Disclaimer: I do not own Honkai Impact 3rd, anything in relation to miHoYo, or any other fictional media referenced in this story.

I only own my OCs.

Honkai Impact 3rd: Next Reality

Chapter 3: Enigma

Date: July 19, 2553

The morning sun had barely risen above the horizon. Crescent City only had the slightest of illumination from the sun's golden rays. To those facing the sun, their rooms would obtain a beautiful glow, a signal for them to wake up for the new day.

Such would be the case for Tendou. His room would have the light from the sunbeam inside, lighting parts of it while keeping some in the dark.

"Ugh…." Tendou groaned.

As his consciousness awakened, the man was met with an instant wave of pain toward his head. He instantly lifted his left hand up to his forehead, grasping it. When he opened his eyes, his vision was a bit messed up. It was exactly like yesterday. The outer rims of his vision were shrouded in a bright crimson red aura. His hearing was a bit messed up as well. It felt like he was underwater as everything was muffled heavily.

With all of his strength, Tendou pushed himself up on his bed. He lifted his head to look forward, and his eyes met an unfamiliar sight.

"Huh. It looks like I am able to enter this world on my own." A woman said as she looked at herself. "I wonder if I have any limitations."

Right across from Tendou, and standing near the kitchen, was a woman. The woman was very tall, almost as tall, if not as tall as Tendou himself. She had very long silver hair that was free-flowing up until near the bottom, where part of it was tied with a red ribbon. The flowing hair reached to her thighs. In the front, the woman had two strings of hair on her side that covered a section of the sides of her head and reached down to her chest. There was also a small patch of hair in the front that reached down and stopped in-between her eyes. The most notable feature of the woman was her body. The woman, at least by woman's standards, was very fit and muscular. Her body was chiseled enough for anyone to perfectly see all of the trained muscles on her body like her biceps, abdominals, legs, etc. It was very easy for Tendou to get a perfect view of the woman's figure, considering that the woman didn't have clothing on.

"Who the hell are you?!" Tendou shouted over at the woman.

Turning around, the woman's glistering crimson red eyes met with Tendou's bleak cobalt blue eyes. The woman didn't show any expression of embarrassment, shock, or anything for the matter. She was nearly emotionless looking at him, almost as if she wasn't bothered by his existence, and him looking at her like this.

"You're finally awake." The woman said. "Not how I imagined our first true meeting to be."

"Again, who are you?" Tendou pointed at the woman.

The woman placed her fingers on her chin, trying to think of something to say.

"How do I phrase this?" The woman closed her eyes. "Hmm…..This is quite difficult to answer."

The woman walked around in a circle, trying to think of how to answer this question properly without complicating things.

"I would say that I am you, and you are me, but not only does that make no sense, but it's almost incorrect honestly." The woman sighed. "I guess…the best way to describe myself is an entity who was forced inside you."

"That…..tells me basically nothing." Tendou said. "Great, I have someone living inside me-wait, what?"

"I'm not making this up." The woman said. "I am someone who is forced to live inside you. I know everything about you, ranging from your height, weight, and….'past'."

"You know….all of that?!" Tendou's eyes sparked up. "Tell me then! What was my past like? What was I doing before?"

"I…." The woman began. "There was a reason why I put an emphasis on 'past'. I…can't tell you the answers to that." She grimaced.

"But you just said that you could have answered that!" He argued back.

"I have the answers, I'm just not sure if I really want to tell them." She grimaced even more. "It's not complicated or anything, but rather overwhelming."

"What is with people and hiding things from me?" Tendou sighed. "The Professor refused to elaborate on why she's forcing me to be here, and now I can't even get answers to my past."

"Ah yeah, that." The woman remembered. "Being forced into something against your will. I have a possible theory for that." The woman's eyes closed a bit. "He plans to bring me back to him now that I've exhausted my resource. I have to be more cautious." She whispered to herself.

"What was that?" The man struggled to hear her.

"Don't worry about it for now."

"And again with all of this."

The woman glared at him intensely. Her red eyes glowed, and she reached her hand out. Within a matter of seconds, Tendou was lifted off of the bed, and was sent flying forward to the woman. He only stopped a few meters away from the woman, levitating in the air against his will.

"AGH! What the hell!"

"Look, I hate hiding things, but this is hopefully for the better." She said. "You've just woken up, and the last thing you need is to have many things shoved down your throat. I know you want to know more about what's going on, but knowledge can be a curse too." The woman told Tendou. "Hate me, and hate your circumstances all you want. You won't be able to change them."

The woman's eyes flashed red again as she sent Tendou tumbling back towards his bed.

"I know this is the first time you've met me, so you probably have a lot of skepticism, so saying for you to trust me won't work." The woman lamented. "But this is all I can give you. I'm sorry."

The tall man pushed himself upward on his bed. As he looked across at the woman, he heard a knock on his door. His attention was immediately drifted toward the door instead as it began to open. Tendou's gaze would switch back to the woman, but as he did, the woman came zooming towards him. Her body started to blossom into a gentle white light as she came up close, and disappeared into Tendou. The man was taken aback, pushing himself against the frame out of sudden shock.

The door opened up. On the other side was Professor Sarah, and behind her were two men.

"What was that ruckus earlier just now?" The Professor asked.

"Uh…." Tendou looked at the Professor. "I'll be honest. I don't know how to explain what happened."

"Whatever." The Professor sighed. "Anyway, we're here to take you down to the lab and turn you into a Valkyrie."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Tendou stuttered. "I haven't even accepted yet! I still don't want to join Schicksal."

"Yeah, I knew you were gonna be like this." The Professor let out a breath. "I'm sorry. Men, get him."

On order, the two men stepped inside the room, grabbing Tendou by his arms. Tendou rebelled against the two men grabbing him, though he was clearly outmatched and outnumbered. The men had a near easy time dragging Tendou out of his room, but while they may be stronger, they were at a height disadvantage. Tendou's height made it easy for him to stand his own ground as he could use his legs to easily halt the two men temporarily.

"Oi! Stay still!" One of the men shouted.

"Calm down! You'll be alright." The other tried to reassure.

"Alright?!" Tendou looked at them with an aggravated expression. "You're forcing something upon me! How is ignoring my consent alright?!"

Before Tendou could make more of a ruckus, Professor Sarah slammed her fist against Tendou's solar plexus, instantly knocking him out.

"Professor, was that necessary?" One of the men asked.

"Arguably not." She answered. "However, it makes your job easier. Continue."

"A-Alright then."

…..

…..

Tendou let out a few groans. When he regained consciousness again, his sternum felt stiff and in pain. He tried to reach for the area, except he couldn't. Tendou's arms were completely locked in place, and so were his legs. In fact, his entire body was pretty much locked in place. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a shining light, making him shut his eyes again due to their intensity.

"What the hell?" He mumbled.

Tendou was currently constrained down to a chair that laid him back. He had many square pads attached to his body, all of which were there to read his body signals. Across from where he laid, a group of scientists which included Professor Sarah, were operating some machinery, prepping for the initiation.

"How close are we to being ready?" Professor Sarah asked.

"The stigmata shot is ready ma'am." Someone said.

"Alright. What about vitals? Are we getting any reads on the vital machine?"

"Vitals are on the screen." Someone else said.

"Good. What about energy readings?"

"Online."

"Alright then, we should almost be ready-."

"AAAHHHHHH!" Tendou screamed.

The man began violently shaking within his constraints. While his efforts were futile at best, it didn't stop him from trying to free himself. He tugged against the constraints as hard as he could, and he began shaking within the chair he was bound to, and while the chair was shaking due to his movement, Tendou made no progress in freeing himself.

Behind Professor Sarah, the door opened up to the laboratory where all of this was happening. Behind the door, three people walked in. The first one was a doctor, standing at around 5'9. He had short black hair, a majority of it combed to his left. He had on a usual doctor's outfit, complete with a stethoscope. Following behind him was Reshia, and behind her was Otto Apocalypse.

"Took you long enough to get here Doctor Enmu." Sarah scolded him.

"Sorry. I was urgently called elsewhere." He excused himself. "I hope I'm not-what is wrong with him?" He pointed over at Tendou, who was still trying to free himself.

"Oh." Sarah sighed. "He's our new recruit, the one that the Overseer adamantly wants to join us. He's very hesitant to join us, so now we forced him into this."

The Doctor's gaze continuously switched between the panicking Tendou, and the very calm Professor, the doctor's expression being a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and shock.

"Why are we forcing someone to become a Valkyrie?" The Doctor asked the obvious question. "Isn't that illegal or something?"

"Well, none of us ever wrote anything about that in our rulebook." Otto chimed in.

"I'm just talking about morally." Doctor Enmu said. "Aren't we taking away someone's consent to something?"

"Well, you'd be right." Otto noted. "…..We'll just ignore it. Alright is everyone ready?" He asked.

"Wait what?! We're just gonna ignore that this man is-."

"Enmu, just do your job." Sarah laid a hand on his shoulder.

"But-!"

"Just do it."

Without much of a choice, and pretty much out of force, the Doctor had to head the operation. Meanwhile, Tendou had pretty much exhausted himself. The man was panting, his diaphragm moving up and down as the man tried to recollect his breath. His entire body was covered in sweat from his failed attempt to break free. Suddenly, he could feel the back of the chair begin to open up. From behind the back of the chair, a red bottle with a needle came out, with the needle pointing straight at Tendou's spine.

"What the hell's going on?" He started to freak out again.

There was a few seconds pause. The entire room was silent. The scientist only stared at Tendou quietly. The atmosphere was given a very eerie feeling as nothing but the inner fans were heard.

"Now." Sarah commanded.

The stigmata shot jabbed itself into Tendou's spine. The forced man, unprepared, let out a massive roar as the needle was forcefully injected inside of him with instant speed, forcing juices of Honkai energy inside his body. He went back to spazzing out like earlier. His body was in an unbearable state. Tendou could feel his body burning and freezing at the same time. He felt like his entire insides were becoming air and empty, but also heavy and stiff. His unexplainable state only heightened his panic even further, causing him to shake even more.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"Professor! His vital signs are becoming worse!"

On the holographic display, his vital signs were becoming worse. His heart rate, which initially started insanely high, had begun to lower to below average. His heart was dying fast. The Schicksal scientist began deploying the security measures, trying to find a way to reinstate his heart back. A robotic arm was deployed and moved its arm towards Tendou's chest. The arm pushed down at where his heart was located, performing CPR on him, minus the oxygen part.

"His heart rate isn't going up!" A scientist yelled. "All we have done is slow down the process, but it's still going down!"

"Damn it!" Doctor Enmu yelled. "Get out the other things!"

"This is not going well." Professor Sarah began to panic. "Otto, do you really believe this will work out?"

"Just wait Sarah." Otto persisted. "I fully believe this will end perfectly."

Amidst this chaos, the victim in hand felt light-headed. His arms, legs, pretty much everything felt like they were completely gone. His vision became obscure.

"So this is how I die?" Tendou thought to himself. "I didn't learn anything about myself, everyone around me keeps withholding everything from me, and I die even before doing something I was forced into."

The man just wanted to close his eyes, let the suffering end, but his wish did not come true….at least in a way that he didn't expect.

"Hold on, I'm gonna try something." The female voice from before said.

Tendou's outer vision started to become jaded in red again. From out of his chest, a white glow in the shape of the woman's body came out. The glow disappeared, and the woman's appearance was now completely visible in all of her glory. She hovered over Tendou's body, looking down at the group of scientists in front of her. Despite her appearance, none of the scientists were particularly bothered, nor did they look at her.

"Huh?" The woman let out. "They don't seem to be bothered by me. Do they not see me?"

The woman hovered over to the other scientist, floating around them in circles. She even got up into their faces, yet she spurred out no reaction from everyone. The woman hovered up towards Otto Apocalypse. The man of Schicksal did not waver a reaction, despite the woman being right in front of him. The only thing Otto was doing was standing by the sideline as the others tried to stabilize Tendou.

"I guess that confirms it. No one sees or hears me except for you." The woman looked back at Tendou. "I wonder though. Am I able to touch things in this world?"

Not hesitating, the woman reeled back her right arm, and sent a mighty punch towards the Overseer's face. Her fist would completely connect against the center of Otto's face, knocking him back to a wall.

"AGH!" The Overseer cried out.

"Overseer!" Professor Sarah turned around. "What happened?"

Otto stood back up, his nose letting out blood as the woman dealt a heavy blow to it.

"Don't worry about me." He said to the Professor. "Focus on Tendou first."

Reshia rushed over to the Overseer, handing him a cloth for his bloody nose. The Overseer had an expression of confusion on him, not knowing what had just happened.

"Are you ok?" The maid asked.

"I'm fine." Otto told her. "It felt like I just got punched, but what happened?"

"Hahahaha! I always wanted to do that!" The woman chuckled greatly. "Sucks that I don't have the rest of my abilities. Anyway, looks like I can interact with this world at least. Am I limited to a range though?" She wondered.

The woman levitated over to the door, trying to exit the room. However, once she got close, the woman was getting tugged back a bit as if a force of nature was preventing her from leaving. No matter how hard she pushed onward, the force pulling her back always prevailed.

"Damn, so I'm limited to a range." She cursed. "Whatever. Now, where was I?" She wondered. "That's right. You're our problem right now." The woman turned back to Tendou.

At this point, Tendou's heart rate was nearing closer and closer to 0. His body was pretty much dead. He couldn't move any of his limbs to be exact. The only thing he had control of at the moment was his head.

"You said you were gonna try something, right?" Tendou asked her, his voice becoming coarse.

"Looks like I wasted more time than I thought." The woman recognized as Tendou spoke. "Alright, give me a moment. Let me see if I can temporarily activate this part."

The woman quickly flew towards Tendou, floating parallel above him. She reached her arms out, placing her palms onto his chest. Her body began to glow as she attempted to activate something within Tendou. Soon, Tendou's chest began to light up a bit. Whatever the woman was doing, it was working. Slowly, Tendou felt his limbs come back to reality, his body began stabilizing in temperature, and his breathing was returning back to normal. The man was shocked, and slightly afraid. The woman took her hands off of Tendou's chest. She was panting, seemingly drained.

"His vital signals, they've returned back to normal!" Someone yelled.

"The stigmata implant is there. We've succeeded!" Another yelled.

The group began to cheer as the transformation, which started out horribly wrong, ended in success. Scientists began patting each other on the back. Professor Sarah leaned forward against a railing while Doctor Enmu began wiping off the sweat from his forehead. Through his bloodied face, the Overseer grinned at Tendou. The woman turned around to look at the joyful crowd, giving a slight scowl at their direction.

"What the hell did you just do?" He stared straight at the woman.

"That healing ability you have." She turned back to face him. "I temporarily enhanced it slightly from the normal version that you have. I was banking that it would bypass you needing to breathe, and I was thankfully right." She continued panting. "It took more from me than I thought to reach that enhancement though. Maybe I've lost more than I originally thought."

The woman began glowing white again as she began her process to enter Tendou again.

"Before I go…." She said. "Please be wary."

The woman entered Tendou's body again, leaving the man confused.

"Wary? Wary of what?" Tendou said.

"Tendou, are you alright?" Professor Sarah rushed downward to him.

The Professor released all restraints holding Tendou down, allowing him to get up and stand upright. His limbs were quite stiff, making him stumble slightly as he took his first steps. Curious, the man unbuttoned his shirt, trying to see if he could see what had just happened on his back. Sadly, his neck would allow him to turn far back enough to look down his spine.

"What did you do to me?!" Tendou asked.

Sarah looped around to his back, bearing witness to the stigmata implant on his spine. As expected, it was there, but what wasn't expected was what kind of stigmata was on him. Otto came up to Tendou shortly afterward, quickly looking at his stigmata as well. The Overseer only grinned once he saw the stigmata.

"It is indeed a success." He said.

"Who the hell are you?" Tendou looked at Otto.

"Of course, I haven't introduced myself yet." Otto let out a smile. "I'm current Overseer of Schicksal. I'm the one who runs things here." He formally introduced himself.

"Huh?" Tendou let out as he pulled his shirt back up. "So you're Otto Apocalypse?"

"Well...you could refer to me by that name." The Overseer replied with an emphasis on 'could'.

"What does that mean?" Tendou asked him.

"Nothing of importance to you." The Overseer replied.

"Anyway, why would you be here? Don't you have better things to do?"

"I was curious, let's just put it at that." The Overseer chuckled. "Anyway, how do you feel? Any different?"

"Other than feeling stiff, no." Tendou replied.

"I see. We'll just have to test you out then. Not that I needed to say that." Otto laughed.

"Right. Anyway, welcome to Saint Freya Academy Tendou. You have now completed the first step in becoming a Valkyrie!" Professor Sarah cheered.

Everyone in the room began clapping and cheering for Tendou, congratulating him on becoming a Valkyrie. Meanwhile, Tendou only grimaced at the fact that he has now become a Valkyrie out of force.

"Tch." He thought. "I've been thrown down this rabbit hole farther than I can recover. Damn it all!"

Walking down the path towards Tendou was the maid. She bowed her head down at the new Valkyrie.

"Hello, Master Tendou." She said. "My name is Reshia. I have been assigned by the Overseer to serve you during your time here." Reshia introduced herself. "I hope I can serve you to the best of my abilities."

Tendou looked down at the smaller maid, an eyebrow raised out of confusion.

"Excuse me?" He let out.

"Did I say something wrong?" Reshia looked up.

"Well, no." Tendou answered her. "I'm just flabbergasted by what you just said. Did you say that you were to serve me?" He asked her.

"Yes. The Overseer has instructed me to aid you, my new Master." Reshia answered him.

"….Why?" He questioned her again.

"I'll be honest with you, I do not know myself." Reshia gave a dismayed look. "The Overseer never told me why he wanted me to assist you, but these are the Overseer's orders." Reshia changed her face to a more optimistic one. "Regardless, I hope I will never fail you."

"Hahaha, don't be bothered by it too much." Otto chuckled. "I've known Reshia for a good amount of time. I believe she'll be able to serve you perfectly well." The Overseer told Tendou. "Now then, I believe that you will be tested on combat now. After all, if we are to send you into combat, we do need to know what style of fighting is best suited for you. It allows us to gather a lot of data."

"Damn." Tendou cursed under his breath. "I really can't turn around now, can I?" He grimaced at his newfound fact.

"Please Master Tendou, let me guide you to the training grounds." Reshia assisted.

Reshia began walking out of the experiment lab, with Tendou reluctantly following behind. As the two left the room, Otto leaned down to Professor Sarah.

"Looks like it worked." Otto whispered with a smirk.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Professor Sarah scowled at him. "How reckless of you to bank on her intervening!"

"It worked out, didn't it?" Otto winked.

"The end doesn't justify the means!" Sarah yelled out loud.

"Hahaha." Otto lightly chuckled. "Well, I have my own things to do now. I'll see you around Professor." Otto walked off.

As the Overseer left the lab, Professor Sarah scratched her head, unaware of what the Overseer wanted to achieve.

"I can never get a read on that guy." She thought to herself.

"Sarah, you alright?" Doctor Enmu called out to her.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She replied.

"Please stop screaming so much, would you?" Enmu begged her. "It's not good for your health, especially since your 44-."

"Shut up! Don't remind me of my age!" The Professor whined. "Let's see you laugh in 18 years when you become 44!"

As Otto walked back to his office, his face held up a grin of success.

"I expect to see a lot of things from you, Lessica."

"You first, Master." Reshia moved aside as the elevator opened up.

Tendou stepped in first, covering his face in discomfort. The maid followed behind him, and picked the first-floor button. To her keen eye, she was able to discern the fact that Tendou was feeling very uncomfortable.

"Are you feeling ok?" Reshia asked "You seem to be uncomfortable about something. Did I do something wrong?" She began to panic.

"N-No, not really." Tendou sighed. "It's just that, well, you keep calling me Master." He pointed out. "Cut that out. It's very awkward."

"I see." Reshia let out in a low tone. "Then what would you prefer for me to call you?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Tendou looked down at Reshia. "Just call me by my actual name. I don't see why that's so hard, nor is it strange." He said.

"Hmm….." Reshia hummed. "I suppose it isn't hard. I do call others by their actual names instead. I hope it's not too hard." The maid adjusted the ties on her twin tails. "It's just that, I've always given the 'Master' moniker to people I serve for."

"Then don't think of yourself as serving me." Tendou said. "Just think of it as helping someone with their everyday life."

"There's no difference though." Reshia blinked. "You just described the same thing, using different words."

"I-." Tendou shortly sputtered. "Just try not to call me Master, will you?"

"I'll try."

As the elevator opened on the first floor, Tendou and Reshia would encounter a person walking towards their way. As the person's eyes met with Reshia's, the maid stepped forward, bowing her head to greet her.

"Good Morning Yelena." Reshia greeted.

"Morning Reshia!" Yelena responded.

Yelena was a woman who stood at around 5'7. Her hair was cut short to barely reach the back of her neck, and there were a few groups of hair that laid in front of her shoulders. Yelena's eyes were a shade of dark green, almost like a swampy green color. Currently, the woman was carrying a weapon on her, a black sniper with purple electricity sparking from it.

"Oooh~?" Yelena immediately smirked. "Did you find a boyfriend, Reshia?" The woman winked at her. "I got to say, he is a chunk of meat! I didn't know you were into muscular men." She teased.

"Wha-NO!" Reshia screamed at Yelena. "He isn't my boyfriend at all!" The maid's face grew red. "His name is Tendou. He's just a new Valkyrie recruit here at the academy."

"Oh! A new recruit." Yelena smiled at Tendou. "But if he isn't your boyfriend….that means he must be free for the picking~." Yelena teased.

Tendou looked down at Yelena, an eyebrow raised out of the utmost confusion. This reaction was enough for Yelena to continue acting as she has been.

"You look like a handsome man yourself. I wouldn't mind dating you." She winked at Tendou as she circled around. "I think a lot of women wouldn't mind dating a tall man like you. In fact, I'm sure some would yearn for the opportunity." She complimented him as she licked her lips. "Sadly….."

The woman got on her tippy toes, trying to get her face as close to Tendou's face as possible. Her face was fitted with a very teasing and sly grin.

"You're not the ideal type that I'm looking for."

"…..What the hell?" Tendou looked down at her with scrutiny.

"Pfft-hahahah!" Yelena laughed. "Sorry for the jokes if they got to you too harshly. I just like teasing my juniors. My name is Yelena Schariac, S-Rank Valkyrie, and the second eldest of the Schariac family." Yelena introduced herself.

"I'm Tendou." The man flatly introduced himself.

"Not one for big introductions huh?" She said.

"Well, what am I supposed to say for myself?" Tendou asked. "I don't really have anything outstanding to say. I literally just got forced into Valkyriehood a few moments ago, and well, I can't remember anything noteworthy." He sighed.

"Don't worry about it." Yelena waved off. "I never said you needed to have one. Anyway, did the Overseer order you to help him out with stuff or something?"

"Yes..." Reshia said. "…I have to help him with…everything."

"Oh my." Yelena's eyes opened wide. "You now serve him? Well now…." A sly grinned crawled up her face again. "You know, if you try really hard, then maybe….."

Yelena placed her arm around Reshia's shoulder, pulling Reshia closer to herself. The Schariac got her mouth close to the maid's ear.

"You and Tendou could be a thing~" Yelena softy whispered in Reshia's ear.

Quickly, Reshia pushed Yelena away. The maid had become a ripe tomato from ear to ear.

"Don't joke like that!" Reshia yelled out.

"Hahahahaha! Alright, alright, I'll stop with the romance jokes now." Yelena raised both of her hands up. "Besides, both of us probably don't have time to fiddle around. I have to go up and get this thing repaired." She lifted her rifle up.

The rifle she lifted up was pretty banged up. There were cracks scarring around the gun, and the purple electricity was running wild across the barrel of the rifle. It was in desperate need of repair.

"What is that? And what happened to it?" Tendou asked.

"Ah, this." Yelena looked down at her weapon. "This is a Divine Key." She began. "Specifically, this is the 3rd Divine Key, called 'Summanus's Wrath'. It's a rifle that shoots powerful charges of lightning. It's very potent to use in battle, but it does take a massive toll to use. Sadly, it'll be out of commission for now until it gets repaired."

"What's a Divine Key?" Tendou was curious to know.

"Good question. A Divine Key is an immensely powerful weapon, made using the cores of the defeated Herrschers from the First Era." Yelena told the new recruit. "I can't recall how many have been made to be exact, though, from my understanding, I believe only 8-ish are known to exist currently, and so far, Schicksal only has half of them in our possession." She recalled.

"8-ish?" Tendou was perplexed.

"Yeah, 8-ish." Yelena restated. "There are some Divine Keys that technically have two parts, or different forms, which is where the 8-ish comes in. You could consider the different parts or forms as separate keys, but they are still part of the same thing in the end."

The sparks of Yelena's Key began increasing in power. Soon, some would begin striking the floor, around them. Tendou would back away against the wall, terrified of the electricity erupting from the rifle.

"Yep, I think that's a sign that I need to get this repaired now." Yelena nervously chuckled. "Have a great day you two!" She quickly headed for the elevator.

With a quick button press from the Schariac, the elevator closed and soared upwards. Tendou got off from his wall-hugging, letting out a few breaths.

"Are all Divine Keys like that?" He asked with his eyes wide open.

"As in they just randomly spark around when damaged? Not all." Reshia answered. "Some have more dangerous reactions, though I can't say that they're lethal…..I think."

"You think?"

"I'm not a wielder of a Divine Key myself, so I can't say I have witnessed the effects." The maid answered.

Reshia continued walking, leaving the main building and walking towards the school. The shining sun was nowhere present in Crescent City. Depressing gray clouds roamed the skies, blocking the lively city from the sunlight. The city remained calm despite the gloomy puffs, but it could potentially downpour and roar at any time possible.

After a few minutes, Reshia and Tendou entered the school building of Saint Freya. Unlike yesterday, the school was very empty. There wasn't a huge crowd of Valkyries in the hallway, allowing the two to hear their footsteps echo against the walls as they traversed to the training grounds.

"This is weird." Tendou commented. "It's jarring how the building suddenly becomes more unnerving when there's no one."

"Well, it's what happens when you have a large building with no one inside. It gives off an illusion that you're inside of an abandoned building." Reshia commented. "I'll admit, even I'm a bit taken back by how eerie it can feel sometimes. It doesn't help that the weather outside is somber."

The two continued walking until they reached one of the training grounds. Reshia held open the door for Tendou to enter before she entered herself. The training grounds were quite plain in design. The first room was where all the control panels were to simulate enemies, and the interactive terrain. It was also the storage house for all training weapons.

"Tendou." Reshia walked over to the weapons. "These are the weapon selections that Schicksal currently provides us with. Try as many as you like. Please make sure you find one that you are comfortable with."

"Alright." Tendou said.

He walked up to the weapon storage. There were a variety of weapons for him to choose. For melee weapons, there were the usual swords, greatswords, longswords, katanas, but there were also some of the other classics such as axes, lances, maces, and some of the more strange ones such as scythes, halberds, flails, and whips. For ranged weapons, there was an assortment of different ranged weapons. The storage house has pistols, semi-machine guns, full machine guns, rifles, and assault rifles. It also had bows and crossbows. The only two weapons that stood out due to how bizarre they were, were a gigantic cross, and a robot.

"What are those?" Tendou pointed at the cross and the robot.

"Those are the cross and heavy weapon robot." Reshia answered. "The cross is well, a cross, a big one at that." She explained. "It's basically an auto turret that Valkyries can carry around. They store silver bullets or miniature spears that shoot from the cross. In my opinion, they're pretty impractical." She stated her opinion. "They can be quite heavy to carry, and it's a pain to refill them. Sometimes, you're just better off smashing things with the cross itself."

"What about the robot?"

"The robot is what you would call a Heavy Weapon Robot, or Mechanical Partner." Reshia explained. "It's a robot that you command using a communicator worn on your head. Some people let the robot do all the work for them, but the best performance comes from when the Valkyrie and Robot work in unison." She informed Tendou. "That being said, it does require the mind of someone who can multitask well."

"I see." Tendou stared at both weapons. "What weapons can the Robot wield?"

"Any weapon suits the Robot." Reshia stated. "However, it does seem to have a higher affinity for heavy ranged weapons such as laser cannons, rocket launchers, and heavy machine guns."

"Ah." He let out.

Tendou walked in circles around the weapon cabinet, looking at every weapon multiple times. The man couldn't decide where to start off.

"Can't decide on a weapon?" She asked him. "I guess you must be pretty excited to choose."

"No. If anything, it's the opposite actually." The man scoffed. "I'm being forced to do this. I've lost my ability to choose ever since I got here."

Reshia closed her eyes at Tendou, a very nervous smile coming from the maid. Of course, she didn't really understand the circumstance that befell on Tendou, at least during the past day. Her ignorance of the situation is understandable, mostly.

"I guess that's understandable." Reshia thought. "Doctor Enmu and Professor Sarah were arguing about that earlier."

Reshia walked over to the melee weapons, grabbing a training sword off of the rack. Walking over, she handed Tendou the weapon by the handle.

"The best way to start off is figuring out what fits you is to find out if you're better fighting up close, or from a distance." Reshia told him. "That way, we would be able to eliminate some options. The sword is probably the best melee weapon to try out first for melee. It's not too heavy, nor too light, and it has a decent range among melee weapons. Good all-rounder." The maid stated.

Tendou wrapped his left hand around the handle, retrieving the training sword from Reshia. He moved his arm around a bit to give the weapon a few swings. It was lighter than Tendou thought, though that could mainly be chalked up to the fact that it's a training sword, not an actual sword made of metal.

"So what do I do with it?" Tendou asked Reshia.

"Well, you'll need to go into the training field first." Reshia pointed towards the door leading to it.

"Alright."

Tendou pushed the door forward and entered the main field. The main training grounds itself was…..pretty boring. The room was just a square box with pillars of different heights placed in the box.

"What do I do here now?" Tendou looked back at Reshia.

"Please wait. Let me mess around with the field a bit." The maid answered.

The towers in the training field began to glow near the top before they all began to slowly flash, with each flash increasing in brightness. Soon, the room was transmogrified. The plain room was replaced by a more colorful field of flowers and full-grown grass. The roof of the building was replaced with an alluring blue sky with a blazing sun beaming down on the field.

"What the hell?" Tendou spun around a few times.

"Give me a few more seconds…." Reshia whispered to herself.

In front of Tendou, a creature began to materialize. A small Honkai beast formed in front of him. It floated above the ground with its wings, which continued to flap endlessly. The new Valkyrie stepped back a bit, raising his training weapon up at the beast.

"Alright Tendou, you just have to fight that thing, and it should give us data on you." Reshia told him.

Tendou froze in place. His eyes were completely locked on the flying beast, which hadn't moved from its spawning location yet. He was nervous. Sweat slowly dripped from his head and down his neck. Just like him, the Honkai wasn't budging from its place either. Ultimately, Tendou began leaving his guard down.

"It's not moving." He said. "I guess it's just a training dummy-."

*BAM*

"AUGH!"

The idiot was knocked a few inches when the beast zoomed towards him and tackled into his chest. Tendou quickly got up from the tackle, grasping his chest.

"Ok, never mind." Tendou huffed out. "I guess I actually do have to fight this thing. I have to make sure I'm-."

Tendou cut himself off as he looked down at his left hand, which was empty. The training sword that he was supposed to have was laying on the ground from where he got tackled. He accidentally let go of the sword during the tackle. To his dismay, the simulated Honkai would not let him get his blade. It would immediately fly towards him again for another tackle. Tendou, now weaponless, began running.

"What the hell! No one said I would actually be fighting!" He screamed as he continued to run.

Reshia continued to watch her master as he continued running for his life. The maid did not know how to react to the situation. She let out a few worried chuckles as she watched Tendou continue running. Behind her, the door opened, and Professor Sarah entered from the other side.

"Sorry for being late." She apologized. "The Overseer needed me for something. Anyway, how's the test going?" Sarah asked Reshia.

"Uh…" Reshia slowly turned her head to Sarah.

"Is something wrong?" Sarah asked.

The Professor looked out at the training room. Her eyes fell upon the sight of Tendou being stuck in a goose chase with a Honkai beast. Sarah was….not amused, to say the least. The Professor rubbed her temples in bewilderment.

"Well…." The Professor sighed. "I guess we give him a few more minutes."

Tendou and the beast continued the chase for a while. Thankfully, Tendou was at least smart enough to run back to where the training sword was, and grabbed it immediately. Turning around, he clashed the sword against the flying Honkai. The swing was able to steer the beast away from colliding into Tendou again, and pushed the beast to the side. Recklessly, Tendou ran after the beast with the sword. He began slashing the sword against the beast multiple times. The flying Honkai evaded every reckless attack made by Tendou, and punished him by slamming against his torso again.

"Agh! How long am I supposed to battle this thing?" Tendou pushed himself up with the sword.

As he stood up, the beast came to tackle him again. Tendou lifted his sword up to block against the incoming tackle. The Honkai and the sword would clash against each other, and while Tendou protected himself, the sword was sent flying out of his hand. The beast reeled itself back before coming towards Tendou again with another body slam. The man lifted his arms up to his face as a means of defense. The beast collided against his bulky arms, pushing him a few inches backward. While his skull was protected thanks to his block, he could feel his bones crack.

"Damn it, no choice then." He grunted.

Tendou ran up to the beast. The flying Honkai charged towards Tendou. The man let himself bear the pain as the beast came tackling again. Tendou stood his ground against the flying enemy, grabbing the Honkai's body. Repeatedly, Tendou began kneeing the beast relentlessly before pushing it away a couple of inches. Shortly after, Tendou raised his right leg, kicking the beast from it's side. Finally, he clapped his hands together and slammed his combined fist down on the beast, sending it to the ground.

"Now's my chance." Tendou said.

Tendou ran through the flowing grass field in search of the training sword. He pushed aside some tall grass to make some room. Meanwhile, the flying Honkai got up and began flying towards Tendou. It closed the distance between it and the man the longer he searched for the sword. Luckily, Tendou was able to find the sword quick enough, and when he turned around with the blade, he managed to clash the sword against the beast. Like last time, Tendou won this clash, and immediately followed this victory with a downward stab with the sword. Despite the training sword being a dull blade, the pressure applied by Tendou allowed for the blade to crack through, and break out of the bottom of the flying beast. Tendou managed to stab the blade into the ground.

"Is that it?" He stood back.

The flying beast was still alive, however. While it was in a predicament, it wasn't stuck. Despite having a sword going through itself, the fact that it was pierced into the ground allowed for the armless flyer to free itself by sliding up against the sword. It was clearly weakened, seeing how it couldn't manage to stay stable as it moved, but it was still functional.

"I think that's enough." Sarah exclaimed.

The Professor pressed a few buttons, ending the simulation. The flying Honkai beast disappeared into a particle of blue. The grass fields and the flowers of the simulation began dispersing altogether. A few seconds later, Tendou was placed back inside of the generic training grounds. Professor Sarah entered the grounds, walking over to Tendou.

"That was…a performance." The Professor stated.

"No one told me I was actually going to fight something." Tendou argued. "I thought I was just gonna swing a sword around."

"Well swinging a sword at the air won't do anything for us." She said. "It won't tell us how you perform with melee circumstances, or ranged."

The Professor picked up the sword from the ground, carrying it back to the storage closet.

"Come on. Go get a gun." Sarah told him.

Tendou walked back to the weapon closet. There, Reshia was already waiting for him with two pistols in hand. The maid handed the pistols over to her master.

"Hmm?" Tendou questioned.

"It's best if you try the pistols instead of the other weapons." Reshia said. "Lightweight, decent range, and small too. The recoil of the pistol should be easy for you to handle as a rookie as well."

The maid handed him a belt. The belt was loaded with cartridges for the gun in case the gun ran out of ammo.

"These are supposed to be the training pistols?" He asked. "Isn't it deadly to fire off a gun for training?"

"It's fine, they aren't real guns." The maid informed Tendou. "They're just guns that fire off rubber bullets instead of actual ammunition. They still hurt, but they aren't deadly….mostly."

Tendou wrapped the belt around his shoulder and grabbed the twin pistols from her. Like Reshia said, the girls were light, a bit too light. Curious, Tendou aimed the gun at the wall, pressing on the trigger. The gun recoiled back, nearly hitting Tendou in the face. The bullet fired off, bouncing across the room until it lost momentum.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Sarah bashed Tendou on the head.

"Agh! Sorry!" Tendou grunted from agony.

"Also, tighten your arm more when you shoot. You're using a gun to hit other people, not hit yourself with the gun." The Professor told him.

"Got it. Don't have to be so rough." Tendou sighed.

The man left the weapon chamber again with the training guns. The Professor quickly walked over to the table, summoning a holographic tablet and selecting a few options off for the simulation to begin. The world around Tendou shifted forms once again. This time, the area was filled with ashes. Miniature flames hissed on the black soot ground. The clouds were defiled fumes from the flames that poisoned the sky black. Around Tendou laid many burning stakes, and more specifically, corpses.

"Well isn't this a familiar sight." Tendou scoffed.

He walked further inward until he saw a simulated enemy in front of him. Instead of the flying Honkai beast from earlier, Tendou's new enemy was one that stayed completely grounded. It had feminine features and appeared more human. Most distinctly, its color scheme was black and orange rather than while and pinkish-purple. The new enemy turned around and faced Tendou, spinning its scythe in a single loop. The enemy had a zombie-like characteristic to it. It moved quite slowly when walking towards Tendou. Its orange eyes brightened as it continued to deathly glare forward at him, unnerving him a bit.

"Scythe." He muttered. "I guess this will be much easier."

Tendou raised his left pistol up, pressing down the trigger multiple times. Only his first shot would actually follow the trajectory he wanted though. Like earlier, he underestimated the recoil of the gun, and while he didn't hit himself with the whiplash, the other bullets strayed far from where he wanted. The zombie girl would easily deflect his bullet away with her scythe. Her legs bent down at an angle, before she jolted upward into the air. Gravity would help the zombie's descent downward as her scythe split the gale around its blade. Tendou pushed his legs to jump backward. By a tiny inch, the scythe missed its mark, slightly tearing against Tendou's shirt. The zombie's weapon stabbed the ground, lodging the blade inches deep into the simulated Earth. With an opportunity given to him, Tendou lifted both guns up at the zombie. Pressing down the triggers, he bolted a few rubber bullets at the zombie. While not inflicting any serious harm, the zombie continued to flinch.

"Who thought it was a good idea to use rubber bullets against an actual enemy?" Tendou asked.

Soon, his pistols ran out of bullets, and he was forced to reload. He took a cartridge from the belt, and held it in his hand.

"Um….." He started to sweat. "How am I supposed to reload this thing?"

Confusingly, Tendou began messing around with the fun to find a way to reload. Around this time, the zombie pulled its scythe out from the ground after shifting the weapon around and breaking the floor. Wasting no time, the zombie dashed towards Tendou with a full horizontal swing at his neck. By a margin, Tendou was able to avoid the scythe, but he was still quite hopeless. His pistols were still empty, and he still hadn't figured out how to reload.

"Girls?! How do I reload this thing?!" Tendou shouted over at Reshia and the Professor.

"There should be a-WATCH OUT!"

With his slight distraction, the zombie swings its scythe again at Tendou. Thanks to the shoutout, Tendou reacted with a block, one that was very ineffective as both guns were knocked out of his hands. The recoil from the disarm stung on his hands, somewhat flinching him temporarily. This gave time for the zombie to slash again. The man moved out of the way, but was not fast enough to evade entirely as the scythe gashed through his left shoulder.

"GAGH!"

He lifted his right hand to cover the slash. A small tear of blood dripped from the wound, followed by another, and soon another. The zombie was relentless, continuing its attack on Tendou. It pummeled the bottom of its weapon at Tendou's chest, and then pushed it upward to knock it into his chin, causing him to step back. With its weapon in position, the zombie struck downward with a mighty swing. Recklessly, Tendou lifted his hands up to catch the falling scythe.

*SCHLICK*

The new recruit's arms trembled as droplets of new dew dripped onto the ashen floor. The tip of the weapon shook mere inches away from his face as the zombie tried to force it into him. The weapon came closer to his face, but so did the zombie. Within range of his legs, Tendou kicked the zombie away from him. The scythe quickly slid off of his hands, deepening the cuts even more. Both recoiled away from each other. Tendou got a good look down at his hands. The scythe left a big gash on both hands, though just like the time where he took a bullet, his wound began to heal slowly.

"I'm fortunate to have this huh?" He grunted.

He looked back up just in time for the scythe zombie to swing down at him again. Tendou quickly moved over to the side, grabbing the scythe with a hand. He tried to yank the girl over to him, but his bloodied hands, combined with the gashes. caused them to slip and slide against the handle instead. The zombie quickly retracted her scythe from his hand, but in the process, messed herself up as residue from Tendou's hand went flying and slightly splotched over her eyes. She began to swing her weapon from side to side, slicing the air around her.

*CRASH*

Piles of ash rose up as the two fell down. The scythe fell out of the zombie's hands as her back collided with the ground. More debris would gravitate up and down as Tendou's knuckles repeatedly continued bashing against the zombie. The repeated bashing continued until the zombie girl managed to get a grip on Tendou's arms and pushed him off. Tendou and the zombie stood up simultaneously. The playing field become more even as both were now weaponless.

"I think that's enough." Professor Sarah said.

The Professor went over to the control board, flicking some switches and pressing down buttons. At the same time, Tendou swung a fist straight at the zombie. Just then, the simulation began to fade, and so did the zombie. Once the process was fully canceled, Tendou's fist collided with one of the towers.

"Ag!" He let out.

Tendou looked back down on his hands again. During battle, they were still healing, but the gashes were still there. Now that he was unoccupied, the wound started to heal faster.

"Not consistent." He noted. "I wonder if there's a way to make this faster."

After a few seconds, his hands were fully healed. The only remnants of the injury was from the blood that leaked out earlier. Tendou gave his hands a few moves, grabbing the air and fiddling with his fingers. His hands were mainly back to what they were before, though the area where the scythe cut through felt stiff.

"Why was it so difficult?" Reshia asked. "Surely we didn't set the difficulty up for Tendou." The maid went over to the control board.

Reshia flickered around with the simulation settings, finding the difficulty levels. To her surprise, the difficult setting was actually set at level 6, which is about the middle level.

"That was the middle level?" She let out aghast. "No wonder he didn't fare as well as we hoped."

Leaving the control desk, Reshia quickly ran out of the control room and over to Tendou.

"Tendou, are you alright?" She asked.

"Mostly, yeah." A nonchalant tone came from him. " Hand got healed, though it's a bit stiff." He fiddled with his hands. "I don't know how long it'll be like this for."

"What?" Reshia confusingly tilted her head down.

She grabbed hold of Tendou's hand and wiped off the bloodstains from his hands. To her surprise, underneath the blood was a fully healed hand.

"H-how?" She asked.

"Good question. I don't know." He was honest with her. "I never really figured out why I could do this."

"Healing factor or not, at least you didn't become severely injured." Professor Sarah walked out. "We had a…..slight problem with the simulation."

The Professor scooped up the guns from the floor and took off the cartridge belt from Tendou.

"We may have had an error, though that doesn't change much of the fact that you clearly aren't someone who fights from afar." Sarah noted. "Thankfully, that at least closes down a lot of options, so we have more time."

Professor Sarah, Reshia, and Tendou walked back over to the weapon storage. Thankfully, guns were now out of the conclusion, but there were still other weapons to try out.

"Great." Tendou sighed. "Now what?"

"Is it possible for me to interfere?" A voice called out to Tendou.

"Huh?" He let out. "Oh, it's you. Where have you been?"

"Doesn't matter." She said. "I'm just seeing that you're struggling to decide what to try out. Thought I would give my own personal thoughts." She said.

"Well, I guess so-."

"Tendou, who are you talking to?" Reshia asked him.

"Huh? Uh-!" Tendou stuttered. "M-Myself?"

"It really doesn't seem like it." Reshia said. "You said stuff that really didn't make sense. Unless the other stuff were whispered to yourself, then it makes it seem like you were talking to yourself."

"Don't mind it." Tendou told her. "It's nothing too concerning."

"A-Alright…" Reshia gave him a worried look.

"Is there any way I can talk to you without looking like a weirdo?" Tendou whispered as he turned away.

"Um….try talking to yourself mentally." The woman said.

"Like this?"He said. "Does this even work?"

"Alright, I can hear you." She answered.

"Are there any weapons that you would recommend me to try out?" Tendou asked her.

"Well….." She trailed off. "During both simulations, you lost both of your weapons and went to fight with your barehands." The woman noticed. "You don't do a good job actually keeping your weapon on you, so….."

"Are you telling me to fight barehanded?" Tendou asked.

"Actually, yeah." The woman answered. "That's exactly what I was going to say. If you just learn how to fight with your body, then you really won't suffer the problem of having to lose your weapon…..unless someone cuts off your arms."

"Did you really have to include that final part?"

"No." The woman replied. "Go try fighting with your hands."

"I'll try."He said. "Hey? Do you think it's possible to fight with hands?" Tendou turned around to the other two.

"As in fight barehanded?" Sarah rested her hand under her chin. "Yeah, it's possible. We have trained people to fight using martial arts before."

"But why would you do that?" Reshia questioned.

"Because I have trouble keeping my hands on weapons." Tendou paraphrased from the woman. "You saw how I couldn't keep the sword or the pistols. If I fight without a weapon, I don't suffer that problem."

"I suppose that's a valid point." Reshia agreed. "I don't think we have any training gloves, though it shouldn't matter."

"We're all in agreement that I can use no weapon?" Tendou asked.

"Seems fine to me." The Professor answered.

"Ok." Tendou said. "So do I just go back in there and fight another mob?"

"Yeah. I'll try to-."

"Pardon my interruption." Reshia raised her voice. "I actually want to do this."

Reshia walked over to the weapon cabinet and pulled out a training halberd. She gave it a few light swings before going out to the training grounds.

"Tendou, you'll be testing against me." Reshia told him. "I want to personally test your skills myself. Don't worry, I won't go hard against you. This is just me wanting to test your skills."

"Alright then." He started to sweat a bit.

The man entered the training grounds behind Reshia. He was quite nervous. He wasn't fighting an artificial created being anymore. He was standing up against an actual human, one that can think for itself, and one that has more experience than him.

"I'll let you have the first attack." Reshia gifted to him. "Give me your best shot." She lifted the training weapon.

"Ok!" Tendou roared.

Instantly, Tendou ran towards Reshia with his maximum power. He lifted his left hand up in a fist as he launched it towards Reshia with all of his might. The fist clashed with the shaft of the training halberd as Reshia lifted it up out of defense. The halberd in Reshia's hands stayed firm and still like a painting as Reshia looked straight at Tendou's eyes, smiling. Meanwhile, Tendou's left arm struggled. It was moving sporadically as he made an attempt to push his fist harder, but Reshia and her weapons remained in pause. With his other arm, Tendou launched another fist at Reshia's gut. This instance was the only time Reshia's halberd left its frozen state as the maid shifted the weapon over to block the other punch.

"How are you this strong?!" Tendou asked her.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Reshia answered. "This tiny frail-looking frame may look weak, but I'm quite certain that I'm actually stronger than you."

With ease, Reshia pushed Tendou away by simply pushing her own weapon away. She spun her training halberd around, lightly hitting the butt of the halberd under Tendou's chin. The man flinched from the chin attack as he faltered backward, nearly tripping. He regained his balance with the help of Reshia, who grabbed his wrist to stop his fall.

"Be careful." The maid told him. "I wouldn't try to brute force against something for a long time. It leaves you wide open."

Reshia pulled him up slightly. This aid from the maid was abused by Tendou, who used this help to force himself to send a headbutt towards Reshia. Sadly for him, he failed. As his head came forward, Reshia lifted her halberd up with the flat side facing Tendou as he bashed his head into the weapon.

"AGFH!"

Tendou backed off a bit as he gripped his face. Reshia placed a bent finger on her lip as she let out a chuckle.

"Bold move." She let out. "I don't think I've seen anyone try to do that before."

"When is this training done?" Tendou breathed heavily.

"Ah, right. I never did state that." Reshia pondered. "Hmm…how about when you manage to land a good blow on me once. Does that sound good enough?" She asked.

"And you think I would be able to do that?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"I'm confident that you will." She reassured him.

"I don't know if I take that as a compliment, but ok."

Tendou ran towards Reshia again. This time, he lifted up his leg to kick Reshia in the stomach, a kick that was easily blocked. During that kick, Tendou's upper body recoiled back a bit, giving him a perfect opportunity to blast a punch with a strong amount of force. Again, the punch was made weak when Reshia blocked it with the halberd with ease and no struggle.

"Damn it!" He swore in his head. "How do I catch her off guard?"

"Maybe I can be of assistance." The voice of the woman rang.

"Really? How?"

"Remember when she complimented you for making a bold move?" The woman asked. "Try performing another one, one that's more unpredictable."

"And what do you suggest I do then?" Tendou asked.

"Try grabbing her halberd." She said. "The maid may be stronger than you, but I don't think that would be a factor if you try to lift her up and toss her to the ground."

"Well, it's worth a shot."

With the hand battling with the training halberd, Tendou grasped onto the handle of the halberd. Soon after, he grabbed the halberd with his other hand. Surprised by his sudden move, Tendou was given an opportunity to lift Reshia up. Before he could slam her down to the ground, Reshia reacted quickly, kicking herself off by slamming her feet against Tendou's chest. She leapt off of the taller man's body, but now he had her training halberd in his hand.

"Another surprise." Reshia said. "Had I not reacted quickly, this session probably would have been over."

"At least the training field is more even now." Tendou tossed the halberd away. "With the halberd gone, I can end this session faster than I hope."

"You're assuming that I need my halberd, that I rely on it." Reshia smiled. "While it is my main weapon of choice, it isn't my everything."

Tendou zoomed up to Reshia, sending a low kick at her legs. The shorter maid leapt over his leg as the man made a terrible decision to spin around as he attempted to slam the back of his left arm against her. Reshia simply blocked Tendou's incoming attack with her own left arm, swatting it away like a fly. She lifted up her right hand, flicking a finger at Tendou's back neck area. It did no harm to the man, but only caused slight irritation.

"Never spin during a battle, at least during moments like this." Reshia gave advice. "You leave yourself wide open for failure."

Lifting a leg, she simply pushed Tendou away from her.

"If this were a serious fight, I could have easily pierced my halberd through you there." She pointed out.

Tendou turned around to face Reshia. His exhaustion was starting to catch up to him. He didn't have much energy left to spare. Recklessly, he charged at Reshia again with a face towards her face, another punch that Reshia easily deflected. Tendou sent another punch, which again, was pushed aside by Reshia. The maid's right arm came up to Tendou's face as she prepared another finger flick, this time at his forehead. The man's cobalt irises shrunk as the finger came closer by each centimeter.

"Grab her wrist!"

As the woman's voice ranged through his ears, Tendou's left hand moved on impulse. It grabbed hold of Reshia's wrist, slowing it down. Reshia's right arm was still moving forward, but at a snail's pace. Quickly, she lifted up her other arm to flick Tendou, but he grabbed it as well. With both of her arms restrained, Reshia was left defenseless, or at least Tendou thought. He lifted up one of his legs to kick down at the maid's leg, to which she panicked by spreading her legs apart, however, she was left defenseless. With his legs freely in-between the space of Reshia's, Tendou sent his leg soaring upwards, crashing against Reshia's groin area. He let go of Reshia's arms, and the maid immediately collapsed onto the groin.

"I did it!" Tendou yelled in success.

Reshia slowly lifted herself up, both of her hands holding on tight to her crotch. She was exhaling breath at a very fast rate. She looked up to Tendou, a genuine smile on her face despite the gigantic amount of pain electrifying through her body.

"Y-yeah, you did it alright." Her coarse voice let out.

"Um, are you ok?" Tendou blinked a few times.

"I'm fine. Should go away in about a few seconds." Reshia painfully chuckled. "See? I was right when I said that you could land a blow on me. It just wasn't at an area that I thought would be touched, let alone attacked." Her cheeks lightly flushed red.

Both of them walked back towards the simulation control room where Professor Sarah was waiting for them.

"So…how does fighting with my hands sound like?" Tendou asked her.

"To be honest, pretty bad, which is expected." Professor Sarah gave him the honest truth. "However, it is better than your showcase with a sword, and definitely better than the guns. I think we can work off of this. We just need to assign you to the professors that teach martial arts, and I think you can improve from there."

Professor Sarah walked over to the exit door, opening it.

"You're done for today." Sarah turned around. "You and Reshia can go back to your room to rest, or go someplace else at least." She told Tendou. "I'll be sending the notes to the research team. We should be able to complete a battlesuit for you within a few days. For now though, enjoy your last day of freedom."

The Professor left the training grounds, closing the door behind her. The man couldn't help but release a sigh. He had to contemplate that this was his life now. He was now a Valkyrie, and he still really didn't like that he is a Valkyrie.

"This is my life now." Tendou groaned. "I'm now a soldier forced to fight aliens."

"Don't worry. It's not so bad." Reshia tried to cushion his new life. "Well, it's better than living a normal civilian's life at least...I'm not helping much, am I?"

"I just didn't ask for this." Tendou argued. "What am I fighting for? I don't have a reason to step up and fight. I was just forced here!"

"Well…" Reshia trailed off. "I guess that is true. People fight because they have motivation. Outside of your case, becoming a Valkyrie is something that you volunteer for because they have something to fight for, at least most times." She stated. "I don't know. Maybe you'll find your reason to fight as you continue to live here."

"I suppose that's true." Tendou thought about it. "I woke up not too long ago without my memories. Even without being here, I suppose that I really wouldn't have a reason to live, and I guess Sarah is right in that I can just search about myself even when I'm here…"

The two left the training grounds and headed back towards the school dorms.

"Then what's it about this new life that you're afraid of?" Reshia asked.

"….I think it's just my fear of dying after having waking up." Tendou told her. "I didn't wake up to the most pretty of sights. So many dead people around me, all of them contorted into ways that are just disgusting to look at, presumably from the Honkai. I guess I'm just afraid to end up like them."

"That's a rational fear that everyone has." The maid reassured Tendou. "Death is a common fear amongst everyone. It's hard to blame you for having such fear, especially learning about what you've seen."

The maid awkwardly rested her hand on the man's wrist, gently holding it.

"But don't worry about it." Reshia began. "All of us here are Valkyrie. It's our duty to protect others from meeting their end by the Honkai, and that includes ourselves as well. As long as you're with us, we'll protect you no matter what."

Reshia let go of her hand as the two continued to walk back to the dorms in silence. While her words definitely eased a bit of worry from him, Tendou still had his fears of his new life. It wasn't just if he would live, but rather if he could actually fulfill his job now that he has tasted what true combat was like. Just so much stuff topped up against him, all within two days. It was unbearable.

"Just how much stuff is being hidden from me?" He pondered. "All of this just seems unreal. Why me of all people? How special am I?"

"Are you done mopping around?" The woman asked Tendou.

"Sorry." He apologized. "I don't want to sound sad, or annoying. It's just kind of hard to process all of this."

"That's natural." She said. "Wake up, see dead people, get shot by accident by someone who claims to be there to save you, get forcefully recruited into the organization that 'saved' you, and now having a slight taste of reality. That's a lot to process. Of course, they're still gonna be people who are gonna call you something like 'an edgy piece of shit' or an 'emo' somewhere, though don't take that too harshly." The woman told her. "People tend to judge things without having experienced them. So don't be disheartened by people who call you that. Just humans being…humans."

"I don't know what those even mean." He admitted.

"Don't worry about them." She said.

"I never asked you about something." Tendou said. "You told me to be wary. Wary of what exactly?" He questioned.

"Wary of everyone around you." The woman answered.

"What?" Tendou let out an exacerbated remark.

"These people…..humans in general…they aren't what they act like." The woman told him. "Once you peel back their act, their true colors are revealed, and it's hideous. Take that as you will."

To Tendou, he really didn't understand anything. The voice in his head told him that humans were bad? Well, it was possibly true, but it was kind of blasphemous to hear someone declare that.

"Well….." He became uncomfortable. "I'll see and figure that for myself." He told her. "By the way, do you have a name that I could call you by? I don't think you ever told me your name, or if you even have one."

"Huh? I guess I didn't." The woman realized. "Very well then. I am stuck inside you. It wouldn't be wise to keep my name hidden."

The woman let out a long breath before deeply inhaling a long breath.

"My name is Lessica." She introduced herself. "I hope you're ready to deal with life with me because I'm probably gonna make your life an unintentional hell." Lessica voiced.

Chapter 3 END