Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

"I heard you were returning. You might as well see what I cooked."

"You're the only Vill-V who makes bad puns…"

"Why? Aren't they terrific?"

"..."

Aleph fell silent. Every time he meets this kind of Vill-V, he can't think of any good comebacks. This was the only case where he 'ties' with her.

"I am not lying about the things I made. Remember the one project you gave me? The analysis of the second Herrscher's Core on the Battlesuits' special function."

"The global time fracture."

"Yes, that one." She nodded at his words. "It's a tricky project. There aren't any records of the Second Herrscher utilizing her authority to control time. As for the core… you know it's already dead."

There was a huge difference between the Previous Era's and the Current Era's Herrscher Cores. 

The former's are dead. They can only be used via soulium, which makes up a Divine Key. Soulium is a nanomachine that has self-repairing capabilities when facing honkai corruption. It also takes most of the damage from the honkai at the behest of their user.

It is the most optimal material for making honkai-related weapons.

Of course, Divine Keys are on another level altogether. Even if they were made up of soulium, their honkai insulation function drops to a sharp degree.

Now, unlike the former, the latter—Current Era Herrschers—could retain a part of their consciousness inside their Herrscher Cores. 

This makes these Cores 'alive'. Welt Yang, for example, was able to 'transfer' the First Herrscher's authority. It makes it possible for a Herrscher Core to be 'inherited', allowing a far greater utilization rate than the Divine Keys themselves.

"This is where the Blank Core you gave me helped." Vill-V grasped in excitement as she grabbed his shoulders. "Do you know what it did?!"

"I'm guessing it's far more than what I told you about it."

"Alright, alright. It's better to show it to you instead."

Vill-V guided him along her workshop. Aleph was familiar with it, but…

"A secret passage."

"How was it~?"

"I'm not surprised by it."

He knew the previous layout of her workshop. That included this 'secret passage' she revealed just now.

Unlike the Second Herrscher's Core that was stored openly, the 'Blank Core' Aleph obtained from his achievements was hidden while it was being studied.

The passageways where they walked into were visibly older by a decade. 

"It's one of the abandoned half-built escape routes. It was abandoned when the Second Herrscher was shown to be able to collapse structural frames like this one."

Vill-V began her brief history lesson. The Chef Vill-V was one of the most talkative Vill-Vs, only second to the Magician Vill-V.

By the time they reached her hidden laboratory, Aleph heard the entire cause-and-effect of this hidden laboratory of hers.

It wasn't as big as the workshop on the surface. Bright lights lit the entire room. It didn't have the gloominess of Mobius' workstation.

In its center lay a spherical orb contained by a cubic container. It was being held by black metallic links. The said orb was shining dimly.

"When you handed it over, I thought of making a special battlesuit for it. You know, the kind that supplies nigh-unlimited honkai energy to its user. I already made several blueprints out of it. But…"

Her gaze returned to Aleph. It was the kind of 'excitement' that couldn't be easily controlled.

"The Blank Core sent out strange readings when I brought it here. The only thing that would've prompted a reaction is…"

"The Second Herrscher Core."

"Yup."

The more Aleph listened to Vill-V, the more he was infected by her crazy ideas.

'How did she even come up with this idea… letting two Herrscher Cores contact each other…'

It was a 'gamble', yet she willingly took it. In turn, she was able to discover another function of the Blank Key—to copy the authority of the Herrscher Core it contacts with.

"It's now equivalent to a living Herrscher… but without any consciousness to control it."

"..."

Blank Key.

Blank Core.

The two seemingly unrelated things popped up inside Aleph's mind. These thoughts came to his mind at first, though he chose to ignore them.

'I dug too deep into it.' He lamented. 'It happened again… I was about to be locked to an inflexible train of thought…'

His conflict was hidden deep within his mind. Aleph continued acting normally.

"I simulated it and ended up with several results. Here."

Vill-V threw a flat circular object at Aleph, to which the latter caught.

"Try pressing it."

He did as he was told.

Tap.

Buzz-!

A considerable amount of honkai energy was emitted from the device. The moment it spread into half of the room, it formed a spatial field.

Crack-!

'This is… No doubt, it's a time fracture.'

The familiar gray sight reminded Aleph of Sakura's technique. It was similar to it, yet different. If Sakura could completely stop time, this device only slows down the flow of time.

It was something that utilized the relationship between space and time as Euclidean Dimensions. It was an advanced concept that would've been impossible to create.

Crack-!

The gray sight returned to normal. Vill-V, who was in the other half of the room, stared at him with interest. It was clear she was waiting for his response.

"You didn't have enough time to create a special battlesuit, right? I made you one along with that device. It only slowed down time by a tenth within a second. I suppose it's enough for you?"

At this moment, Aleph felt something was strange with her.

Unfortunately, he couldn't put his finger on it.

"...Thank you."

"Heh. That's good enough."

She held a silver briefcase before handing it over to him. She wore a smug yet appreciative look.

"I won't ask for anything in return." She stated. "Though I would appreciate it if you helped me out with some projects sometimes."

"Alright. Once I clear out my current mission, I'll help you out. It's for the Second Divine Key, right?"

With that, another inexplicable smile was drawn on Vill-V's face.