One week later.
By the time Su Yu and Kiana returned to the Inch Heart Dojo, the entire rear courtyard had been completely transformed.
The drafty, crumbling old warehouse had been reborn, thanks to the power of money, into a motion-capture base that radiated cutting-edge technology.
Green screens, wire rigs, and Su Yu's proprietary high-tech floating motion-capture orbs.
In a word: everything was ready.
To test the new mocap space — and to appease the System nagging incessantly in the back of his mind to hurry up and push the mission forward — Su Yu and Kiana wasted no time diving straight into motion-capture recording for the four Valkyrie armor sets they had designed earlier.
"System's up," Su Yu said, watching the monitor at the control console. "Let's warm up with a few basic moves — start with your standard gun-draw stance."
In the observer's seats, Lin Zhaoyu sat clutching an accounting ledger, expression grave.
Cheng Lingshuang was cross-legged on the floor, holding a bag of chips — but had completely forgotten to eat them.
And Ma Feima... the musclebound giant was hunched in a corner, his throat bobbing, a fine sheen of cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Kiana stood in the center of the floor, holding two replica handguns Su Yu had scrounged up on short notice.
They were Yellow River brand — seriously solid-feeling for their price. Plastic, of course — light as air, worlds apart from a real weapon in the hand.
But the moment her fingers wrapped around the grip — something deep inside her body woke up.
Her breathing slowed, naturally.
Her center of gravity dropped.
Feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Right hand on the gun, left hand cradling the base, muzzle angled toward the floor, gaze extended forward along the sights.
The foundational stance of Kaslana-style Gun Kata.
She had done this ten thousand times.
On St. Freya's training grounds. In the light and shadow of the virtual simulation rooms. On rubble-strewn battlefields swarming with Honkai Beasts.
There was no Honkai energy in her body anymore.
That familiar warmth, that sense of power always coiled and ready to erupt — it had long since vanished.
But the angle at which her arms rose, the precise pressure of her finger on the trigger, the way her eyes tracked a target —
None of that had left her.
It had been carved into her bones.
"Action!"
At Su Yu's command, Kiana didn't consciously break the movement down into parts.
She simply — moved.
Toes pushing off the floor, body launching into the air. Her waist drove the rotation of her torso, white hair fanning out in a wide arc.
Both arms crossed at the apex, muzzles pointing in two opposite directions.
Landing. Single knee on the ground, left gun thrust forward, right gun pulled back beside her ear — a textbook covering-fire stance.
"Beautiful!"
Su Yu's voice carried from the console. Lin Zhaoyu and the others in the observer's seats couldn't help but break into a string of admiring exclamations.
"Master is going to be devastated she missed Little Grandmaster's performance."
Fu Hua had class today — for the Squad Monitor, skipping class was simply not in her vocabulary.
"Mm-hm," Cheng Lingshuang said.
Today she looked different from usual. Gone was the fluffy pajama onesie — she'd actually changed into a T-shirt and jeans, and had made a genuine effort with her appearance.
This girl, the fifth disciple and certified genius who normally lounged around the dojo like a salted fish — the one Su Mei called "a divine senior sister who hibernates like a bear for a full year" — had finally achieved something resembling a respectable human shape.
Apparently, the moment she heard Kiana was coming in for motion capture, this devoted Little Grandmaster fan had, for the first time in recorded history, bothered to fix herself up.
Su Yu didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. Was this what people called the idol effect?
"It's fine — we can just show Ah Hua the mocap data later," Su Yu replied, eyes never leaving the screen.
"That aerial spin — the mocap data shows Kiana's axis deviation is under two centimeters. That's insane precision."
Kiana blinked.
She looked up and caught the unabashed amazement on Su Yu's face.
"Again?"
"...Sure."
She stood, reset her stance.
This time: a forward roll into a continuous firing sequence.
She lunged forward, shoulder meeting the ground in the same motion she used to break the fall, rolling through it smoothly, muzzles locked on target the entire time.
The momentum of the roll was absorbed perfectly. Rise, aim, squeeze — the whole sequence flowed like water, not a single beat of hesitation.
"That roll — your muzzle didn't deviate at all?" Su Yu's voice was laced with disbelief. "Data shows a 0.3-degree variance. For reference, a regular soldier hitting under 5 degrees is considered excellent."
Kiana didn't answer.
She simply moved on to the next sequence.
Every move was one that had saved her life on a battlefield, at some point.
Every burst of power carried the memory of fighting Honkai Beasts to the death.
Su Yu's commentary kept streaming in from the side.
"That power transfer is pinpoint — "
"The core strength is terrifying — "
"How are you getting that kind of hang time in the air?"
"Hold on, let me replay that — it was too fast to see with the naked eye — "
Cheng Lingshuang's gasps joined in on cue; the whole group alternated between wide-eyed shock and sharp intakes of breath, collectively performing the role of "awestruck audience" to its fullest.
Kiana moved through the forms, the words washing over her.
Funny.
She'd drilled these moves hundreds of thousands of times. They were as natural as breathing.
Back at St. Freya, Himeko would only say: "Not fast enough." "Precision can be higher." "Again, a hundred more times."
Nobody had ever made such a fuss over praising her.
Because for a Valkyrie, these things were simply expected. Par for the course.
So this was how these moves looked through ordinary people's eyes —
Were they really that impressive?
Kiana settled back into her ready stance, breathing lightly. Without Honkai energy amplifying her body, the string of high-intensity moves had raised a thin sheen of sweat on her skin.
"Take a break." Su Yu walked over and handed her a water bottle. "First set of basic moves is fully recorded. Data quality is excellent."
Kiana took the bottle, twisted the cap, and drank.
"...What's next?"
"Signature moves." Su Yu flipped through notes on his tablet. "The ones you mentioned before — artillery mode? Dual-gun rapid fire? And that Burst Mode effect — "
"Those need Honkai energy to trigger." Kiana cut him off, voice dropping a little. "I can't do those right now."
"But you can do the movements, can't you?"
"The... movements?"
"The physical motions of the techniques," Su Yu said, looking up at her. "The energy effects can be added in post with VFX. But the body mechanics have to come from a real performer. Show me a run-through."
Kiana was quiet for a few seconds.
Then she set down the water bottle and walked back to the center of the circle.
Both guns raised.
This time, she closed her eyes.
A scene rose in her mind.
Ruins. A grey sky. Honkai Beasts as far as the eye could see.
Mei on the right, wheeling her tachi. Bronya's Project Bunny holding the rear line, laying down suppressing fire.
And her — at the front, always at the front.
The White Comet armor's Burst System activating, Honkai energy surging through her meridians like boiling water. The twin guns becoming two streaks of light, bullets weaving a bulletstorm so dense nothing could slip through.
Her body moved.
Even without Honkai energy. Even with nothing but plastic toys in her hands. The movements engraved into the depths of her soul fired with flawless precision.
Sweep, fire.
Sidestep, fire.
Leap, spin, fire — fire — fire again.
Finally, both guns crossed, hands shifting into the charging stance of Gungnir's artillery mode —
In that moment, she almost saw it.
The energy gathering at the muzzle. The beam tearing the air apart. The enemy, pierced through.
But when she opened her eyes, there was nothing.
Only the empty mocap room, and the orbs floating silently in the air.
"Cut!"
Su Yu's voice boomed through the intercom.
"Perfect sequence! Data captured!"
With that call, the suffocating killing intent that had filled the space — like a tide — receded all at once.
"..."
Kiana slowly lowered her arms.
She lifted her head and looked around, slightly dazed.
No Honkai Beasts shrieking. No broken bodies of Zombies. No rubble underfoot.
Just bright lights. And... a handful of eyes filled with reverence and awe.
Kiana straightened up and looked at her own hands.
These hands had been soaked in blood.
This skill — it had been born so she could survive in a brutal world, so she could keep the people beside her from being taken away.
It was born from pain, death, and despair.
For a long time, she had hated this power.
Hated the version of herself that only knew how to destroy. Hated the version of herself who carried a demon inside. Felt, even, that this power was the root of every misfortune.
"Little Grandmaster! That was so freaking cool!"
Ma Feima was first to charge forward — this six-foot-plus slab of muscle was vibrating like a little kid who'd just spotted his idol.
"That spinning kick just now! Can you teach me?! That was absolutely insane!"
Then a hand shot out and batted him aside. Ma Feima felt the world tilt violently, and the next thing he knew he was flat on the floor.
"Out of the way, Old Six!"
Cheng Lingshuang clearly had a better read on how to win Little Grandmaster's favor. She snatched up a chilled bottle of Happy Water and charged forward.
"Little Grandmaster, drink this! This one packs a punch!"
Watching their normally comatose Fifth Senior Sister get this animated, Lin Zhaoyu could only shake her head in helpless resignation.
Looks like she'd have to ask Little Grandmaster to come in for more recording sessions. At least it got that perpetually lazy Old Five to actually move her body for once.
Only Little Grandmaster's martial arts could turn a world-class couch potato into this.
Kiana stood there, stunned.
She took the Happy Water, looking at the genuine faces before her.
In a world with no Honkai —
Her power had become... a hope for reviving the dojo? A form of art that left everyone in awe?
She turned her head toward the control console, toward Su Yu.
Through the glass, she saw the smile on that man's face.
A pure, from-the-heart kind of pride.
That look seemed to say:
See? That's my Little Junior Sister.
She's the best girl in the whole world.
Kiana's heart gave a sudden, fierce beat.
A warmth spread from her chest outward through her whole body, driving away the faint chill that had crept in when she'd recalled those battles.
So...
Power itself wasn't the problem.
The problem was who wielded it, and what they wielded it for.
In this world, this power was no longer for taking lives.
It was for letting more people witness her story. For letting her stand in the sunlight with her head held high. For protecting this hard-won "home."
Kiana closed her fist.
She felt the strength in her palm.
This time, there was no fear. No revulsion.
Only a grounded, steadfast feeling she had never known before.
She raised her head and, through the glass, flashed Su Yu a brilliant smile.
A smile that carried sweat and confidence, and just a trace of... that purely girlish, endearing cheekiness.
"Well, obviously!" Kiana tilted her chin up, her signature ahoge bobbing proudly. "I'm a Kaslana. This much is nothing."
With Kiana's full cooperation, and striking while the iron was hot, the progress bar on the screen finally filled to the brim, lighting up a reassuring green.
Domain Unit: White Comet. Valkyrie Ranger. Divine Prayer. And even the White Knight: Moonbeam set.
All four armor sets' fundamental motion data were captured flawlessly into the database, performed to a textbook standard that could only have come from Kiana herself — because these movements were hers, and she was Kiana Kaslana in the flesh.
Watching the lifelike skeletal models dancing across the screen, Su Yu felt the great weight he'd been carrying in his chest drop — at least halfway.
These weren't just cold ones and zeroes.
They were anchors. Coordinates. The roots through which Kiana was taking hold in this world.
Once the game went live, once players started controlling these characters — Kiana's existence would be embedded deep into this world's network of recognition, just like this data.
"Haah... Little Miss nearly worked herself to death."
Kiana collapsed without any pretense of dignity onto the padded mat in the rest area, grabbed a sports drink, and chugged it.
She said she was exhausted — but those eyes of hers were blazing bright. The catharsis of the session had clearly done wonders for her mood.
"Good work, star performer." Su Yu walked over and handed her a dry towel — then immediately pivoted, flashing the particular smile that only a capitalist would wear.
"That said — five minutes rest, then we switch roles."
"Congratulations, Miss Kiana — you've just been promoted. From motion-capture actress to action director and monster wrangler."
"Hah? Monster?" Kiana blinked.
"Exactly." Su Yu turned and looked at Ma Feima and Cheng Lingshuang, both of whom had been champing at the bit for a while now.
"A Valkyrie alone isn't enough. A hero with no enemies is a lonely hero."
"So we need Zombies. We need Honkai Beasts."
Kiana paused. She remembered — during the days the mocap space was still being renovated, Su Yu had already collected a lot of combat data from her about the monsters she'd fought. The Zombie variants: scythe-wielders, guardian types. And various Honkai Beasts in their silicon-shell forms.
She'd described her combat experience against all of them, watching Su Yu's jaw drop further with each detail, and had felt enormously satisfied.
All those bloody, hard-fought battles hadn't been wasted — they'd become invaluable data, exactly the kind of treasure that made Su Yu's eyes light up like a slot machine hitting jackpot.
That had made Kiana feel quietly, smugly pleased.
"Ahem." Su Yu cleared his throat, picked up the mic, and let his voice go serious.
"Senior Brother Ma. Senior Sister Cheng."
"What comes next may be even more demanding than what we just did."
"Because Honkai Impact 3rd needs more than Valkyries — it needs the monsters capable of pushing those Valkyries to their absolute limits."
He pulled up a concept image and projected it onto the big screen.
A massive creature — white armored shell covering its body, enormous forelimbs raised: a Battle-Car Class Honkai Beast.
Beside it, a humanoid figure: distorted, grotesque, sickle in hand — a Zombie.
"Senior Brother Ma, your physique and explosive power are top-tier," Su Yu said, pointing at the Honkai Beast.
"I need you to forget every human martial arts pattern you know. Imitate this creature. Use the most primal, savage force you have — to charge, to tear."
"Your opponent is Kiana."
He turned and pointed at Cheng Lingshuang.
"As for Fifth Senior Sister — your footwork is fluid, your frame is small."
"The Zombie's movements violate every law of the human joint. That eerie pressure — no pain receptors, no goal except kill — only you can perform that."
Ma Feima stared at the big white creature squatting on all fours on the screen. The corner of his mouth twitched hard.
He was a proper seven-foot man. A proud disciple of the Inch Heart Sect. And they wanted him to play... a crawling animal?
If word got out, how was he supposed to show his face in Arc City again?
"Mr. Su, this..." Ma Feima scratched his head, looking pained, glancing between Su Yu and Kiana.
"Does this thing... actually help with training? It feels like I'm being made to perform for a circus."
"Shallow thinking!"
Before Su Yu could even start his pitch, Kiana stepped in.
She planted her hands on her hips, calling on every ounce of Little Grandmaster authority, and delivered her verdict with a stern little frown:
"Do you think Honkai Beasts are easy to imitate?"
"They have no intelligence, but every attack they make is driven by a single drive: predation. It's pure, undiluted killing intent — completely free of hesitation."
"If you want to defeat a monster, you have to understand it first. You have to become it."
Kiana pointed straight at Ma Feima's nose.
"If you can't even clear this hurdle, what gives you the right to talk about grasping the Tai Xu Divine Essence? Go back to your barbells."
Those words, backed by the terrifying skill she'd just demonstrated, hit like a gavel.
"Yes! Little Grandmaster is absolutely right!"
Ma Feima gritted his teeth and steeled himself.
Play a monster? So what?
For the sake of getting stronger, he'd play an Ultraman if he had to.
"Let's go!"
Ma Feima geared up. To simulate the Honkai Beast's bulk, Su Yu had him strap on a twenty-kilogram weighted pack.
He got down on all fours and forced himself into a deeply awkward position.
"Action!"
At the command, the System-granted Buff — Martial Arts Wizard (Pseudo) — quietly activated.
At first, Ma Feima was just clumsily mimicking a charge.
But then Kiana landed a merciless axe kick on the guard pad he'd raised — and something shifted.
In that instant, Ma Feima felt his conscious mind seem to slip away.
The Kiana in front of him was no longer a small girl. She had become prey — radiating lethal threat.
His muscles began to tremble involuntarily. His blood rushed faster. Something unprecedented welled up from deep in the marrow — a bestial instinct.
He stopped thinking about techniques. About patterns.
There was only one thought in his mind: rip her apart.
"ROARRR——!!!"
A low, thunderous roar exploded from Ma Feima's throat.
He drove off the ground, his massive body hurtling forward like a runaway tank, trailing a pressure that was almost suffocating.
The way he generated that force — it completely violated every principle of human martial arts, and yet it detonated at twice his normal output.
"Yes! That's it!"
Kiana's eyes lit up. She sidestepped the charge, and in one fluid motion planted a foot squarely on his back.
"Keep going! Don't stop! Honkai Beasts don't get tired!"
Ma Feima went tumbling — but didn't pause for even a second. Didn't feel a thing.
He was shaking with excitement.
This feeling... was extraordinary.
Strip away a human's shame and rational thought. Release the body's power in its purest form.
He could feel it — the wall that had been standing in his way, the one he'd been calling his "bottleneck" — his hands were brushing against its door.
Was this the true essence of life-or-death combat?!
Was this the "Divine Essence" Little Grandmaster had spoken of?!
"Again! Little Grandmaster! Harder this time!"
Ma Feima hauled himself off the floor, eyes blazing red, and — moving exactly like an enraged beast — charged again.
On the other side of the floor, Cheng Lingshuang's experience was stranger still.
As a true genius, her comprehension ran even deeper than Ma Feima's.
The moment she began imitating the Zombie's rigid, contorted movements, the System Buff kicked her into a state known as "flow."
She tried reversing her wrists. Letting her knees bend inward. Moving like a marionette on strings.
Movements that should have felt stiff and unnatural flowed from her with an uncanny smoothness.
Through the Zombie's perspective, she saw the world differently.
No stray thoughts. No fear of death.
Only a pure, absolute obsession with the single act of swinging the blade.
Click.
Cheng Lingshuang heard something inside herself come loose.
A barrier she'd been stuck at for a long time — a particular gate within the Tai Xu Sword Qi mental technique — had just shifted.
The realm of "formlessness overcoming form" — the state where no technique surpasses having no technique — had been glimpsed through this bizarre door.
Those perpetually half-lidded eyes belonging to the genius girl blazed with breathtaking light.
The fervor of someone who'd just discovered a new continent.
The hunger of someone who'd found a buried treasure.
"...I see," Cheng Lingshuang murmured, spinning the prop scythe into a sharp, elegant flourish.
She looked at Kiana. A thrilled curve pulled at the corner of her mouth.
"Little Grandmaster — please guide me."
"This time... I think I know how to [kill] someone."
What had started as a straightforward mocap session to assist Su Yu's "production" had turned into something else entirely.
This wasn't data collection.
This was a full-scale martial arts enlightenment event — or, if you were feeling cynical about it, a very elaborate pyramid scheme.
Ma Feima was rolling around the floor like a man possessed, letting out incomprehensible howls.
Cheng Lingshuang drifted through the space like a specter, her movements growing faster and stranger by the second.
And Kiana was holding her own against both of them at once, clearly having the time of her life — occasionally pausing to offer coaching notes:
"Yes! That angle! Perfect!"
"Ma Feima, did you skip breakfast?! A Honkai Beast hits way harder than that!"
"Cheng Lingshuang! Twist your waist more! Zombies don't have spines!"
Behind the director's console, Su Yu watched the data streams going wild on the monitors — and the two free laborers who had been completely swindled into enthusiastic overtime.
He quietly lifted his tea cup and took a slow sip.
The achievement was his. The glory was silent.
"System," he said inwardly.
"That Martial Arts Wizard Buff of yours... it's the kind of divine technique that would make even the most ruthless capitalist weep with gratitude."
About an hour later, Fu Hua came cycling back to the dojo from Arc City University, hoping she might still catch a glimpse of Little Martial Aunt Kiana in action.
What greeted her when she stepped into the mocap studio stopped her cold for what felt like a hundred years.
Her sixth disciple, Ma Feima, was flat on the floor in a pose uncannily reminiscent of Yamcha from Dragon Ball — completely motionless.
Nearby, Cheng Lingshuang had latched onto Su Yu's leg with both arms, face alight with fanatical desperation.
"Su Yu — no — Eldest Senior Brother! I'm begging you! Let Little Grandmaster hit me one more time! Just once!!"
Fu Hua walked over to Ma Feima and patted him on the shoulder.
Ma Feima rolled his face toward her. It was covered in bruises — yet on this man who normally fought anyone who gave him trouble, his expression wore a deeply unsettling look of satisfaction.
"Master, you're back? Put in a word with Mr. Su for me — one more kick, just one more!"
Fu Hua: ????
The normally poker-faced Squad Monitor looked, in that moment, exactly like that meme of the Guardians of the Galaxy raccoon huddled in horrified confusion.
What on earth had happened here? She'd only been gone half a day! Old Five, Old Six — since when did the two of you develop this kind of bizarre taste?!
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