It was a complete and utter coincidence that Sirius ended up being targeted not by one, but by two mature women.
He did not forget, however, that each one came with varying motives.
Black Swan attempted to scour his memories in order to learn about Herta.
Had it not been for his ‘impression’ of Herta being too strong, allowing her to intervene on his behalf, who knows how much Black Swan would have seen.
Then there was the woman sitting beside him.
The negotiations within the tower took an hour.
It was a battle of ‘magnificent’ proportions.
They managed to force a scheming businesswoman to a corner, or at least to a certain extent.
They were aware that the IPC were testing them, checking on their competency.
‘Being able to reach my side…’
Sirius thought of his conversation with Herta yesterday.
She told him that she could, under certain circumstances, reach his side.
It was something uncharacteristic of the Herta he knew of, leaving him confused.
He stole a glance at Jade, but unfortunately, she happened to be looking at him.
He instinctively avoided her gaze, though the awkwardness was there.
‘What does she want with me?’
Sirius knew her special ability to see what others desire.
It was because of this that he was wary, not just of its possible dangers, but also of the truths it carries.
He does not understand himself well.
He was afraid that Jade would present him with an answer he did not want to hear, afraid of seeing that mess of a wreck again.
“There have been people who have approached me.
They have something they wanted, something that could make them exchange everything.” She paused, momentarily pursing her lips, before continuing, “You are not an exemption.”
“Of course I would not be. I know my place. I am not comparable to an Emanator, nor to someone of your status.”
There was not a hint of self-depreciation in his voice.
Sirius stated it as a matter of fact, even feeling proud of it.
“If anyone is exempt, I doubt they are still alive. Death is a better solution for them.”
“Fair point.”
Jade does not have a shortage of life experience.
She met with people who proudly acknowledged their weaknesses.
She wasn’t surprised with Sirius’ response.
“I am slightly interested. How would you give me what I desire?”
Jade raised her eyebrows at his question.
For a moment, she thought Sirius wanted to go back to his words.
But when she saw his eyes, she knew he was just curious.
Being in this trade for such a long time, she knew exactly who her clients would be and who would not.
“The best way to understand oneself is during fatal crises. Hence, I will drop you off on a world ravished by the Destruction.”
“…”
Sirius suppressed the urge to deadpan right at Jade’s face.
As if he would get to know himself that way!
Before he could do a monologue, he might have been killed by the Antimatter Legion—in one shot atop that!
Looking at her again, he knew she wasn’t serious about it, or so he had guessed.
It was impossible to judge Jade’s intention with her smiling face.
“Any other options?” He asked.
“There are.” She said, “The Xianzhou are currently experimenting with a new aspect of their Immersia, one that impacts the soul itself. Every inch of your being would believe the illusions weaved by their constructs.”
“…No thanks.”
The word ‘experiment’ alone was a large red flag.
He was not willing to become a guinea pig for someone else.
If it was Herta, though…
He just might.
“The process of understanding oneself is all that matters. I would have to disappoint you, Madam Jade.”
“Duly noted.”
A streak of light appeared between Jade’s fingertips.
It turned into a sharp, rectangular calling card.
Its black surface let out a sheen, giving a sense of unmatched luxury and elegance.
Etched on its surface are two words in gold, followed by a set of numbers: Bonajade Exchange.
She handed it over to Sirius and said:
“If you happen to change your mind, feel free to give me a call.”
His right hand let go of his steering wheel, receiving this high-end calling card.
He gave her a nod and stored it on the compartment beside the car clutch.
The vehicle’s low hum ensued.
The radio was turned off, leaving the air conditioning to circulate air inside the humvee.
The sight of the ruined city was replaced with cracked green fields.
Large fissures caused the trees to collapse. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Only the highway they were using was fixed as of the moment.
The sight was akin to a ruined, post-apocalyptic world.
Without Herta, it would have negative value to the IPC.
They would still help this small planet connect to the wider cosmos, but that was it.
The rest would be up to them—on whether its denizens would become IPC workers or not.
At least they were not as bad as planets that got into debt with the IPC.
The two arrived at the massive and unpopulated airfield.
They did not talk again.
Sirius watched Jade as the ship’s staircase lay down on its own.
It did not take long for the hatch to close, and for the ship to depart.
Zoom-!
Sirius heaved a sigh of relief.
The wariness he maintained since two hours ago collapsed completely.
He looked at the bright blue sky, already seeing the great changes that are about to come.
‘The IPC, Genius Society… This is the world beyond the screen.’
His sentimental thoughts did not last long as he drove back to the tower.
There was a lingering trace of excitement, still.
One brought by meeting someone he only saw on a screen.
The IPC’s visit was one thing.
Sirius still has something more important to do.
His Mental Landscape.
Ever since he unlocked it, he set aside time to study its abilities.
He found four abilities so far: mental defense, memory organization, emotion manipulation, and mental overdrive.
The first one, mental defense, granted him the ability to enter his ‘mind’, allowing him to defend it from foreign invaders—just like what Herta did.
It also has a passive effect of weakening, if not nullifying, powers aimed at his mind.
Unfortunately, everyone who targeted Sirius ignored it entirely.
One was a ‘rebel’ that even the Garden of Recollection, the ‘official’ organization of Remembrance, was wary of.
The other one possesses a fragment of an Emanator’s power.
Sirius was basically like poor Yanqing, forced to fight those far above his weight limit.
Against most Pathstriders, that passive effect has a huge effect, or so Herta guaranteed him.
The second one was less practical.
It allowed Sirius to ‘recall’ memories he had forgotten down to their exact detail.
It was the equivalent of having a playback of his memories, though he had to enter the mental landscape to use it.
The third one, emotion manipulation offered another practicality.
It gave Sirius a ‘switch’.
Turning it on would suppress all of his emotions, essentially forcing him to calm down.
Lastly, mental overdrive forces his brain to perform past its limits.
His brain’s processing speed would increase dramatically, achieving the same effect as time dilution, but only to his mind.
Meeting with Jade strengthened his intention to grasp more power.
Being pushed around by others made him feel unpleasant.
If it wasn’t for Herta, who knows where he would end up?
Knowing his limitations, he did not hesitate to seek Herta’s help, and much to his surprise, she agreed.
That was how they uncovered the abilities brought by the mental landscape.
Herta’s time was limited, however, which limited their time for research.
Sirius cranked the humvee’s speed to the maximum, rushing to come back on-time, if not earlier.
‘It’s finally of some use.’
Driving was one of the actions that triggered his green trait’s activation.
It granted him the muscle reflex of someone who has been driving for a long time.
He could not tell for long how it was, hence his description was pretty subjective.
In the end, he arrived fifteen minutes earlier than his arrival time.
Sirius looked at his attire, straightened the wrinkles on his unbuttoned polo.
Before long, he arrived at the theater-like room on the tower’s fifth floor.
Herta remained in place, her jewel-like eyes glued on the large screen.
When he followed her gaze, he discovered he could not understand an ounce of it.
The things projected on the screen were no longer something he could touch!
‘Don’t tell me she went straight to the Aeons…’
Upon thinking twice, Sirius felt it was more probable.
“You came back faster than I thought.” She turned her eyes towards him, her face carrying a faint smile.
“So you did not fall into her trap.”
Sirius’ lips twitched at her mention of it.
“When will you experiment with me?”
Her eyes widened slightly, her smile turning into a scoff.
“Who do you think I am? Your words make it sound like I am treating you as a lab rat.”
Herta waved her hand.
The contents of the theater screen disappeared.
Replacing it were the contents of the mental landscape research.
“I left the First Mirror to start a regression model. It narrowed down the variables it could affect.”
Most of the variables were the ‘abilities’ they already verified.
Much to Sirius’ surprise, Herta found three more: Path energy utilization, information imprinting, and partial imaginary control.
“You should be familiar enough with the first one.”
“Hm. That’s the extra thing inside my brain.”
Each ‘Paths’ has their own abilities fueled by Path Energy—something derived out of imaginary energy.
For Erudition, it grants the ability to ‘analyze’ subject matter at the core.
It is akin to having analytical computers inside one’s brain.
It is unhindered by most things, affecting even other Pathstriders.
Other Pathstriders may receive a ‘special’ attention from Nous, earning his gaze, thus granting them abilities other than this core ability.
This operation was affected by the mental landscape’s Path energy utilization.
It did not give him other special abilities, but instead enhanced the core one.
It placed him far beyond most Erudition Pathstriders, landing him right beside those who earned Nous’ gaze.
“The second one is magic.”
“Pardon me?”
“It is exactly as it sounds. It is magic.”
Herta’s eyes lit up at its mention.
Sirius could tell she was very interested in it.
“Through the Path of Erudition, you can record several phenomena and imprint them inside your mental landscape. When the time comes…”
“I can cast it like a magic spell.”
“That’s it.”
It was as straight-forward and interesting as she had made it out to be.
Sirius could use Erudition’s analytical ability to record a phenomena, and then bring it out when the time comes.
That was magic!
‘No wonder she looks so entertained.’
Herta crossed both her arms, bringing her chest forward, as she strolled closer to Sirius’ side.
“The final variable is still a prediction. I placed it there because it is a certainty.”
She paused, pointing towards the screen.
The next second, another panel popped up.
The majority of it was filled with things Sirius could not understand.
The only thing he understood was the analytical geometry, vector systems, and matrices.
“Imaginary energy is converted to Path Energy. Only then would it become usable. Without that conversion, imaginary energy remains as a highly-chaotic energy that remains in a quantum state.”
“In other terms, it’s chaotic and destructive?” He asked.
“You can put it like that.”
Sirius caught onto what she wanted to say.
The final function, partial imaginary control, gave him ‘control’ over this ‘raw’ material, namely the imaginary energy.
It was practically another version of Blade Mantra’s highest proficiency, whereas its holder could directly manipulate honkai energy on their own.
Only, Sirius wasn’t controlling honkai energy, but imaginary energy!
“As it serves, you can use it as a miniature death ray. Of course, its limitations are tied onto you.”
“…”
The last answer surprised him yet again.
‘It’s not from Blade Mantra but it is similar to Blade Mantra.’
Sirius felt somewhat speechless towards it.
The partial imaginary control was simply another version of ‘Blade Eminence’.
He did not expect to gain something like that with a single activation of his green trait.
‘Am I not using it properly?’
The more he thought about it, the more it stood out.
He really wasn’t using it properly!
Because he was too caught up in his self-spiral, Sirius did not realize the true potential of [Heaven Sometimes Rewards Hard Work].
It was the only trait that exerted the greatest influence on him in this life.
His thoughts were cut short by Herta’s words:
“Oh, right. I have finished recording the reward I promised to you.”
Her right hand held a sleek phone, gesturing to him to come and take it.
Not knowing how to refuse, Sirius followed her instructions.
Just like that, the exclusive Miss Herta ASMR fell in his hands.