare!]
Leo Ash, who already had a rough idea in mind, directly hit himself with Phantasmagoria and promptly flopped onto the bed.
Although the JK who had overused Phantasmagoria in the past had 'perished' on the spot after exhausting her power, she had been using the barrier on the people around her for an extended period, which led to the side effect of her own disappearance.
But Leo Ash was different from that girl. After implanting the Void Demon Stone Fragment into his body with the Implant skill, both the mana he needed to consume and the side effects he had to pay when using Phantasmagoria were significantly reduced.
In his mind, if he could use Phantasmagoria on himself, he might be able to achieve some more delicate operations.
With the enhancement of Precision Control, the now 'unconscious' Leo Ash could even feel the flow of mana within his body and the power emanating from the barrier swirling around him.
Leo Ash undoubtedly needed more time to get stronger, but since he couldn't accelerate time, he had to choose another path.
Phantasmagoria could hypnotize other living beings, thereby altering their perceptions and constructing a sufficiently real illusion.
And if Leo Ash combined Phantasmagoria with Precision Control to create a 'lucid dream' state, allowing himself, the dreamer, to remain conscious while asleep, then he might be able to gain more time within the dream.
Leo Ash didn't know what the time ratio between dream and reality was, but judging from the time he fought skeletons in a nightmare for three days and three nights only to wake up and find that only two hours had passed, the ratio should be quite large.
As he thought and wove the dream, in the next instant, Leo Ash finally regained his consciousness.
And then—Leo Ash saw a scene he could never forget.
"Holy crap! A runaway truck!"
In the instant he regained consciousness, he saw an out-of-control runaway truck hurtling towards him.
The current Leo Ash was clearly no longer the office worker he used to be. After a quick combat roll, Leo Ash easily dodged the truck.
Watching the truck crash directly into a wall, Leo Ash revealed a bitter smile.
During this busy period, he once thought he had forgotten the final moments of his previous life.
But now, this vehicle from his subconscious had once again confirmed one thing.
I really am terrified of death.
But then again, this is St. Freya High School. A runaway truck appearing here means my dream-weaving skills are still not quite up to par.
Within the dream, Leo Ash found that he could normally use the three special energies: Honkai Energy, Dimensional Energy, and mana.
He could even use the skills the System had given him as usual.
The only drawback was that, for now, he was the only person in this dream.
Oh, he specifically went to check the runaway truck—there was no driver inside; it was in a very eerie self-driving mode.
Without anyone else, Leo Ash could only practice his move proficiency and energy control by himself.
But for him, that was already enough.
In the training ground, Leo Ash, who had activated Mind Like Still Water, suddenly exhaled a breath.
Sigh, I still have other things to do when I wake up.
Although the System spouts a lot of nonsense every day, the hints mixed in with that nonsense are often useful.
'Look at the emo junior next door'—the person living next to me happens to be Kiana.
I arrived on the scene in time today and saved her from Stan. I also confirmed she was safe afterward; she only suffered some minor injuries.
Aside from the issues with her parents, her life so far should be considered smooth sailing.
So now, what exactly is the problem with Kiana?
...
Meanwhile, in Kiana's room
Inside Kiana's room, Stan, who had been working hard for a long time...
Alright, who had actually only been working for a few minutes, now felt that he was truly unlucky.
It wasn't that he thought there was anything wrong with defecting to Schicksal's side.
Although he was a powerhouse with the strength of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, he was essentially still a cat.
Jackal's reward, aside from the power granted by the body modification, was just enough specially-made cat food.
So when he attacked Gray Serpent at St. Freya High School earlier, he felt no psychological burden whatsoever.
It was all about eating cat food; what difference did it make where he ate it.
Although World Serpent had members stationed everywhere, what right did a clandestine organization have to compare itself to a major organization like Schicksal?
The reason Stan felt unlucky was purely because the girl beside him was giving him an increasingly strange feeling.
He had seen it before, a flash of golden light in the girl's eyes.
And in that instant, he had indeed felt the oppressive presence of a superior being over a subordinate.
But that feeling, how to put it...
If that feeling had been constant, Stan might have gradually gotten used to the pressure.
Cats are essentially the same as humans in some aspects—they get used to things very easily.
Pressure is no big deal once you're used to it.
But the problem was, the pressure emanating from this little girl was intermittent, constantly giving Stan the feeling that 'a bomb is about to explode and is becoming more and more unstable'.
If Stan weren't afraid that his actions might provoke the girl, he would have really wanted to turn tail and run.
And Kiana, lying on her bed, turned her head to look at the photograph placed on the bedside table, her mood suddenly plummeting.
After everyone's entrance exam was over, Himeko had actually gathered everyone together for a group photo of the entire dorm.
And in the photo, Leo Ash still maintained his usual, almost expressionless look, making it hard for people to understand what he was thinking.
In these thirty-odd days, Kiana didn't feel like she had gotten much stronger.
Even though she had new equipment, Stigmata, and her control over Honkai Energy had improved considerably, but...
—the gap between her and Leo Ash was truly growing wider and wider.
And that wasn't even the most terrifying thing for Kiana.
She hadn't forgotten the thought that had suddenly popped into her head a few hours ago, after Leo Ash had saved her.
[This young lady must kill him.]
In that instant, that thought had undoubtedly appeared in my mind.
I heard from Teacher Himeko before that Valkyries on the battlefield could at any moment turn into Honkai Zombies and Honkai Beasts due to severe Honkai Energy corruption.
After all, Honkai Energy is just that dangerous; it can't be helped.
So, after only a month of formally coming into contact with and utilizing Honkai Energy, am I already showing tendencies of becoming a Honkai Zombie?
Otherwise, there's no way to explain the thought that popped into my head earlier.
Senior has been protecting me all this time, and yet, for the sake of getting stronger, I had such an outrageous thought.
As a warrior of the Kaslana clan, I... I'm so pathetic.
Dad... why did he leave me?
He was clearly always working in the shadows to protect everyone, but every time there was a chance to see him, he chose to run away.
Did Dad want me to become strong on my own?
Or perhaps, has he already lost hope in me...
Even though she had made companions she could entrust her life to and met a person she could never forget, Kiana, now reunited with them, felt incredibly helpless.
Her worries were strange, and the words in her heart could not be shared with anyone else.
The girl who was supposed to be innocent and carefree now discovered to her dismay that even if she emptied her mind, she couldn't erase these worries one by one.
As time passed, Kiana gradually felt her consciousness begin to blur.
And Stan, beside her, immediately tensed up, getting ready to run at any moment.
This little girl... There's no mistaking it!
Stronger than an Emperor-class is only a Judgment-class... and a Herrscher!!!!
In this eerie atmosphere, Kiana's communicator suddenly rang.
Gazing groggily at the communicator, Kiana suddenly became a bit more clear-headed.
"This, this name is..."
"Lord Bishop Otto?"
After pressing the answer key, Kiana instantly saw a screen of light pop up from the communicator.
"Oh, you're still awake so late, Kiana."
On the screen, Otto looked at the girl before him and said with a smile.
"Looking at your current state... heh, what's wrong, are you unhappy?"
Even now, Kiana had not forgotten her father Siegfried's assessment of Lord Bishop Otto.
But faced with an elder who was showing her concern, Kiana's kind nature made it truly difficult to be wary of the man before her.
"It's nothing, Lord Bishop."
"Ha, it might not be my place to say this, but lying is not a good habit, Kiana."
Looking at Kiana's expression, Otto gently tapped the screen in front of him and said to her.
"The Far East Branch was attacked this time, and you must have encountered danger as well. Let me guess, are you feeling troubled right now because you lack power?"
"If that's the case... heh, I won't make any more wild guesses."
After saying this, Otto suddenly spoke to Kiana with great seriousness.
"Successor of the Kaslana clan, right now..."
"—do you desire the power to protect others?"