Walking to Chita

"Shuu, couldn't we have borrowed Uncle Maxim's car?" A cute voice sounded in the face of the harsh wind storms, threatening to throw her petite body away

"We must eliminate the wondering zombies and find some clues on the mastermind". The taller young boy said, lying through his teeth

With his mental energy, he can sense up to a 30m radius and the mission only mentioned that he needed to eliminate the zombies in Chita and Zasopska. 

Besides not being able to drive which is understandable for his physical age, he wanted to increase Bronya's fighting prowess by letting her get used to her newfound powers

A pair of cannons floated between her head and acted as turrets. Bronya was still fascinated by her new weapons even with Maxim's departure.

Yes, after the fusion of Bronya and the cannon finished. Maxim's presence disappeared and even Uesugi didn't know how he escaped from his senses.

When Bronya opened her eyes, she said that she heard everything between Uesugi and Maxim, while she was sad momentarily, her willpower overtaken it with resolve in her eyes

Uesugi looked at the cannons and was shocked by their familiar appearance. Familiar was not the word but he recognized its name.

Project Bunny 19C

For fellow Honkai Impact 3rd players, they should know of this name. However, the weapon's origin appeared in Bronya's time in Anti-Entropy's orphanage and was gifted by her best friend before she became missing.

Whoever created the weapon was still unknown but it acts as a sentient machine that can change form within its composition and materials' limits. 

In the game, Bronya relied on Project Bunny 19C to defeat her enemies alongside her tactical support as a range Valkyrie. This habit limited her growth, and only when she grew up did she slowly improve her combat abilities.

Uesugi's goal precisely was to train her to combine her close combat skills with her skill in weaponry. This will lay a foundation for future crises that cannot be handled without enhanced preparations.

Bronya could hear the worry in Uesugi's tone and realized there was a bigger implication to the situation. She kept quiet and started walking without a fuss. 

The snow was piled up and every step they took was covered again with more snow. A normal human would have been lost in the plains and frozen up even with thick layers of clothes

Uesugi Shuu and Bronya Zaychik did not have that problem, it is simply due to Honkai Energy regulating their bodies

Honkai Energy has the property of enhancing one's body and equipment, dealing with harsh environments is a minimum requirement to become a combat Valkyrie

However, Bronya has only recently activated her Honkai Energy Manipulation and the amount she can control is only 1 Energy unit considered by the system. There is also the efficiency of consumption as Bronya was emitting Honkai Energy beyond what she needed.

Noticing her situation, Uesugi took off a layer of his clothes and wrapped it around her. 

No one said anything as they continued walking towards Chita while Uesugi began contemplating any possible masterminds he may have missed.

******

"Ahahaha", a shrill laughter reverberated in an underground space filled with machines and blood. There were no intact corpses to be seen, but their faces were wrought with fear and agony, showing that they suffered before they died

"The lord will be pleased by my results, I have to quickly show him to receive his grace". The widely laughing white-haired old man said when he cackled in his laugh

*Cough* *Cough*

Suddenly, a siren was heard, removing the man's crazed face, and replacing it with calmness and danger. The screen on the cave flashed and revealed Uesugi and Bronya's small figures on top of the snow

Frowning at the false alarm, the surveillance machine detected Honkai Energy emitted from their bodies. Surprise appeared on his face before he sneered. 

"Schicksal dogs or Anti-Entropy goons, I'll kill the little chicks before leaving. Number #03, go and eliminate those brats in 30 minutes and come back, any longer and you know..." 

He yelled loudly towards a tube container, revealing a thin naked figure whose face was wrinkled as if he was dehydrated despite floating in water. 

"Understood", his mouth was shut but it disappeared from its container, leaving not a trace of its figure. 

It did not reveal any terrifying pressure, unlike Uesugi, a beginner to this. This means that its skills are refined or trained to be an assassin.

The wild laughter went on before dissipating, leaving the sound of dripping blood, falling off the tables, and hanging the bodies.

*****

"Fire!", Bronya shouted and the floating cannons responded with cannon balls launching towards the group of zombies before her

*Boom*

Blowing away the zombies and leaving behind a crater of smoke, she smiled with happiness before heading toward Uesugi who was clapping at her battle

"Not bad, while you still need to improve your battle habits, it'll be fixed when you increase your fighting experience". He commented that he was above her but his fighting experience was less than hers, 

She worked with Maxim in his mercenary work and her assessment of the battlefield far surpassed Uesugi who only fought on the premises of his willpower and strength

'Defeating the zombies in Chita and Zasopska should be doable with me and Bronya even if it takes time. However, the mastermind detected us a while ago. Uesugi felt that someone looked at him before they fought the zombies.

He couldn't trace back to where it came from but he knew, the battle was about to begin

'There aren't many ways to improve on the walk unless I use the Talent Awakening Chance LvL 10.' A status screen appeared before him, revealing his current stats

Uesugi Shuu (Human)

Age: 10

Talent: Focus, [Unawakened]

LvL: 5

STR: 130, DUR: 100, INT:150

Energy: 30

System Notice: You rule the bottom layer but have no chance against middle-tier opponents, continue to strive

Seeing the stats in front of him, Uesugi smiled. Including the mission rewards, he manages to improve through combat, despite not having a systematic training method

But the LvL increase truly surprised, even now he didn't know the requirements to level up

He couldn't help but that he would use Talent Awakening Chance in battle and awaken something that would turn the tables

While he had his inner monologue, he realised that there was still a Rebirth Liquid waiting to be claimed

Looking at Bronya who is now clinging on his clothes. He decided to let her consume it before arriving at Chita

"Bronya, I have something for you~", Asking her when suddenly, three arrows pincered his movements. The accuracy, placement and speed was impeccable, he couldn't escape nor would he remain unscathed by the attack

Subconsciously, he summoned Lightning Soul to parry the arrows. However, his reaction was a tid bit slower

He managed to deflect two arrows before the last one landed on his left thigh

"Shuu!" Bronya cried and she immediately reacted by aiming the cannons in the direction of the archer

While she couldn't see him/her due to the environment and distance, using her intuition, she pinpointed it's location and launched the cannonballs

*Boom*

Smoke erupted from the ground, leaving not a single trace left

However, Bronya remained focused as she knew it missed

It was then, a shadow appeared behind her with two daggers, aiming at her neck and heart

Uesugi appeared between them and ignored the incoming daggers, striking the enemy with an enhanced aura fist right to the head

The enemy flinched and retreated quickly. His traces were invisible and they couldn't sense his bloodlust

Uesugi and Bronya had their backs against each other. They looked at a 360° angle, trying to lock into the enemy

"How is the injury", Bronya asked coldly in a combat focused state

"I'm already healing but it'll impede my movements slightly if he appears now", Uesugi whispered softly as the enemy seemed to have heard his words, aimed at Bronya again

During the short exchange, the shadow determined that Bronya was on the weaker side and acted as a range combatant

However, even if Uesugi was injured, the enemies attempt was useless as he anticipated it's movements

*Shing* *Shing*

Two lightning flashes sliced towards the man's body. To its horror, it failed to defend against the attack, leaving behind a bloodied figure that collapsed on the white snow plains

Uesugi and Bronya were calm before this sight as they both had their experiences

Besides the arrow lodged on his thigh, they suffered no damage

"An assassin in an open field... If he wasn't underestimating us because of our ages, it would have been difficult to deal with him". Uesugi was grim about this encounter as he soon realised his mistake

"You shouldn't have killed him. Torturing him would have given us information on the mastermind". While Bronya didn't know the enemy, she figured his origin

Uesugi nodded apologetic, "Sorry, but there should be more assailants on the way". He then pondered on further improvements

Bronya wasn't angry and they continued their journey onwards. Only, a man underground was flustered by a signal