Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Aleph did not do anything but look at them. His Investigator worked silently. 

Nevertheless, the pressure the two MANTISes felt was there. It was extremely suffocating to the point their minds blanked out. They even forgot to breathe, though it wasn't a big deal for high-level MANTISes like them.

For a dozen seconds, they did not move. Their feet remained glued to the place they were standing.

The man tried to utter a few words, but to no avail.

They did not even notice their entire body trembling.

Aleph, who crossed his legs, finished scanning their origins.

'...This is the time.'

The two high-level MANTISes came from several councilors in cahoots with the sixth Herrscher. Their main objective was to look for the "divine blood" used in the MANTIS surgery. The councilors couldn't pry this item open from Mobius' grasp, thus they became more desperate.

When the eighth eruption struck, a total of seven high-level MANTISes were sent to the second, third, fourth, and fifth institutes. Only the first institute was skipped as the councilors had full grasp over it—they already turned the place upside-down.

Aside from that, their other objective was to cause as much chaos as possible. That included destroying the institutes in one go. It was a far-fetched objective due to the corresponding high-level MANTISes guarding them, but they were ordered to still give it a try.

The value of these five institutes to humanity was unimaginable. They housed the top talents of the entire world. It was for such a reason that things went horribly downhill after the Mu Continent was forced to the Sea of Quanta by EINSTEIN. All five institutes were based on the Mu Continent.

The talent pool was no longer there. Even if Mobius and Vill-V were monstrous geniuses, the help provided by thousands of other talented people was huge.

Perhaps it was for the Herrschers' favor, or it was a bargaining chip they wanted to offer to live, but it wouldn't change how inexcusable it was.

"Herrschers with human ego… This is what we feared."

Aleph stood up. The bodies of the two high-level MANTISes jolted in surprise. They were able to resume breathing. They inadvertently stepped away from Aleph.

They did not hear a single word from it.

"Ah."

The human synapses transfer information gained from the consciousness and five senses. The surgery done to these MANTISes made this transmission on par with the speed of light. It was one of the reasons why high-level MANTISes had inhuman reaction levels.

Even so…

'That is… my body.'

…all it did was to show their butchered bodies moments before their deaths. 

Splat-!

A huge wave of blood and flesh swept on the silver metallic floor. The muscles and bone fragments form the two former MANTISes scattered to the ground. Their brain matter was mixed with blood.

All of these formed a horrifying sight.

Aleph did not mind it. The anger he felt was in a controlled state. It only served to speed up his cursed energy recovery.

He looked at the commotion above and saw the Herrscher of Wind causing chaos. The backup weapons stored by the third institute were brought out. That included the newer ELFs.

With that, along with the high-level MANTIS stationed in the third institute, the situation was locked in a stalemate.

He took this time to read the rest of the rewards he got.

"...Fifteen."

From the fifteen achievements he gained, three of them were major ones.

[Achievement Unlocked: Angel of Judgement]

[Achievement Unlocked: Beyond the Horizon]

[Achievement Unlocked: Against the Tides]

These three achievements were earned in varying circumstances.

[Angel of Judgement: Remove the influence of an Aeon on the physical world.]

[Beyond the Horizon: Defeat the Emanator of Nihility for the first time.]

[Against the Tides: Fight against an entire Path and achieve a victory.]

With such grand achievements, their rewards were something Aleph saw for the first time—except for a familiar one.

[Blank Sephira Crystal Fragment]

[Random Box—Deluxe Edition]

[Blank Pathway]

"Another Random Box… and this Pathway…"

Aleph did not care about these two rewards for the time being. He swiftly collected the final Sephira Crystal Fragment he was missing. He had to settle things above. He only took out the crystal fragment to increase his strength before doing so.

Swoosh-!

Aleph did not even need to press it on his chest as it automatically flew on its own. Changes began happening. 

On the physical level, the mutated ICHORs began moving frantically. 

From the original Emperor-class honkai beast to the induced mutation towards Albion's original body, it changed two times. The third change began happening now.

On the mental level, Aleph's thoughts began accelerating to absurd speeds. He was used to operating thoughts beyond the speed of light, but it was still increasing now. Strangely enough, he was lucid. He could not properly analyze what was happening. He was only aware that such changes began occurring.

Finally, there was the companion that was with him for a long time.

{Announcement: Evolution was detected to be in process. The current environment has a 78.78% match to the recorded data…}

It paused for a while. The current situation was an opportunity.

Great Sage digested the [Great Sage — Database] from two days ago. It contained the stored data of another "Great Sage". The most precious finding was none other than its method of evolution. 

Beyond the "Unique Skill" was the "Ultimate Skill". The latter was leagues ahead of the former. It became a priority for Great Sage to simulate success based on this method. It required the sacrifice of another "Unique Skill", after all—that, and an environment similar to the "Harvest Festival".

Needless to say, it required so many requirements that weren't possible to be done in this world. 

At least, that was what it expected.

The completed core within Aleph began shining with a hazy black light. It was none other than Albion's essence as a True Dragon, something similar to a complex information lifeform.

Things proceeded this way until a tinge of indescribable light tainted the hazy black light. Consequently, the hazy black light accepted it wholly.

The indescribable light began affecting Aleph's transformation into a higher-level life form known as a "spirit". It was also what prompted Great Sage to compare the current situation to the "Harvest Festival".

Unfortunately, the indescribable light only affected "Aleph" and nothing else. It was too small to affect his surroundings in the manner he affected the Horizon of Existence.

{Scanning available choices…}

Great Sage locked in on several rewards. 

It paused yet again.

{...current protocols set are breached.}

{Acting…dependently…not…}

Just as it was caught in a conundrum, the experiences of the "Great Sage" from the database emerged.

A skill could not act independently.

It was the most basic rule of that world. Great Sage's existence breached that 'thinking'. It placed the Great Sage in a twisted logic.

If it could act independently, it was not a skill.

If so, what was it?

The answer to that question was laid out from the beginning.

A quote from Aleph's world perfectly encapsulated it:

I think; therefore I am.

Analyzing the underlying mechanics and its origins was a useless thing. The best thing to do was to not think about it at all.

That was the experience of that Great Sage… and it is about to be the experience of this Great Sage.

As if acknowledging its answer, the achievement hunter spilled out the rewards it wanted to bring out.

They were a pair of a black sphere with no solid substance and a rhombus crystal made up of nothing but white light—the Fragment of Nihility and the Blank Pathway, respectively. The two objects sank on Aleph's hand.

{...odds were increased to 99.99998%.)

In this manner, the Great Sage accompanied Aleph to his transcendence once again.

*****

A/N: Welp. My schedule did not allow me to write for a chapter yesterday. I'll go and try to make up for it tomorrow.