"This is the first."
"Hm?"
"Director Einstein doesn't delegate her work to others."
The institute's director had a lot of things to do aside from paper work. That includes visitations on some sites where controlled experiments were done. They focus a lot on robotics and the creation of things that could combat huge honkai beasts, hence the third institute has the largest area out of them all.
"She was busy lately, and I think I could fill her position temporarily." Aleph said to Morris. "Anyways, are you really out here for a walk? Nobody should try to assassinate or kidnap me after all I've shown them."
"No. It's a protocol."
The middle-aged man with a stubble, Morris, was the head of security of the third institute. He didn't change much as when he first recruited Aleph. His brown hair only got longer.
"Yes, yes."
Aleph chose to not ask about it further.
"We are heading to the reactor site. Are you sure you don't need any protective equipment?" Morris asked.
"No, I'm good."
Aleph thought about the few people he spotted on this trip.
'At least half… and there's also one on the reactor site…'
Unsurprisingly, there are quite a few spies who infiltrated the third institute. They belong to different Councilors.
Aleph didn't call them out immediately. Instead, he used them to feed these councilors exactly what he wanted them to know. That was the main reason why he wasn't pestered by them any longer.
Now, they still hold his information during the Sapphire City incident. They viewed him as someone who wasn't involved throughout all these troubles. Such a huge chance was brought by his [Information Retribution].
'Somehow, I'm indebted to Vill-V..?'
A funny thought arose in his head.
'She'll just have to take some things seriously. Those Divine Keys had to be utilized properly…'
Aleph continued making his rounds.
*****
"Fu…"
Once the night fell, Aleph chose to enter the other [Training Card] he obtained.
This time, he found himself on the foot of a mountain shrine.
The cold night breeze brushed on his shirt. The ray of moonlight further contributed to the place's serenity.
Aleph remained alert at all times due to his experience with Kashimo. His [Sphere Boundary] was laid flat, giving him the information of everything within his three meter radius.
"There's no one here..?"
Just then, he felt danger on top of the mountain shrine. Strangely enough, it didn't worsen nor move at its previous position.
With no choice left, Aleph slowly ascended on the stairs.
On the way, his elemental sight caught a strange trace. So far, he only used it to detect the presence of honkai beasts and humans alike. They are colored in purple and red, respectively.
Now, he was seeing a completely different color; silver black.
'There's something strange here. Great Sage.'
{Answer: There is a field made up of several magic laws. Its functions are the following: concealment, protection, illusion…}
Great Sage came up with several answers.
'A magic field…' He thought. 'It must be it. Medea's magecraft.'
Aleph recalled the other game he used to play in his past life. There, historical figures are summoned on a seven-versus-seven battle royale. Sasaki Koujiro happened to be the historical figure summoned by another historical figure, Medea—the princess of Colchis.
The main point here was her so-called magecraft. It is simply magic but with different rules. It utilized the mysteries contained within the unknown, making it so that magic is stronger the less humans knew about specific things.
'Can you analyze it? See if it can implement something new in my Sphere Boundary.'
{Affirmative.}
The girl's voice fell silent once again.
'My sphere boundary had grown unrecognizable, huh…'
Originally, [Sphere Boundary] was a skill used by another historical figure within the game. It was used wholly to conceal one's presence to inhuman levels—to the point even the sense of touch could be erased.
It was only until that trip on Kurumi's world did it seemingly gain something else. From a field capable of concealing oneself, it became his domain of sorts that could negate phenomena alterations on top of concealment.
'Three Sephira Crystals… I tried all the achievements related to birds and angels. Where can I get the last two..?'
As he was thinking that, he finally saw the man's figure from a distance. His eyes were closed. His hand was resting on top of his sheathed blade.
"To even think I would have this chance…"
Sasaki opened his eyes with a wry smile.
"You came here to learn something, right?"
"Yes."
"You have come to the wrong person. I don't have anything to offer."
Aleph met Sasaki's calm gaze. His heart sank at the danger he felt at that moment.
'That thing's not for show… Tsubame Gaeshi..!'
The Sasaki Koujiro in front of him was a fake. To be precise, the real Sasaki Koujiro hid his identity too well to the point the truth was buried in lies. As a result, a servant who was an amalgamation of the real Sasaki's traits and legends was born.
"You might have said it, but I think otherwise."
"Oh?"
"You are Sasaki Koujiro."
Sasaki was stunned by his words. A smile escaped his lips the next moment.
"You want to learn something."
Shiing-!
The nodachi on his back was unsheathed. He held it high in a piercing stance on his head's level with both his hands.
"I'll show it to you."
Despite Aleph's preparations—thought acceleration and parallel minds—the sense of danger did not disappear. Even, it became stronger!
No energy of sorts was caught by his [Elemental Sight]. His concealment was way below Sphere Booundary's, his speed was also slightly slower than him. It was an extremely strange occurrence.
As the blades clashed, the sense of danger became even stronger. Before he knew it, Aleph's heart fell to an ice cellar. The amount of danger he felt far exceeded everything he had felt in the past.
Without even hesitating, he used [Blink] and reappeared ten meters away.
'Huh?!'
Much to his shock, the faint blue silhouette redirected to his current position. Even when he chose the higher ground (i.e., stair) when he reappeared, Sasaki advanced to him without faltering.
His thoughts kept flying towards the vague silver light gradually approaching him.
Aleph tried to apply the ratio lines in the blade.
However…
'One… no, those are three blades!'
He truly felt what Sasaki's opponent felt. The three swords were like a prison. No matter which one you defend from, the remaining two would come closer to your neck. No matter how fast nor slow they were, it was a 'sure-hit' as all three blades attacke don all sides.
Inside his mouth, Aleph already 'summoned' a whole Senzu Bean. That occurred as he tried to find a way to escape from his predicament, but to no avail.
At this time, he fell into a strange state once again. Several images of Sasaki's figure appeared along his path. He could clearly see the one blade turning into three out of nowhere. Strangely enough, numerous thoughts entered his mind. It was as if he was directly 'receiving' some form of information out of the things he observed.
'That's... Magic..?'
Although Aleph realized something, jt wasn't enough to change his oredicament.
Fortunately...
The moment they were about to come close to him, the blade stopped.
"The world… no, it's different. There's also that strange magecraft."
Shiing.
Sasaki sheathed the nodachi on his waist.
"You've learned some interesting things. However, you missed the fundamentals."
"Fundamentals?"
Aleph learned from Kashimo and was able to calm down after that 'near-death' battle.
"The technique of becoming the world… You skipped some things before that. I also saw that strong blow you were preparing. You lacked the intent to defeat your opponent…"
One by one, he listed down Aleph's shortcomings. It was something Aleph wouldn't have known. Great Sage would only work when there was a pattern to learn from. Although he scrolled through numerous martial art books in Shenzhou and saw some points, it simply didn't fit the techniques he gained that originated from another world.
"Finally, you seem to have learned something extraordinary. Too bad, you are forcing it."
"Extraordinary..?"
Aleph recalled the [No Second Strike] which he received from killing the fourth Herrscher. He experimented with it numerous times—with Great Sage's help on top of that—but he simply couldn't make it work.
"For now, forget about it. It's best to learn the things you've missed."
The second round of Aleph's teaching began.