Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

A brand new world.

Sasaki had already prepared himself for it. Nevertheless, he still caught off guard.

First was his strength. It was several times stronger than usual. He knew it himself that his sword strikes—even Tsubame Gaeshi—would not affect the environment as much as now.

It was as if a pair of shackles were broken in this world.

That brought him to the second thing…

'A sword to hit swallows.'

An unprecedented freedom.

It was Sasaki's first time to experience something as such.

'Like the birds in the sky.'

He stared at the fox-eared girl in front of him. Numerous sweat beads crawled from his forehead. His nodachi's long handle felt a bit heavier as he faced a challenging enemy.

Sakura far outclassed him in almost everything. 

Her blows, no matter how infrequent they were, took a toll on his body.

Her reaction speed was on a completely different level.

In a fair fight, he would have lost his head in an instant.

However, both of them knew they wanted a clash of pure swordsmanship. Sakura gave all of her advantages just to be able to do so.

Can her time-stopping technique break his three blades?

Unfortunately for her, Sasaki's sole advantage lay in swordsmanship.

'...was three the limit?'

Feeling his body turning lighter, an idea sprouted in his mind. 

It was no longer enough to strike a swallow. In other worlds, there surely existed people far faster than it. 

He had to move forward.

Clang-!

Sou-!

Once again, their techniques clashed. Sasaki was pushed back by several steps. Gusts of wind came from their blades, sweeping through the grassland.

A line of blood appeared on Sakura's face. It was noticeably shorter than the previous ones that appeared fourteen minutes ago.

'She already contacted the third strike.'

Sasaki reached a state of unprecedented calmness. His prided technique was about to be defeated. His blade, which defeated his formidable enemies, was about to be broken by the girl opposite of him.

Sakura's improvements were extremely visible. Her time-stopping technique became so lethal she nearly blocked the third mystical strike from Sasaki's Tsubame Gaeshi.

'A path to infinity.'

'A road none had ever walked.'

'It is not necessary to walk in such a path. Having a glimpse is enough.'

Tick.

Tick.

Clang-!

Sou-!

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt an additional line of blood appear on her face.

Turns out…

"One more."

…she wasn't just the only person who improved.

*****

The fight went beyond Aleph's expectations.

'I thought they would settle it quickly.'

Oftentimes, a fight will be decided in a flash. In a duel's case, it stops when a victor emerges.

Be it Sakura's time-stopping technique or Sasaki's Tsubame Gaeshi, both of them were extremely special.

'She's the relentless type…'

He facepalmed inwardly as he blamed his stupid self.

'I should've expected she wouldn't stop.'

It has been fourteen minutes since the beginning of the fight. His elemental sight alone was enough to feed Aleph everything that happened just now.

Sasaki's Tsubame Gaeshi was on the verge of being cracked. Though, Aleph knew Sasaki wasn't the type to stop at this, either.

At the very least, he becomes completely different when it comes to swordsmanship.

Clang-!

Sou-!

Aleph placed his right hand on Rin's back, preventing her from being tripped by the winds. The area around her was already enveloped with Aleph's neutralizing domain. What was left were the bits of phenomena deemed to be 'weak' by it.

'I knew it.'

His attention was taken by Sasaki's sudden changes. His original Tsubame Gaeshi had three simultaneous strikes; now, it has four.

'Was this the difference of worlds? It's truly… interesting.'

A desire was lit up in Aleph's heart. Beyond his current duty of defeating the honkai, there lay a road beyond it. 

It was that thought which fueled him a sense of excitement.

'Exploring other worlds...'

Tick.

Fifteen minutes had exactly passed since the beginning of their duel. Sakura blankly stared at the blood on her fingertips.

She knew she had lost.

'A sword focused on defending.'

Throughout their duel, Sakura noticed how Sasaki was always kept on the defensive, yet he utilized that same predicament to his advantage. His nodachi's reach was far enough to employ such a tactic.

'A sword to protect.'

Her thoughts went in another similar yet different direction.

To whom was she doing it for?

For most of the time, it was for her sister. She killed numerous people for her safety's sake. She followed the orders from above. She willingly dirtied her hands for her.

"Are you still unsatisfied? I can fight you."

Aleph's casual remark resounded in her ears.

"No, thank you."

"If you say so."

The child beside him finally spoke after being in awe of the earlier fight.

"That was very cool, Big Sis!"

Rin ran straight to her side. Her small hands held her right hand.

"Can you show it to me again..?! Please~"

"...Later, when we have the time."

"Alright! That's a deal!"

Looking towards the man who changed it all…

'If it's him…'

…her sword gained a new meaning.

*****

[Achievement Obtained: A Loyal Sword]

[Reward: Red Strings of Fate (Upgrade)]

[A Loyal Sword: Gain a loyal guardian who fights by your side.]

Aleph stared blankly at the prompt that appeared earlier.

'...It must be Sakura. There's no other way.'

After his achievement streak during the consecutive confessions, it became silent for a few days. Only now did it appear again.

'Why this again..?'

Aleph could understand if it was related to the three women who shared an intimate relationship with him. 

However, it wasn't the case with Sakura.

'This is seriously pushing me in that direction.'

[Red Strings of Fate (Upgrade): Teleports the bound partners to your side for an hour. Once the duration ends, they will reutrn to their prior locations.]

First, it was the transfer of Aleph's power through a kiss. Then, what came next was the increased growth as well as sensing each others' statuses. The third upgrade took the icing on the cake.

'It's a time-limited thing? Well…'

"I'm sorry you had to stay up this late, Sir Aleph."

"No, it's not a big problem."

Aleph looked at Rin who was sleeping on the couch. She fell asleep watching projections of numerous fights against honkai beasts. It was akin to her staying late at night to watch a movie.

"I came here for another thing." 

He briefly explained the effects of his newly-obtained treasure, the Evolution Cube. Sakura understood its use and agreed to using it.

"Then, I'll leave first—"

Before Aleph could finish his words, Sakura interrupted him.

"Sir Aleph. What about staying here for a night or two? We have an unused room…"

All it took was a few words to change the atmosphere.