The Realm of Forgetting scanned Trailblazer's memories in an instant. Trailblazer only felt as if his brain had been lightly rubbed with sandpaper.
Then, the "enemies" from his memories materialized.
A woman wielding a long blade charged with lightning power, a woman with a peculiar appearance; a giant toad using four elemental powers: water, fire, ice, and lightning; and even more frightening, a massive whale that nearly swallowed Trailblazer whole.
Holy crap, Genshin! Trailblazer thought to himself. This works too, I guess. Genshin Impact was still a low-power universe. If enemies from higher-power or even conceptual-level worlds like Gurren Lagann or Getter Robo were to materialize, Trailblazer would simply be waiting for death.
However, these familiar monsters were all weakened versions, and Trailblazer already knew their attack patterns by heart.
He called up his system and allocated his 3 Path points to Nihility, Preservation, and Hunt. Nihility could further weaken enemies—even these weakened versions still possessed formidable combat power. Hunt would increase his own speed, making it possible to defeat them one by one. Preservation, needless to say, was to keep himself alive.
Avoiding Azhdaha's elemental attacks with the blessing of the Hunt Path, Trailblazer created distance between them. He looked at his hands—finally, he was about to try hot-switching.
He used the power of the Nihility Path, feeling an energy like flowing sand course through his veins. Azhdaha immediately became disoriented, looking around in confusion.
Trailblazer then used Preservation power, coating himself with an almost completely transparent shield. The surrounding sounds and air were isolated—this was probably a side effect of his inexperience. In the game, there were many Preservation characters, but he'd never heard anyone mention this negative effect.
He switched back and forth between the three Paths. The Raiden Shogun, Azhdaha, and the Devouring Whale were all weakened versions, and with Nihility's debuff ability, Preservation giving him confidence to micro-manage the fight, plus Hunt's speed boost allowing him to defeat them one by one—most importantly, March 7th, Stelle, and Himeko were watching from outside, and he couldn't show weakness.
As the memory space constructed by the Realm of Forgetting gradually collapsed, Trailblazer no longer had concerns about hot-switching. He was no longer worried that hot-switching would have adverse effects on his body.
When he came out, March 7th and the other Express crew members all looked astonished. Despite their extensive experience, they never expected Trailblazer to actually possess three Paths, let alone switch between them freely.
Trailblazer ignored them. His Path points should have been restored by now, and he needed to carefully consider which Paths to activate. Preservation, Hunt, and Nihility weren't bad, but given another chance, why not reconsider?
He actually wanted to try the effect of that new Path: Trailblaze, but during such an intense battle, there was no opportunity to experiment.
When he opened his system panel... Where are my Path points?
The remaining Path points displayed 0.
[You've used them all up]
I used them all? Wasn't I using them in the Realm of Forgetting?
The system didn't answer his question.
"You really have three Paths?" March 7th asked.
Trailblazer cleared his throat and said, "More or less."
"You can freely switch between three Paths?" Yanqing asked.
"Sort of."
Yanqing lowered his head in contemplation.
"I wouldn't have guessed you had something special," March 7th said.
[Remaining time: 35 system hours]
"I have many special things. Maybe someday you can try my... versatility," Trailblazer said offhandedly.
I need to hurry, Trailblazer thought. Herta Space Station, I'm coming for you, Pela!
"Your Express crew must have a close relationship with the Herta Space Station, right? I'd like to ask for your help with something," Trailblazer said.
Himeko and Yanqing both nodded. Trailblazer was a new member of the Stellar Hunters, but he seemed to have good intentions. Both felt it would be gratifying if they could guide this young man back to the right path.
"I'd like you to introduce me to Herta."
Since it was just using connections, both readily agreed. With the Express crew's endorsement, Trailblazer quickly gained permission to meet with Herta.
Trailblazer washed up again, having sweated in the Realm of Forgetting. Stelle followed behind him, and Trailblazer felt too embarrassed to chase her away, so he let her tag along.
Herta seemed to be grappling with some difficult problem, still in her familiar research lab.
"I heard you wanted to see me?" Herta said without turning around, looking at the complex mathematical formulas on the whiteboard.
Trailblazer said, "Ms. Herta, what do you consider worthy of research?"
"Mysteries of the universe, secrets of the Aeons, difficult problems that other geniuses can't solve."
Trailblazer replied calmly, "Then may I ask, would someone possessing three Paths who can switch freely between them during battle fall into any of those categories?"
Herta said, "If you're dreaming, please return to your room."
"Ms. Herta, I haven't spoken a single falsehood," Trailblazer said.
Stelle quietly raised her hand, indicating she was a witness.
Herta sighed and walked out. Trailblazer, confused, followed her.
Turning into a room of several dozen square meters, Herta stood before a marvelous device. She turned elegantly, the hem of her white dress flowing.
"If you claim to possess three Paths and can hot-switch between them, prove yourself in the Simulated Universe."
"This is the Simulated Universe. I'm sure you've heard of this project. Though it's called the 'Simulated Universe,' you shouldn't treat it like a game. If you die in there, you'll never come out again."
Trailblazer, who had taken half a step forward, froze. Is the Simulated Universe that dangerous? What is this, some kind of SAO?
"Surely you wouldn't be afraid of this small test?" Herta said with one hand on her hip.
Trailblazer said, "Ms. Herta, as far as I know, the Simulated Universe was developed by four geniuses: you, Ruan Mei, Screwllum, and Stephen, to explore the mysteries of the Aeons. It should be safe—with the technology of you four, you should be able to ensure the basic safety of test subjects, shouldn't you?"
Herta clearly hadn't expected Trailblazer to know so much about the Simulated Universe. This was something that even researchers on the space station only vaguely understood. If such a device became widely known, it would inevitably attract the covetous eyes of certain powers in the universe.
"Or is it that you haven't finished development yet," Trailblazer said, "and want me to debug it?"
Herta sniffed, saying somewhat hesitantly, "Are you accepting the test or not?"
"Since Ms. Herta wants to test me, I can only gladly accept," Trailblazer said resolutely.
Herta said, "When I examined you before, you were just an ordinary person. How is it that in such a short time, you claim to have three Paths?"
"What would I gain by lying to you? If you research it, wouldn't the truth be exposed?" Trailblazer said.
Herta nodded.
"Let's start the Simulated Universe, Ms. Herta," Trailblazer said. Let me see what the early version of the Simulated Universe has.
Herta activated the Simulated Universe device, and light emanated from it.
"Don't be careless!"
"It's fine, Ms. Herta. I'm not so easy to kill."
If worst comes to worst, I still have the system—Trailblazer wasn't afraid of this beta version of the Simulated Universe.
[Emotion value +10]
This little Herta, who would have thought she cared so much about the safety of test subjects?
Herta's face showed excited flush. After all this time, she'd finally found a reliable person willing to debug the Simulated Universe.
Trailblazer walked up to the device, about to enter. Stelle tugged at Trailblazer's clothes, saying, "I'm coming too."
Trailblazer pulled his clothes back, saying, "Why are you butting in? Be good, I'll buy you candy when we return."
With that, Trailblazer walked toward the Simulated Universe device. With each step he took, Stelle followed a step behind.
"What are you doing?" Trailblazer turned back and asked.
Stelle didn't speak, but whenever Trailblazer moved, she followed. Where did this stubborn attitude come from? Trailblazer had no choice but to let Stelle come along. He had three Paths—surely he could protect a five-foot-seven sister who had just been born?
The space around them twisted and deformed. Trailblazer entered the Simulated Universe. The surrounding environment was identical to the Herta Space Station, but there was no sign of living people, only various monsters roaming around.
Their eyes were dull—it seemed that the functions of this beta version of the Simulated Universe weren't fully refined yet. As long as they weren't actively provoked, these monsters wouldn't attack them.
Trailblazer was eager to try. He needed to put on a good show for Herta watching from outside the Simulated Universe.
"Don't get too close to the monsters. I haven't properly set up the difficulty scaling in the Simulated Universe yet," Herta said, approaching from behind Trailblazer. She moved with slow yet powerful steps, accompanied by the scent of bellflowers and carrying a hammer even taller and heavier than herself.
"Ms. Herta," Trailblazer said, "you came in too? Didn't you say it was dangerous?"
Herta said, "Precisely because of that. Allowing test subjects to face—"
As a Herta of the Erudition Path, she possessed excellent crowd control abilities.
They were fortunate—the first level's monsters weren't particularly troublesome. Trailblazer switched between his three Paths, easily slaying the monsters.
A void gate emitting black light appeared in the center of the space station—this was a portal to the next level of the Simulated Universe or to the outside.
Trailblazer said, "Let's withdraw."
He had clearly demonstrated his ability to flexibly switch between three Paths. The objective had been achieved, so it was time to retreat. According to Herta, the monster levels weren't properly calibrated yet, so who knew what enemies might randomly appear on the second level?
But Herta didn't move. "Didn't you say you have three Paths?"
"Haven't I already shown you?" Trailblazer said.
"I've only seen that you're agile, durable, and somehow the monsters are inexplicably sluggish in their responses."
"I have the Hunt, Preservation, and Nihility Paths."
"So?" Herta said dismissively.
Trailblazer said, "I'll put a layer of debuff on you, and then you'll understand why the monsters are so inexplicably slow to respond."
"You can try," Herta said, crossing her arms.
Trailblazer glanced at Herta. Her true form was one of the Envoys of the Aeon of Erudition. Trailblazer was just a novice Pathfinder who had recently mastered Path powers.
"Fine," Trailblazer said. "One more level."
The three of them entered the dark portal one after another.
End of chapter