In truth—
The moment Hikari Aoi paid, took the hairband, and tied his waist-length hair into a neat ponytail—
Raiden Mei realized it.
He had said all that—
Just to stop her from refusing.
…How sly.
After admiring Mei's ponytail for a moment, Hikari Aoi continued strolling with her.
Before long—
As night deepened—
Their outing came to an end.
Without a doubt—
This already counted as a date.
Days passed.
Mei gradually grew used to spending her evenings with Hikari Aoi—
Talking, practicing swordsmanship, walking through the streets…
(…going on dates.)
As for Hikari Aoi—
After confirming that continuing as an intern at the ME Corp branch wouldn't yield any meaningful gains—
He resigned.
It caused a small stir at Tachikawa Academy.
But since ME Corp's reputation had declined—
No one found it too surprising.
Aside from that—
There was training.
And—
Pulling from the Friendship Supply.
Now, Hikari Aoi consistently gained 90 friendship points per day from Mei.
That meant—
Almost one pull per day.
Although this number had stabilized long ago and no longer increased—
It likely indicated that his relationship with Mei had reached a certain limit.
Still—
Hikari Aoi didn't dwell on it.
He simply continued his routine steadily.
As his swordsmanship improved—
There was no longer any need to spar with Mei.
He could train on his own just fine.
As a result—
His time with Mei each day had effectively become rest.
Even—
Leisure.
Ever since the strawberry daifuku—
Mei would often prepare small sweets.
And the two would sometimes stroll through Nagazora City at night.
Combined with the extra time gained from quitting ME Corp—
Hikari Aoi's life had become much more relaxed.
By now—
Hikari Aoi had performed dozens of Friendship Supply pulls.
Around fifty or so.
He had fully collected a set of Selena Stigmata—
And upgraded it to max at two stars.
In addition—
He also obtained a full set of Charlotte Stigmata, though not yet fully upgraded.
Both sets—
Started at one star and maxed at two stars.
All things considered—
His luck wasn't bad.
And it also confirmed his earlier theory—
He wasn't limited by the number of Stigmata.
He could absorb them endlessly—
And convert them into his own power.
Completing a full set of Stigmata—
Didn't grant any special set effects like in the game.
Instead—
It further enhanced his physical capabilities.
Roughly—
Each of the three Stigmata pieces provided an additional 20% boost.
Hikari Aoi found it slightly surprising—
But ultimately—
He preferred it this way.
After all—
In the game, many set effects required specific Valkyries to activate.
Some even depended on certain attributes.
And others—
Involved strange effects like creating explosive water spheres.
If something like that happened in reality—
…it would be rather bizarre.
Aside from gaining far greater strength—
Hikari Aoi also noticed something else.
Friendship Supply Stigmata—
Did not duplicate.
After completing the Selena and Charlotte sets—
He frequently obtained two-star Homu Spicy Treasure instead.
It seemed—
These had replaced the original Stigmata pool.
Which also explained—
Why he still had enough coins to upgrade part of the Charlotte set—
Even after maxing out Selena.
Originally—
Hikari Aoi thought that until higher-tier supply became available—
He wouldn't obtain any new Stigmata.
Only accumulate coins.
After all—
As far as he knew—
There were only two one-star Stigmata sets.
Selena and Charlotte.
But today—
He realized he was wrong.
As usual—
The moment his friendship points reached 100—
He immediately pulled.
At first, seeing the blue glow—
He assumed it was another Homu Spicy Treasure worth 2,000 coins.
But this time—
It was different.
A Stigmata.
"Hannah (Middle)… So Friendship Supply can even yield Stigmata that start at two stars."
Hikari Aoi murmured.
"…No. Even if my luck were bad, it shouldn't take this long to appear. More likely, after exhausting all one-star Stigmata, the pool changed."
"Just like before—after obtaining all one-star Stigmata, two-star Homu Spicy Treasure started appearing frequently."
Could Friendship Supply eventually produce four-star Stigmata?
Hikari Aoi doubted it.
But even so—
The appearance of a two-star Stigmata—
Was already the best news he had received in a long time.
Unfortunately—
He didn't have enough coins.
Not even enough to upgrade it.
After all—
Hannah started at two stars.
Upgrading it required 10,000 coins.
And Hikari Aoi hadn't even finished upgrading his Charlotte set yet.
Coins—
Were always in short supply.
As he felt the power of Hannah (Middle) flow into his body—
Further strengthening him—
Hikari Aoi smiled.
"Nearly two months…"
"I've obtained seven Stigmata, and upgraded them to varying degrees."
"At this rate…"
"By the time the Third Honkai arrives…"
"I might actually be able to take down a Honkai Beast with a single punch."
How strong was he now?
Hikari Aoi didn't know.
Without zombies or Honkai Beasts to test against—
There was no clear benchmark.
His sparring with Mei had long since shifted—
From training—
To companionship.
As his strength continued to grow with each new Stigmata—
Mei, who had yet to awaken as a Herrscher—
Still possessed only the physical capabilities of a normal human.
So during their practice—
Hikari Aoi increasingly suppressed his strength.
In a way—
It also helped him refine his control.
Not entirely pointless.
Mei didn't notice the explosive growth in his strength over the past month.
But—
She did notice something else.
Hikari Aoi had become much more relaxed.
No longer burdened by that overwhelming pressure.
And for that—
Mei felt genuinely happy.
Meanwhile—
Far away—
A white-haired girl,
After years of fruitless searching across Europe—
For her missing father,
And for answers about the Honkai that plagued the world—
Finally set her sights on a new destination.
Asia.