Misteln's strength exceeded Shun's expectations. He had originally thought that since Misteln and Raven were both World Serpent executives, their power levels should be roughly similar. But from what Shun could sense so far, it was more like Misteln could beat Raven 7-to-3 or rather, Misteln could kill Raven in three seconds seven times over. These two didn't seem to be from the same version at all. Why did World Serpent have such a powerful combat asset as Misteln, yet never send her on missions? Out of curiosity, Shun didn't hold back and directly asked Misteln this question.
"Ah, about that… It's probably because my relationship with World Serpent is just one of cooperation." That was indeed the case. Back then, Misteln had agreed to assist Gray Serpent in completing the Stigmata Project, but that was the extent of it. World Serpent had no authority to command her.
Gray Serpent asking Misteln to help train Shun was him repaying a favor, but the outcome was good. Shun was the second human Misteln had ever met who possessed a Stigmata and the second living person she had ever encountered.
To Misteln, Shun who had a Stigmata carried a certain weight. In terms of time spent together, Shun, who had been here for over a month now, had already far surpassed the few days she had spent with Alexandra.
The grass in front of the wooden cabin was soft and comfortable, like a green carpet laid out by nature. Shun lay leisurely on the grass, hands gently pillowed behind his head, body relaxed against the ground. His eyes gazed upward at the sky, where countless twinkling stars dotted the expanse, like a mysterious and beautiful scroll unfurled before him.
"A starry sky like this one not obscured by city light pollution is really rare!" Gazing at the vast and enigmatic starry sky, Shun couldn't help but sigh in admiration. He had grown up in the city his whole life; even when returning to the countryside, it was only the urban outskirts. Affected by light pollution, from childhood to adulthood he had only ever recognized stars like the North Star.
Excluding Antarctica, Tibet was one of the last few pristine places on Earth. Here, in most areas, one could still see this unpolluted starry sky. Every night after finishing the day's training, Shun would come out, lie on the grass, look up at the stars, and think about various things.
This world was very dangerous. As long as he didn't wade into muddy waters, for someone who knew the plot well, this world was actually quite safe. But… even transmigration had happened to him. Having obtained the qualification to sit at the chessboard, how could he be content with mediocrity?
Didn't someone once say they wanted to turn this beautiful story into the version they desired? Though those were Himeko's hopes for Kiana and Kiana's promise to Himeko in the plot… the version of himself who had once been moved in front of the computer screen had harbored the exact same thoughts.
Moreover, he was no longer that helpless bystander who could do nothing. In this time before the plot had even begun, he could accomplish many things.
Rustling sounds came from the grass beside him. Shun turned his head it was Misteln.
"? Misteln? Why are you here?"
Misteln smiled and said, "This is clearly my home. I can appear wherever I want, can't I?"
"Oh, right." Shun scooted his butt to the side, making space for Misteln to sit. "What's up? Thinking about something? Feel free to tell me after all, it's just the two of us here."
"Hm… Probably some plans for the future." Shun didn't continue. He figured Misteln wouldn't press him.
"By the way, Misteln, what level would I be right now, in terms of Schicksal's Valkyrie rating?"
"A-rank. And by pre-Second Honkai standards," Misteln thought for a moment and replied. She used the pre-Second Honkai standard for two reasons: first, as an extreme shut-in who didn't even touch the internet, she had no idea what Schicksal's current rating standards were; second, because of the memories she had inherited from Cecilia.
No wonder those born with innate Stigmata had such heaven-defying advantages. In just one short month, Shun had gone from someone whose combat power barely scraped the edge of C-rank Valkyrie relying solely on the slight physical boost from his Stigmata to an A-rank Valkyrie capable of standing on her own.
Shun naturally understood what pre-Second Honkai A-rank Valkyrie standards meant: significantly stronger than current ordinary A-ranks. For example, roughly on the level of someone like Himeko.
"This is all thanks to your guidance, Teacher Misteln." Putting aside everything else, this month Shun's actual combat experience had been maxed out. With the enhancement of Misteln's ability, he had gone through at least three thousand deathmatches in this single month. If not for Misteln's mental soothing, he estimated he would have fallen into demonic potato chip madness by now.
"That's also because you have the potential and perseverance. Not just anyone could achieve this. Your rapid progress in a single month is inseparable from your own hard work."
"Hm. By the way… I'm probably going to leave soon." Shun suddenly said, as casually as if it were a trivial matter.
"…I see. Then where do you plan to go next?" Misteln was silent for a moment before asking, a faint trace of loneliness creeping into her voice.
"For now, there are three destinations: Nagazora City, Taixu Mountain, and London. But right now, the first place I want to go is London." Among these three cities, Nagazora was the site of the Third Honkai outbreak Shun had to go there no matter what. As for London and Taixu Mountain, they were because they housed the only two remaining Flame-Chasers of the Current Era.
Here with Misteln, Shun had already hit a bottleneck. Simply accumulating more combat experience to trigger quantitative-to-qualitative change was no longer enough to improve. The next methods to quickly boost his strength were likely only to be found with Fu Hua and Su.
You might ask why he wasn't considering the other option. Until he was mentally confident he could resist simulated Fenghuang Down and physically confident he could defeat Durandal, Shun had no intention of meeting Otto.
As for whether Su would help him after he found him Shun wasn't worried. As long as his goal was to help humanity defeat Honkai, Su had no reason to refuse. Moreover, compared to the amnesiac Fu Hua, Su knew far more. Shun also wanted to ask why both Gray Serpent and Misteln acted as if they had known him for a long time.
"It seems the enemies you'll face in the future are beyond imagination. Is it Honkai? Can humanity really defeat Honkai?" As a supporter of the Stigmata Project and a natural Archetype, Misteln understood the true nature of Honkai better than most. She had never believed humanity had a chance to defeat it the Stigmata Project was humanity's only future.
"What if it's difficult? Honkai won't show mercy just because you think it's hard." Until it finds something it can [embrace], Honkai will never disappear. Even in the pre-final-chapter Stigmata Project, the solution was merely a cheat code redefining what it means to be human, accepting the Cocoon's embrace as a collective consciousness called the [Spiritual Adam].
"But Honkai cannot be defeated. It controls everything in this Imaginary terminal." Misteln, who was closely linked to the Stigmata space, stated the cruel truth that humanity could never defeat Honkai. On this Earth, only she who was born from the Stigmata space tightly connected to the Imaginary had the right to say so.
Shun didn't rush to refute her. Instead, he asked Misteln another question: "Why do we have the right to treat the stars as our enemy?"
Misteln fell silent. To her, this was a false premise. She had never believed humanity could treat the stars as enemies. Mere creatures who could never truly set foot in space in their entire lifetimes how could they possibly have the qualification to make the stars their enemy?
Unlike Misteln, Shun had never believed Honkai was undefeatable. Even when he had only recently recovered some memories, he had been thinking about how to defy fate and save Ana from her inevitable death. The idea that man can conquer nature had always influenced him. You could call it the arrogance or superiority complex of a transmigrator he had never considered giving up.
"It seems you don't have an answer in your heart or rather, from the bottom of your heart, you don't acknowledge my question at all. Then let me give you my answer."
"Because beneath the vast firmament, I have never considered myself humble."