Within the vast ruins, Irene sidestepped. A colossal Honkai Beast smashed heavily into the spot next to her with the momentum of a steamroller, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and smoke.
Using the dust as cover, Irene flipped upward, leaping onto the Honkai Beast's body. The Chakram in her hand crossed in an X-shape, directly cleaving the Honkai Beast's head open.
The gigantic Honkai Beast slowly collapsed, its body beginning to dissipate. But at that exact moment, a sound like the buzzing of mosquito wings suddenly came from behind Irene.
Irene pushed off with her left leg, her body pivoting like a spinning top. Using her left foot as the fulcrum, she spun around completely, just barely dodging the Assault-class Honkai Beast that came crashing toward her.
Finally, exerting force through her toes, she forcibly stabilized her body, then slashed upward, directly slicing the charging Honkai Beast in two.
"Mn, you've mastered the combat techniques quite well." A round of applause rang out as the surrounding ruins gradually dissolved into specks of foam and vanished without a trace.
Kallen looked at Irene with a face full of smiles. "After training only a few times, you can already handle Chariot-class and Assault-class Honkai Beasts."
"I can manage at this level, at least." The Chakram in Irene's hand also faded away, and the surroundings returned to the original, monotonous square.
Ultimately, she received some combat experience when transforming. Both Kallen and Pardo had relatively rich combat experience; even the bit that leaked through was enough to make Irene battle-hardened.
Therefore, what Irene needed to train wasn't combat technique, but proficiency in using Pardo's or Kallen's special abilities. Those things weren't so easily learned, nor could they be mastered solely through impressions.
Fortunately, the Cat's abilities didn't require much learning. Although lock-picking and the like needed training, Irene didn't have much use for them. As for the quantumization ability, the Cat herself didn't even know how to use it properly.
She relied purely on talent and luck to force it to work. But the Cat's luck stat was too high, leading to it working perfectly every time. And this luck, even in the Palace of Consciousness, could not be trained.
So, Irene could only train in the Cat's movement techniques and the use of the Chakram.
"But it's already very impressive." Pardo clapped her hands, looking at Irene. "As long as Sister Irene is equipped with a weapon, she should be able to handle some Honkai disasters."
"It's probably still not quite enough." Irene shook her head. She had only just started training in the Taixuan Sword Qi, and her physical constitution was only in the early stages of reinforcement. She was far from being a superhuman. Even if she were given weapons and combat experience, it was hard to say if she could defeat a Honkai Beast in reality.
She could probably handle Deadwalkers, but only low-level ones, like the Scythe Deadwalkers. High-level Deadwalkers were no less threatening than Honkai Beasts.
No matter how superb one's combat techniques were, they were useless without physical fitness as a support. If the opponent could match your full power with a casual punch, then technique became meaningless.
So, she still had to find a way to train her physical fitness. The best method right now was cultivating the Taixuan Sword Qi. For this, Irene had found a lazy—or rather, a two-pronged—approach.
She didn't know if her Honkai Adaptability was truly ridiculously good, or if the Palace of Consciousness itself had some special properties, but combining the two yielded results.
Irene found that while her main consciousness was in the Palace of Consciousness, she could maintain a sliver of consciousness in the outside world to cultivate the Taixuan Sword Qi, and the efficiency wasn't low either.
This meant she could cultivate in the outside world to exercise her physical abilities while simultaneously training her combat techniques mentally in the Palace of Consciousness.
This two-pronged approach allowed her abilities to grow at double the speed. At least, after cultivating for nearly two hours now, no problems had arisen. Presumably, no problems would arise.
"Don't worry too much. At least it's a good start." Kallen smiled and patted Irene's head. "At the very least, you are much stronger than you were before."
"Oh, right." Kallen suddenly remembered something. "You have now learned Binding · Blood, Binding · Anchor, Binding · Stasis, and Binding · Honkai."
"I feel you should be able to learn something high-end now."
"Eh? But I feel like I haven't really mastered them yet?" Irene scratched her head. Binding · Blood and Binding · Stasis were easy enough to explain; those two abilities were practically defensive instincts carved into Kallen's DNA.
One guaranteed she wouldn't lose combat capability due to massive blood loss from Judah's chains cutting her or other causes.
The other guaranteed that unless the opponent's power completely crushed hers and could break through the Power of Binding, she wouldn't take major damage.
But aside from these two abilities, Irene had only just learned Binding · Honkai and Binding · Anchor.
"It's fine, it's just a demonstration." Kallen shook her head. "Those four skills were the earliest ones I developed. Blood and Stasis haven't changed from start to finish, but the latter two skills have quite a few variations."
"Since you have already mastered the basics, learning some variations is only natural."
"Since Miss Kallen says so." Irene nodded. With a thought, the surrounding environment changed again, and a scene of ruins appeared in the Palace of Consciousness.
Following that, a roar rang out. A Chariot-class Honkai Beast, identical to the previous one, stood in the center of the field.
These things were all born from Irene's imagination, and the prototypes for the imagination came from the memories provided by the Cat and Kallen.
Starry Judah appeared in Kallen's hand. She drew chains from it and wrapped them around her hands. Just as Kallen got ready, the Chariot-class Honkai Beast leaped high into the air, using its specialty: a powerful crushing attack aimed right at Kallen.
Yet Kallen didn't dodge at all, standing her ground. From Judah, another chain shot out, sweeping toward the Honkai Beast. The chain seemed to have no substance, passing right through the Honkai Beast's body as if causing no damage.
However, the Honkai Beast simply froze in mid-air. It didn't move an inch, a layer of golden light flowing all over its body.
"Isn't this still Binding · Anchor?" Irene looked at the scene before her and scratched her head. Although the manifestation of Anchor was usually a golden square sealing the action, and what was before her looked more like a golden halo...
But there didn't seem to be much difference, right?
Kallen looked at the Honkai Beast frozen in mid-air and also scratched her head. "Eh? When I used it before, it wasn't like this. Shouldn't it fly away?"
"Fly away?" Irene tilted her head. "What exactly is this move? Why would it fly away?"
"Binding · Absolute Position," Kallen said, looking at the immobile Honkai Beast. "It can directly bind the absolute position of a Honkai Beast or a certain object at this specific moment. And then, you know how the Earth rotates, right?"
Hearing this, Irene understood what Kallen's move was about. "So this move of yours constrains its spatial position, and then because the Earth is rotating, plus the Solar System is also shifting position..."
Irene fell silent for a moment, weighing her words. "So, the Honkai Beast, constrained to its original spot in a spatial sense, gets sent flying directly?"
"Ay, yes, yes, yes!" Kallen nodded repeatedly. "It's very useful. Against Honkai Beasts, it hits the mark every time. They just fly right out. Although, when facing powerful Honkai Beasts, they usually break the Binding with their Honkai energy before flying too far."
"However..." Kallen glanced at the Honkai Beast fixed in mid-air, still somewhat confused. "Why isn't it working now?"
"Nonsense!" Irene slapped her forehead speechlessly and shook her head. "This is inside my brain! You didn't explain this to me beforehand, so I didn't add the setting of planetary rotation. Naturally, it won't fly out."
"Eh, right." Kallen touched her head; she had forgotten about that. She coughed lightly twice to alleviate the awkwardness. "Anyway, the principle is like this. Isn't it very useful?"
"I used to use this move to banish quite a few Honkai Beasts. When encountering enemies ordinarily, you can also use this move to bind your own position for a quick dodge."
"Offense and defense in one. It's very easy to use."
"I think I understand the principle." Irene nodded. It was indeed a very strong ability, but it was also a trick. After all, it only bound the absolute position in space.
The subsequent act of flying away borrowed the mighty force of the Solar System itself and had nothing to do with Binding.
Speaking of which, just how many Honkai Beasts had Kallen banished into outer space?
The corner of Irene's mouth twitched slightly, her thoughts drifting a bit. Suddenly, she thought of another question. "Eh, wait. By the way, Kallen, how did you know the Earth rotates?"
"Hmm?" Kallen was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Oh, Otto told me about that in the past. He also said something about the Solar System and stuff, but I didn't understand it at the time."
"I only discovered this usage during a very coincidental first time. And then, I don't remember how long after that, I recalled this matter. I think that's probably the principle."
"But as long as it works, it's fine. Knowing the principle makes no difference from not knowing it."
"As expected of someone from the Kaslana Family." Irene nodded. Then, rubbing her hands together like a fly on the road, she said, "But Miss Kallen, please hurry up and teach me the usage techniques of this move."
"No problem~" Kallen nodded. "Come, listen as I explain it to you in detail~"
Lying on the bed, Irene opened her eyes. She sat up, looked down at her hands, and clenched her fists. "I stayed in my consciousness for too long. Sigh, after using Pardo and Kallen's physical stats so much, my own body feels a bit unaccustomed."
After all, after transforming, she used Pardo and Kallen's bodies. Naturally, during training, she adjusted her physical stats to match theirs.
As a result, returning to her own body now and feeling the gap made her a bit uncomfortable. However, after cultivating the Taixuan Sword Qi, this gap would only get smaller and smaller.
"Sigh, I still haven't figured out how exactly to cast that skill..." Irene stood up from the bedside. Thanks to the Taixuan Sword Qi, which only required mastering the circulation trajectory of Honkai energy, she didn't need to sit cross-legged in meditation like in those cultivation novels.
Otherwise, after so long, her legs would definitely be numb. She wondered how those cultivation bigshots solved the problem of numb legs.
As for the skill Binding · Absolute Position, it was still a bit too metaphysical and not that easy to master. Just what kind of accident did Kallen have to encounter to learn how to bind spatial coordinates?
Just as Irene was still wondering, a light screen suddenly popped up in front of her.
[Optional Mission: Sakura-colored Echo]
[Description: Save Yae Sakura]
[Reward depends on the degree of mission completion and participation. Note: There are multiple branch missions within this mission that can be completed simultaneously. You may choose to complete them to enhance the final reward.]
[Remark: Echoes still linger beneath the Sakura tree; the interlaced threads of fate have not yet been severed.]
Looking at the light screen appearing before her, Irene immediately perked up. She darted out of her room, rushing straight into Theresa's room.
At this moment, Theresa was lying on the bed, her eyes capable closed. Her brow was tightly furrowed, as if she were having a nightmare.
"Tsk, the problem happened after all." Irene climbed onto Theresa's bed and picked her up. At this moment, on Theresa's back, a bewitching red light was shining through her pajamas.
Even while being moved by Irene, Theresa's eyes remained tightly shut, showing no signs of waking from her dream.
"I didn't think it would be this fast." Irene set Theresa down and sat beside her. Taking out her phone and looking at Fu Hua's name in the contacts, Irene hesitated.
To enter the Stigmata space, Irene could currently think of two methods. One was using Bronya's gaming helmet combined with Bronya's technical skills to force a link. The other would be Fu Hua's Fenghuang Down, which could possibly achieve it.
But if she contacted Fu Hua and asked her to use Fenghuang Down to help, while Fu Hua would definitely help given her personality, this would undoubtedly expose many things.
[Sister Irene, what's wrong?] Pardo looked at Irene with some confusion. They couldn't see the so-called System panel. In their line of sight, Irene had simply zoned out for a moment after waking up, then rushed directly into Theresa's room.
Of course, they could also see now that Theresa's condition wasn't right.
[The situation is a bit complex,] Irene said, sitting by the bed. [And this matter can be considered a legacy relationship from the Previous Era and Kallen's side. Mn, how should I put it?]
[Does it have to do with Yae Sakura?] Kallen suddenly spoke up at this moment. When she first met Theresa, she had discovered that the Stigmata on Theresa's back had Honkai energy fluctuations very similar to Sakura's.
[Yes, and it also has a great relationship with the Previous Era, because of that Black Box.] Irene looked at Pardo. [It is the unfinished Key of Corruption, or to use another name you should be more familiar with, Pardo...]
[Rin...] Pardo murmured. With Irene speaking so plainly, Pardo naturally understood who she was talking about. A regret—a regret that caused them lifelong pain.
"Mn..." Just as Irene was still explaining, Theresa, who was lying on the bed, touched her head and sat up. Shaking her head, she felt like she had had a nightmare.
The dream seemed to be about some Sakura Miko or something; she couldn't remember it very clearly.
"Could it be that I've been reading too much Homu manga recently, so much that I'm having nightmares?"
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