Get stronger? Yes, Evan craved strength.
The advent of the Third Honkai Eruption might not be an absolute certainty. Perhaps it could be avoided by killing Raiden Mei, who possessed the Herrscher Core and thus the qualifications of a Herrscher, beforehand. But Evan could never do that. Kill one innocent person to save many more? He had no desire to solve such a foolish math problem.
He needed power. The power to survive the Third Honkai Eruption. The power to face the Third Honkai Eruption. And eventually, the power to resolve the Third Honkai Eruption.
From the moment he knew this was the world of Honkai, Evan hadn't wasted a single second when circumstances allowed.
This was the world of Honkai, with a higher level of technology than he knew, with all sorts of novel foods and entertainment facilities. And his bank account certainly held enough money to let him splurge for a while. But he hadn't done anything extra to satisfy his appetite or curiosity.
To save time, Evan didn't explore any of the unique delicacies of the Honkai world, nor did he mindlessly opt for fast food. He followed a scientifically formulated diet based on the human body's needs, buying enough ingredients at once. The food was bland, the taste was average at best, and at worst, it was terrible. Its only merits were that it required little cooking, could be stored for a long time, and provided adequate nutrition.
He had refused the date invitations from the pretty and cute girls at Tachikawa Academy, ignoring their hints of "just one night is fine, you don't have to be responsible." He had never even eaten in Tachikawa Academy's highly-rated cafeteria. Evan returned to his dorm immediately after school, walking the same path every day without a single deviation.
To this day, Evan hadn't even explored the entire Tachikawa campus, nor had he, on a whim, visited any of the malls, restaurants, or amusement parks between the school and his dorm. He went straight back to his solitary dorm and trained his body according to the most scientific and effective methods he could find online.
It was exhausting. So exhausting that even with a Stigma, Evan would practically pass out the moment his planned bedtime arrived. So exhausting that his body had to spend the entire next day in recovery, leaving him looking listless and drained. He was lucky that the teachers at Tachikawa Academy gave him preferential treatment and never criticized him for dozing off in class. From anyone else's perspective, aside from his tendency to sleep and his wooden inability to sense a girl's feelings, Evan didn't seem too out of the ordinary.
Training like an ordinary person, no matter how hard he tried, wouldn't grant him the power to fight the Honkai. But Evan knew that today's self was a little stronger than yesterday's self. For that little bit of progress, he had given up everything meaningless. In fact, if not for the limitation of friendship points, he would have locked himself away and trained relentlessly after confirming Mei was at Senba Academy and that the world's timeline matched his memory, only contacting her on the eve of the Honkai Eruption.
Even his internship at ME Corp was for the sole purpose of finding a potential weapon or Titan robot to increase his power.
Unlike ordinary students who relaxed and had fun on the weekends, Evan's weekends were more grueling than his school days. During class, he could at least rely on the teachers' special treatment to let his body recover a bit faster. But at ME Corp, he couldn't possibly sleep in the office. To have any chance of a promotion and to get more information, he forced himself to give one hundred and twenty percent effort.
Unfortunately, ME Corp had disappointed him. A promotion in a short time was impossible, and no matter how well he performed at organizing files, it would never earn him the merit needed for a direct promotion.
And in the time after his internship work was temporarily finished, Evan dragged his body, which hadn't had enough time to recover, to Senba Academy to find and get to know Mei yesterday, and today he was sparring with her directly.
It was a good thing they were using bamboo swords. If they were heavier metal blades, Evan might have exposed the fact that his body was in a constant state of extreme fatigue.
And after all this was over, Evan would return to his dorm and continue to train. As long as his body wasn't injured, he could keep pushing himself. He had long since memorized the methods for checking for physical abnormalities, constantly monitoring himself to ensure he didn't sustain any major injuries. As for minor aches, pains, and ordinary fatigue, if he didn't even have those, how could he say he was pushing himself to the limit?
Yes, to the limit.
Evan never felt that having the Friendship Supply gave him enough capital to fight the Honkai and then spend his days leisurely. He had to push himself to the absolute limit in the limited time he had. That way, even if he failed in the end, he would have no regrets. He would only lament that he wasn't strong enough.
Thinking about it now, the joy he felt about coming to find Mei, aside from the normal happiness of meeting a Valkyrie from his memories, was probably also his constantly tense body's silent protest, wasn't it?
Perhaps he should even thank those delinquent girls he ran into. They had added a different story to his life, which had been almost set in stone for the past week.
Is the world of Honkai beautiful? It certainly has many beautiful girls. But beyond that, there is more danger and tragedy.
At this moment, looking at Mei who was studying him with a probing gaze, Evan smiled a flawless smile.
"That's because my male ego is at stake. I can't stand the thought of my swordsmanship being weaker than that of a delicate girl like you."
"..."
Mei stared at Evan for a long moment but couldn't find any flaw in his expression. She even began to doubt if the feelings she had sensed from the rise and fall of his bamboo sword were real.
The girl pursed her lips and smiled as well.
"I see. But I'm not that delicate, you know. Shall we continue?"
"Yes."
This time, Mei could feel the joy in the swing of Evan's bamboo sword, a joy born from his own improvement. But how much of this feeling, which only appeared after she had pointed it out, was real?
Mei didn't know.