Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

The brief silence was broken by Aleph's revelation.

"Remember the guy I told you before? The one who authored the books I gave you. I can let you fight him."

"Your friend…"

Sakura was well aware of Sasaki's swordsmanship. He did not hold back when choosing the principles to impart. As such, she acknowledged the skill of a man who swung his sword countless times meaningfully.

Throughout all of her simulations…

…she could not see their fight's ending.

"Do you know a place?"

Just like that, a fight between two swordsmen was decided.

******

Sakura's hometown was in the Far East. Away from the bustling metropolitan cities such as Nagazora, the two sisters were born in the countryside. They kept strict adherence to their culture, and as such, the older one, Sakura, maintained a disciplined attitude to what she was attached to the most—swordsmanship.

She once wielded a sword to protect Rin. It was unfortunate that fate had other things in store. 

Their parents died in an accident. Their relatives divided their inheritance on the grounds of their young age.

Ultimately, Sakura's talent ended up in the eyes of Fire MOTH's black gloves. Rin's life was used as a chip for Sakura to work for them.

Swoosh-!

It was a wide field of grass. Numerous sakura trees stood tall in a neatly-arranged line, making it clear someone planted them here.

"Mister Aleph. Is my big sis about to fight someone?"

"Yeah. This might be the first time you'll see her in action."

Not far away from them, Sakura looked at Aleph with a complicated gaze. It began with Aleph's suggestion of letting Rin see her fight. It did end up with the latter becoming a spectator.

"The fight can only last for fifteen minutes. Regardless of the outcome, that friend of mine has to leave." Aleph said. "Though I believe you can settle it in less than five minutes."

He gave Sakura time to process everything. His attention was briefly taken by this spot's beauty.

'It is… I'm not mistaken. It's the place Kevin visited… after her death.'

Tap.

It was akin to a drop of water. The cursed energy in Aleph's body went through his Sephira Crystal. The negative energy turned into its inverse form—positive energy. It was similar to the reversed curse technique. Only their mediums of conversion were different.

One came from his cursed techniques in his frontal lobe. The other came from his fragmented Sephira Crystal. It wasn't wrong to say Aleph had way more means compared to before.

Their surroundings changed swiftly. The paradise in Albion's mind briefly overlapped with the sight in his eyes. Only, it was far more underwhelming. Still, it was enough for the child at his side to wonder.

"Wow… Flowers grew out of nowhere!"

"Fu…"

Aleph's sigh was seen by Sakura's keen eyes. She wanted to ask how… no, why their surroundings changed. However, she was interrupted by Aleph.

"I made the surroundings tougher. It would be meaningless in a real fight, but it's a pity for a sight like this to be destroyed, even accidentally."

"..."

Sakura fell silent. She felt that she never fully knew Aleph at all. She heard his experiences, but it was not everything. His motives from a year ago, as well as his reason for fighting now…

She did not know anything at all.

Who would've expected that a man capable of single-handedly crushing a Herrscher cared about a tranquil sight?

"I'll call him out now."

Her thoughts were halted. 

A tall red Torii Gate manifested out of nowhere. Its gap showed a vague dark environment.

Tap.

Tap.

Ripple-!

A man came out of it. He was wearing the traditional outfit of the people from the feudal era. A long nodachi was hung behind his back with a blue sheathe. His long hair and peaceful gaze gave off a special aura. 

'Is this how it is?'

Aleph focused more on the effects brought by Sasaki's arrival. The visible effects included the distortion of space. His elemental sight also caught the momentary adaptation of Sasaki into "this world".

{Results: From the stored data, it is judged that the natives of the otherworld were suppressed by the textures of humanity and an active will interfering in a world's development…}

The world where Sasaki came from was complicated. Compared to this world that only had the Cocoon of Finality as the manipulator behind the scenes, the Fate World had the textures of humanity, mysteries, and the two wills affecting it.

'I really need to create a general theory regarding the relativity of a world's laws…'

Aleph's mind raced as he thought of a new research direction.

"It is nice to meet you in person, Miss Sakura."

"It is also nice to meet you."

Their first clash began in the form of scoping each other out. It is also known as a pre-judgement before a fight truly begins. This process exists in every fight, though it could be felt more prominently in duels.

"I believe you wanted to seek an answer." Sasaki spoke elegantly. "Whose sword will triumph the other's… and the likes. Let's not waste any more time, shall we?"

"I agree."

In terms of raw physical strength, Sakura far outclasses Sasaki. The same thing would happen to Sasaki once she faced Sakura, a high-level MANTIS, in a fair fight.

What they were looking for wasn't a fair fight, but…

Sou-!

Clang-!

Clang-!

…a clash between their blades.

Swoosh-!

It all happened in a moment. The moment two loud strikes resounded, a strong gust of wind originated from the center point. It rustled Rin's shoulder-length hair as well as the newly-grown flowers.

A thin line of blood appeared in Sakura's face. Sasaki's helpless smile, devoid of sarcasm, expressed his internal state in full.

"The world is truly a vast place." He stated.

"I never managed to block the final strike."

Sakura swiped the blood on her face with her fingers. 

"It was surprising you blocked two of them."

It was a battle of techniques.

The pinnacle of Sakura's abilities lay in her ability to literally 'stop' time. Utilizing her swift speed, it turned into a deadly weapon. It already derailed from the usual abilities and was resulted by Sakura's sheer talent in swordsmanship. The MANTIS surgery only awakened it.

Meanwhile, Sasaki's Tsubame Gaeshi was also a technique that defied the norm. It allowed him to strike three times—in the same place, at the same time.

It was something that touched upon the parallel worlds based on quantum theory. Simply put, his technique overlaps three possibilities where the strikes 'hit' his opponent, thereby all the strikes becoming unblockable.

Once these two techniques clashed, Tsubame Gaeshi prevailed, but with only a narrow margin.

"Let's fight again."

Sakura's words unsheathed all of her past frustrations.

*****

A/N: If some of you are wondering, I gave SAKURA a tail. From the moment I saw her beach outfit, I knew I had to fight for this. It was a hologram on that outfit, but it's real now. Things are much better this way, no questions asked.

If you'd like a more rational reason: It is due to Mobius learning many things in Aleph's case, and as such, integration with ICHOR is improved, resulting on that tail.

Either way, SAKURA with a tail is way batter.