Walking to Chita (2)

"Damn it, how did Number #03 lose to a pair of brats" Inside a brightly glowing room. The old man shoved the glassware on the table, causing it to fall into pieces

"No, I must redeem my failure, this humiliation must be avenged". Heavily breathing, he tapped on his watch and scrolled through his friend list

Hesitation appeared on his face but remembering that two brats outed him, he pressed on the watch with indignance.

*Beep* *Beep*

'Kaching', The sound of a phone being picked up echoed as a raspy sound resounded in the room

"Brain, you better have a good reason otherwise I'd bash your head on the wall like the old days". A young voice said irritatedly.

Brain gulped, despite not seeing the person, he could have imagined his death if he had remained angry before this figure. As if a cold bucket of water cooled him, he recalled the story to the person on the phone.

Laughter rang for an entire minute before it stopped. Brain's forehead was twitching, as he was asking for a favor he tried to remain calm

"So you want me to deal with a couple of kids, even if you're joking you need to come up with something better". The man cracked when he thought of the omniscient Brain being dealt with easily

"You're asking for it, those kids can defeat my specimen Number #03 without a sweat. Even if it's just my side branch, this pair of kids shows potential similar to an S-Rank Valkyrie if they are given a few years". Brain shouted angrily, even though he was afraid of the man's strength, his status was nothing to laugh at

Both sides remained silent until one side said, "I'll send a few of my Commandment Soldiers to deal with them, are you satisfied". 

Brain sighed in relief as he knew the strength of the troops the man on the phone mentioned. They had A-Rank Valkyrie strength and a trump card allowing them to barrier-break their levels.

The conversation was brought forth as they started negotiating the conditions. It seemed that the man on the phone had limited manpower currently. His aim of sending Commandment level soldiers is to kidnap Uesugi and Bronya and replenish his forces

While Brain realized his intentions, he humphed before shutting the deal. 'Those kids are mine, I'll dissect them to see their true potential'. An evil light emitted from his eyes before an eerie cackle resonated in the room

*****

"Uesugi, how is my combat level?" Bronya Zaychik asked curiously.

The enemies they faced on the way were only zombies. Not a single wraith that has evolved from zombies appeared. 

Pondering the question, he calculated that her strength was merely between C to B Rank Valkyrie. This accounted to her prowess in ranged combat, if an assassin or a speedy close-combat fighter gained up on her, then she'd had no measures.

Of course, this is on the premises before she gains a Battlesuit, Bronya only had Project Bunny 19C as her weapon. Her current self is weaker than her first Battlesuit in the game

[Focus]

Uesugi nearly forgot about this skill because of the weak enemies he faced. Fortunately, he remembered that its LvL2 function can allow him to see others' battle powers. It's their status screen he can view

Bronya Zaychik (Human)

Age: 9

Talent: Mercenary Senses

LvL: 3

STR: 30, DUR: 20, INT: 70

Energy: 15

System Notice: Outstanding in Intelligence but has weaker physical abilities compared to her potential. Maybe if a prince on a white horse protected her in her growth phase, she'd come to like him

As always, he couldn't help but be speechless by the System's comments.

Shaking his head, deliberately ignoring the comment. He analyzed her abilities and confirmed his previous evaluation of her abilities. 

The stats shown are the results of Bronya's strong foundation as a mercenary, recent manipulation of Honkai Energy enhancing her body, and finally, the Rebirth Liquid that reformed her body.

'It seems the Rebirth Liquid conforms with the individual's potential, not blindly raising every stat.' However, for Uesugi, the Rebirth Liquid assisted him in every stat, meaning that his future growth path was more all-rounded

'With the abilities of the system and my knowledge of this world, I can gather a few trump cards to deal with my lack of firepower'. 

While he was thinking, Bronya kept on tugging his clothes to get his attention. When he slightly raised his head to look into Bronya's eyes, he calmly advised on her current capabilities

Nodding here and there, she occasionally gave her judgment which Uesugi found innovative. Her genius was boundless compared to his inexperience 

Their talk was about improving their powers and they were not curious about each other's hobbies and backgrounds.

Uesugi already knew since he played the game but Bronya was simply uninterested or was being cautious since she had just met Uesugi

If Uesugi hadn't allowed her to gain control of Honkai Energy and help eliminate the Chita and Zasopska crises then she would have kept an appropriate amount of distance

The journey was fraught with waves of zombies appearing in their paths and archers sneaking upon them. 

As the road to Chita was getting closer, batches of zombies began to surround them as they instinctively reacted to their nature

Bronya's cannons soon became insufficient as her Honkai Energy reserves were decreasing with each round. Uesugi covered her and stomped on the zombies like they were ants with Weapon Creation.

Weapon Creation can still be used without equipping his battlesuit as the technology is engraved into the suit which is in his mental space

Suddenly, among the hordes of zombies approaching, behind them, a minority of zombies were unique to the minions

'Wraiths'. The stronger versions of zombies have appeared. Uesugi calculated the distance and time as he realized they were nearing Chita, more like he could see a vague outline of the city

"Those unique-looking zombies are Frost Liches and Dead Silence. The latter has only support abilities but they have durability greater than ordinary zombies as Honkai-imbued weapons can damage them."

Dead Silence was a pure white female, dressed in a white cloak similar to a normal human being. Different from a zombie, she had a face and be a woman if she wasn't so pale white.

"Frost Liches are enhanced rangers with the skill to ice beams which can be destructive and corruptive as the beams can create a layer of ice on the ground". 

Uesugi explained the advanced zombies that Bronya had not met. 

The Frosty Liches looked like shadows influenced by ice as their bodies were black and had hints of white. Its figure was a girl and had four coffins floating around it.

Nodding at the information, Bronya remained calm as supporters were targets for her capabilities, she only needed to guard against the horde when Uesugi was not protecting her

"Be careful", Uesugi said and dashed toward the zombie horde. With Weapon Creation, unless the numbers exceed his Honkai Energy reserves then he's undefeatable in a one against all situation

The zombies wielding scythes couldn't even reach him before they were squashed while the archer's arrows were dodged or deflected.

As the numbers piled up, Uesugi's movements halted. 

Looking below his feet, he found a yellow web slowing his movements. It did not restrict his speed but it felt like he required more force to break free from it

And so he did, tensing his muscles, he leaped outside the boundaries of the web, creating a crater that destroyed it

Landing at a group of zombies, he noticed an ambush when he let his guard down. 

Four Frost Liches with their surrounding coffins shot them towards Uesugi. Surprisingly, they didn't hit him and similar to the web, a formation was created around him

16 coffins emitted a frosty aura that formed a layer of ice on Uesugi's body as the imposition on his movements was stronger than the web.

Despite not seeing this in the game, the reality was right before him. 'I let my guard down'.

Beating himself down, he could only burst his Honkai Energy to create a gap in the restriction. Sensing the right moment, he used Weapon Creation to send spears at the coffins, breaking them into pieces

Realizing the dangers of wraiths, he struck the foes with his gauntlets. 

CAS-X Saints is a fire-type weapon, while Frosty Liches excel in cold environments, they become more susceptible to fire elements in exchange for their home-ground advantage

They fell brittle like normal zombies as Uesugi's chest breathed slightly more up and down.

But for Dead Silence, he had no advantage over them and required some time to deal with them. Luckily, they are range specialists and were similar to Bronya in this aspect

"My energy consumption can recover as we fight but there may be reinforcements incoming, also the mastermind behind this can ambush us at this moment". 

An aghast expression appeared on his face as he turned his head in Bronya's direction who was calmly deterring the zombies closing up on her.

Noticing a flash between the zombies, he realized his assumptions had come true. 

'Equip'

Ignoring the wraith in front of him, he pushed it back and ran to intercept the enemies

His Chevalier Battlesuit appeared with flashes of light in space. He did not pick Statistics Amplification for his functions as he thought that his stats were sufficient

In this case... It's true. While there was no buff, he could finally utilize Time Slow as he ran. 

In Honkai Impact 3rd, characters were required to dodge right before an enemy hit them. It creates a time-space for the user to deal damage while the enemy moves like a snail.

Reality was not the same, but the requirement was. He used the zombie's attacks to activate the function, the reactor on his back flashed brightly as the world in Uesugi's eyes slowed down

However, his movements also slowed, meaning there was no actual advantage. Nevertheless, there is one benefit.

Utilizing Weapon Creation caused Honkai Energy to flow into the engravings on the equipment

Uesugi's movements were slowed but his Honkai Energy remained the same. Time Slow gave him a 3-second rebuke as he coursed the energy into the engravings to create projectiles at the assassins.