-"Have you slept long enough?"-A familiar yet somewhat different voice called to me.
-"Mobius..?"
-"Who else? I hope everything was pleasant to you as it was to me. I guess I can somewhat understand all those boy-crazed girls."
This made my thoughts grind to a halt, snapping my eyes open. Instead of the underground where the Sarcophagus was held, I was greeted by the ceiling of a hotel room. It took me a few seconds to understand what was going on; it was only when I remembered a 'dream' I had back when the orb was slightly unsealed that I understood what this place was.
-"Ugh."-I slowly got up, my head still feeling the aftereffect of a drug.-"Why do you women like to be so direct? Well, I'm unsure if drugging is directness, to be honest…"
-"It's not like you lost out."-She shrugged.
-"Were I a devout believer that upheld his chastity, would you still claim the same?"
-"Are you?"-Mobius leaned over me.
-"Hypothetical situation."-I leaned back to make distance between our faces.
-"Then just 'hypothetically' be mine."-She touched my cheek, forcing me to look at her.
-"You wish."-I rolled my eyes and pushed her hand away.
-"Your choice."-She shrugged again.-"So what's your plan now?"
-"Why ask?"
-"Cos you are not existent in any database I looked through."
-"Right… that."-This forced me to return to the situation I was in.
I couldn't count on this 'dream' to simply end after a while, so I had to make use of where I was now. Feeling my state, I was met with powerlessness and weakness I hadn't felt for so many years. No, I was in a state I never was before.
My body was nothing more than what a human mortal could be, at most a little more trained. There was no Originium, no Glintstone, no magic, no miracles, nothing. I was now mortal through and through; only my experience and knowledge were brought here.
While I was lost in my thoughts, Mobius watched me carefully, as if trying to understand me in and out. After a moment, she took out her terminal, making some arrangements. A few minutes later, she put it away and spoke up once more.
-"You'll follow me. I get a feeling you can easily get used to life in my lab. As for the matter of your identity, I'll get this covered."
-"You trust me?"
-"After everything we went through? Why shouldn't I trust you?"-She smiled.-"But to be honest, I'll truly trust you after observing you more. For now, just treat it as an apology and an investment."
-"Thanks."-I stood up and walked to the bathroom to refresh and put on some clothes.
She watched me for a moment before walking outside.
After leaving the hotel, she took me to her laboratory and had the organisation she worked for assign me a dorm and make some IDs. I quickly got introduced to her assistant, Blanca, who was the indirect reason for my and Mobius' meeting.
She was in the process of handing over her responsibilities due to going on maternity leave. Previously, she suggested another assistant, but my arrival caused that plan to be pushed back. Instead, I took over her job.
While I had some gaps in knowledge, I quickly patched them up using all the knowledge I could get my hands on, splitting my time evenly between work in the lab and learning all the disciplines I hadn't learned before. Mobius was quite satisfied with my work ethic, especially my efficiency and our shared habit of ignoring sleep.
Days soon turned into weeks, and before I noticed, a whole month slipped by.
-"How are the results?"-Mobius asked the moment she entered.
-"Nothing new. All subjects turned, but it proved that women had higher average resistance to Honkai. From all the data, I made general categories of Honkai resistance, dividing them into: susceptible, normal, high, abnormal, pseudo-immune, immune."
-"Oh? You assume there are immune people?"
-"Not assume. I am immune."
-"What!?"
-"Since the start of the work here, I monitored my Honkai level, and it never rose, even after I injected myself during the last experiment."
-"Are you tired of living?"-She looked me up and down.
-"Those are the details; do with them what you want."
-"Give me some of your blood."
-"Sure. In exchange, from now on I'm responsible for all high-risk tasks around Honkai."
-"Suit yourself."-She started reading through the detailed report.-"Right, it got rejected."
-"As expected. Getting in touch with Herrscher Core won't be so easy."
-"Give it more time."
-"That's the plan."-I shrugged and returned to the book in my hand.
-"Quantum mechanics?"-She looked at the title.
-"Interesting read. Few possible applications at the moment, but its prospects are fascinating."-I imagined applying principles such as superposition or quantum entanglement in magic.
-"Then you might be interested in a conference that is about to take place in Nagazora City."-She handed me an invitation she had just received.-"Want to go in my place?"
-"Oh? What's the subject?"
-"I'm to speak a little about forced evolution and gene modification, nothing Honkai-related, just pure basics."
-"Sure, I'll take that."
-"Great, I was worried that I'd have to leave the lab."
I rolled my eyes at that.
As such, three days later I found myself in a car heading to Nagazora, but to my slight dismay, a guard chosen to accompany me happened to be the nemesis of both Mobius and me.
-"Look! There is a festival happening there; we have to go and see it!"-A girl looking around sixteen, with beauty easily turning every head around, regardless of gender, was jumping in her seat next to me.
-"Miss Elysia, please calm down."
-"Mou! E-l-y! Call me Ely, Eno."-She pouted.
-"Sigh, Ely."
Hearing that, she instantly smiled, hugged my arm, and started shaking it, totally ignoring that I was driving.
-"Let's go, please~."
-"After we check into our rooms, we can go and look around."
-"Great! Thanks, Eno!"
-"So please, stop shaking."
-"I know you enjoy it."-She kissed my cheek before letting me go.
For whatever reason, from the first time Elysia saw me, she acted as if we were old friends, if not even a bit closer than that. To be honest, it was quite overwhelming, as I had never experienced such 'aggressive' behavior; my identity and strength had previously always kept others at bay.
At first, I thought she was doing this just to spite Mobius, but after some time, I understood that she truly treated me as someone special; in her words, we are the same type of person. The problem was, I couldn't understand what she meant by that, as I couldn't exactly be considered an extroverted optimist. I found it quite hard to understand others well without Sankta's Empathy.
Putting that to the back of my mind, I took us to the hotel before the two of us went to see what that whole celebration was about. Well, to be exact, I was dragged around by the pink humanoid symbol for hyperactivity. We visited the usual stands one could find at every festival, though Elysia was quickly kicked out after showing her non-human-like abilities.
-"How could they! Eno, I'm angry!"
-"What are you surprised about? They are here to earn money; while they provide entertainment, it's not their main priority."-I shrugged and walked to a nearby stall.-"Give me two. Thanks."
I bought plates of colorful mochi and gave one to Elysia.
-"I knew you also liked me, Eno!"-She took the plate from my hand, a smile instantly returning to her face.-"Hmm? Look there."
I turned my attention to where she was pointing to find two groups of students confronting each other. Having nothing better to do, we decided to meddle; as such, we approached them before a fight could erupt.
-"Yo! What are you up to?"-Elysia stood between the two groups, smiling as usual.
-"It's not a place for you to be, missy."-A thug-like youngster looked Elysia up and down.-"Of course, if you want, we can go have fun after I deal with this punk."
-"Thank you for your invitation, but we'll pass on your fun."-I stepped forward, shielding Elysia from his impolite gaze.-"As for you dealing with this 'punk', I doubt you can."
I turned my head to the handsome-looking youth whose white hair made him stand out.
-"Your long-lost brother?"-Elysia asked me after seeing similarities we shared.
-"I have no blood family, only a chosen one."-I shook my head, but I had to agree that one could mistake us for siblings.
Both of us had white hair and blue eyes; only his were lighter blue than the deep azure of mine. While his face was handsome, it was much more masculine than my admittedly more neutral and fragile beauty, courtesy of Sankta genetics. What's more, his 'aura' had that feeling of someone at the center of the gathering, the soul of the party, and on the surface this felt similar to my charisma build during my years of commanding troops and ruling.
-"Anything to say?"
-"Brother?"-He asked, unsure.
-"Not the brightest, I see. Explain why you are fighting."
-"Oh. They harassed our friends. Catcalling them and all."
-"So you brought people to fight them? Childish."-I shook my head.
-"So should we just let them be? Ignore them and let our friends feel afraid?"-He furrowed his brows
-"Then will your actions make them feel safe?"-I looked him in the eyes.-"If you beat them here today, will they let it be, or will they seek a chance for revenge? Or will you deal with their threat once and for all?"
-"What?"
-"You said that the cause of this fight is the threat they pose, but you are not here to resolve it; then why are you here? To play a hero?"
-"No…"
-"Let me share with you a lesson I spent most of my past life learning: Heroes either die young or live to be the villains."-I turned my attention back to the other group.-"I won't waste my words on you; leave."
-"How's that up to you?"
-"You dare to check?"-I raised my brow.
-"Huff. Let's go."
I nodded, watching them leave.
-"Thanks for your help."-My 'brother' let out a sigh of relief and thanked me.
-"Just a small matter. Think before you act next time, and if you can't, then find someone to think for you."
-"I will."-He nodded and took his friends back from where they came.
When they left earshot, Elysia stepped in front of me, bending slightly to bring our faces close. I looked down to see her eyes looking at me with a strange twinkle in them.
-"You have experience in being a hero, huh?"
-"No."-I denied it directly.-"Heroes are those of pure heart and great conviction. My heart has long ago rotted with sins, while my conviction got lost on the path I walked."
-"Then why do you give to you all every day you live?"-She asked, her smile growing wider and wider.
-"Because this life doesn't belong to me alone. All the promises, vows, and bonds I've made…"-I couldn't help but think about all those who stood by me, my Knights, my Priestesses, my friends, my beloved… my Princess.-"I might not be a hero, but I won't become a sinner who tramples on them."
Hearing that, she quickly turned around and started to walk forward, seemingly satisfied with my answer. Watching that graceful figure, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her mind.
The next day, I stood on the stage, facing hundreds of researchers and students, talking about Mobius' research. At first, most faced me with doubt and contempt, but it quickly disappeared after I answered all their questions, easily citing scientific works and providing examples.
This was why I always respected scientific and magical communities: where, in noble circles, your bloodline mattered, and in political ones, your value, in the world of science and magic, only your wisdom and knowledge were important.
After I finished my talk, I joined others in listening to speeches and panels. I must admit, in this world where there is no magic, the advancement of science is truly impressive, capable of replicating feats I could previously do only with magic; moreover, in some aspects, it even surpassed magic. Even on Terra, which I previously thought was advanced, I could see how skewed progress was due to Originium, and how many things were never discovered or researched because of this magical element.
Fields such as physics, chemistry, even biology, were always inseparable from Originium, and while there were still some aspects that only Arts could achieve, overall, their advancements are at least a hundred years behind what was talked about here. But what attracted me here was the theoretical aspect of those fields, mainly theoretical physics.
As a mage at heart, those ideas about subatomic forces, curvature of space and time, and especially the origin of stars or even the universe as a whole, brought me not small inspiration. I had already experimented with magical circles above two dimensions, but constructing those proved overly complicated due to the enormous number of intersections required to make such a spell stable.
Each of those intersecting nodes had to fit every direction; it was like trying to arrange an entire book into a Scrabble-style game in three dimensions, while also making sure one could read this construction starting from the beginning to the end without gaps. And this is a great simplification of what was needed to achieve spell.
Previously, it was too complicated to be worth it, but now, if we stop limiting ourselves to Euclidean spaces as dimensions, together with the existence of superposition intersection nodes, the difficulty of creating such spells gets low enough to be applicable in powerful magical rituals. With such thoughts in mind, I was surprised to hear about the concept of Imaginary Space introduced by a young girl, and despite her theory not being that complete, I found its element familiar to me.
Space existing 'underneath' the world, independent yet able to influence the real world; what else is this if not a Texture? As someone who stole Eden, not to mention possessing Azure Dream, this was my field of experience. The idea of achieving similar effects through 'scientific' means and understanding caused me to seek out the young scientist to discuss her theories. But while I approached her, I found her surrounded by a small group of similarly young people. Sadly, the scene of mutual exchange of ideas wasn't taking place; only ugly mockery.
-"Who let a charlatan like you speak here? What next, divination from stars? Or maybe world-ending apocalypse?"
-"You…"-The girl didn't know what to do.
-"I have never heard of a method of discussion like yours."-I looked at the youngsters.-"You believe her ideas are wrong? Then prove her wrong."
-"Who…"-As the speaking youngster turned around, he instantly recognized me as Mobius' assistant.
-"This is a place for exchange of ideas, not insults. How many theories thought correct were overturned in the past; how many charlatans were proved to be right by history? Leave; don't ruin my good humor."
Hearing my command, they quickly escaped, allowing me finally to talk with the girl.