Chapter 113: A Virtual History Lesson
"I can't remember... I can't remember any of this..." Kiana stared down at the history textbook, its pages blurring into a mess of beyond understanding symbols. Her eyes began to spin in circles, a groan of pure frustration caught in her throat.
"Isn't this all rather simple?" A calm voice drifted over, and Rovel casually stooped to pick up a book that had fallen near Kiana's feet.
He glanced at the cover. Ah, it just so happened to be the one detailing the great achievements of Saint Kallen, who sacrificed herself for the people. Rovel weighed the volume in his hand. This single book was as thick as three other historical records combined. How to put it...
'Otto, you really outdid yourself,' he thought with a wry smile.
No wonder Kiana looked so bewildered. It was perfectly normal to have trouble memorizing a book so saturated with blatant personal bias.
"Eh? Why are you here?" Kiana looked up, her confusion momentarily overriding her academic misery. "Wasn't Bronya supposed to be in charge of history?"
The group had a clear division of labor for her remedial studies: Bronya was responsible for tutoring Kiana in history, while Rovel was actually in charge of the mathematics portion.
"Ah, about that," Rovel began, his tone light. "Bronya is currently immersed in a game called 'Honkai Kingdom.'She said she's busy subjugating the'Homu King' and asked me to help you study for a while. She'll take over after she's finished saving the world."
"Oh..." Kiana sighed, scratching at the roots of her white hair. "Dammit, I'm so jealous that you have a photographic memory! If only I had that ability too."
"Are you jealous?" Rovel chuckled softly, shaking his head. "If I could, I'd rather not have this talent."
"How could anyone not want to be smart?" Kiana looked at him, puzzled by the strange remark.
"No more idle chatter. Let's begin." Rovel deftly cut off her line of questioning and set about starting her history tutoring.
He produced two Homu-themed headsets, one blue and one yellow. With a flourish, he placed the blue one over Kiana's head.
"What is this thing?" Kiana asked, curiously prodding the device perched on her ears.
"Bronya hacked into Schicksal's database and created a connection device. Rather than having you memorize things by rote, it's better to let you experience it firsthand." Rovel paused for dramatic effect. "This device is called the 'Homu Homu Virtual Reality Connector'."
Kiana stared at him, her expression dripping with disdain. "Honestly, I'm surprised you can say that name without being embarrassed."
"LINK START."
Rovel shouted the command, and Kiana's body instantly went limp, slumping over as her consciousness was pulled from the world and interfaced with the Schicksal database.
When Kiana opened her eyes again, she was no longer looking at Rovel, but at the towering shelves of a massive, seemingly infinite library.
"Look behind you," a youthful voice rang out.
Kiana turned around as instructed, but saw nothing.
"Down here."
Her gaze dropped, and the moment she saw him, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Pfft... Hahaha! Why did you turn into a fox?!"
Rovel had been transformed into a pink-furred fox, no bigger than the palm of her hand. He was, she had to admit, actually quite cute.
"This must be the avatar Bronya designed for me," he said, his voice retaining its usual calm even in this ridiculous form. He began to walk toward a bookshelf on his short little legs. "Let's go in order, starting from the earliest recorded history of the Honkai."
Rovel reached out with a tiny paw, touching one of the books. The massive bookshelf before them split in two, and the very fabric of the environment around them began to dissolve and reshape itself.
As the world shifted, Rovel leaped nimbly onto Kiana's head, pawed at her hair a bit to get comfortable, and then lay down.
"Hey! Why are you climbing onto my head?" Kiana yelped, flailing her arms.
"I'm tutoring you. Can't you give me a ride for a bit?" Rovel spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and without waiting for her consent, he settled into a nest he'd made of her white hair.
Kiana wanted to argue further, but she was quickly captivated by the scene materializing before her.
By now, the girl and the fox had arrived in the middle of a dense, primeval forest.
"Wow... this is so realistic!" Kiana marveled. She reached out to touch a leaf on a nearby branch, but her finger passed right through it.
"This is a virtual world made of data. Under normal circumstances, you can't touch anything," Rovel reminded her from his perch. "This is Shenzhou in 2717 BC. This is where the first records of the Honkai appeared."
Suddenly, the surrounding bushes began to rustle violently. A pack of hulking, Beast-class Honkai Beasts crashed into the clearing, their roars shattering the tranquility.
Kiana instinctively dropped into a fighting stance, but a petite figure was even faster than her.
Though the figure looked to be only about 1.4 meters tall, with a very youthful face that made her look like a child, the power erupting from her body was extraordinarily staggering. With a series of swift, precise movements, she effortlessly dispatched all the Honkai Beasts.
"She is Ji Lin, the Yellow Emperor of Shenzhou," Rovel explained. "She was the first human in recorded history with the ability to fight the Honkai. Legend says she became so powerful because she awakened a Stigmata."
"So cool..." Kiana watched the heroic Ji Lin, a look of pure admiration flashing in her eyes.
"The history of Shenzhou isn't the main focus for this exam, so we'll just skim through it. Next... hm, here."
Rovel selected a new time node, and the scene before them began to dissolve once more.
However, at the very moment they vanished, Ji Lin seemed to cast a fleeting, curious glance toward the space the two of them had just occupied... a detail that went completely unnoticed by the time travelers.
"This is Europe at the beginning of the 14th century," Rovel's voice narrated as a new, far grimmer world solidified around them. "The Apocalypse, Kaslana, and Schariac families united to form Schicksal, which became the main force against the Honkai."
The scene was one of squalor and despair.
"As time went on, those within Schicksal became dissatisfied with their current influence. They began using 'protection'as a shield to hide their true motive of'aggression' as they launched the Crusades."
"Meanwhile, as the Black Death ravaged Europe and Schicksal's policies failed, the people were left in misery. Starvation was everywhere, and the stench of death hung heavy in the air."
Kiana walked down a muddy street, surrounded by refugees with gaunt, hollowed-out faces. Every so often, grim figures wearing bird-beak masks would pass by, carrying away the dead on crude carts.
She instinctively covered her mouth and nose, her brow furrowed in horror. She feared she might vomit if she wasn't careful.
"It is said that the Black Death was also induced by the Honkai, manifesting in the form of a disease," Rovel continued, his tone somber. "The plague swept across all of Europe. In just six years, it claimed the lives of 25 million people."
Kiana continued walking forward, her heart heavy, until a massive cross in the center of a desolate square caught her attention.
"This cross... why does it look so much like the one Aunt always carries?" Kiana asked in confusion.
"It's the same one Theresa carries," Rovel explained. "This is the 'Oath of Judah,'a Divine Key. It's the same type of weapon as the'Judgment of Shamash' passed down in your Kaslana Family. Both are weapons crafted from the Herrscher Cores of the Previous Era and Soulium."
"Judgment of Shamash?!" Kiana's eyes instantly lit up at the mention of the legendary weapon. After all, her dear old dad had famously used it to toast cheese. "So, which one is stronger, the 'Oath of Judah'or the'Judgment of Shamash'?"
Her hand instinctively reached toward the virtual image of Judah.
"Generally speaking, the 'Oath of Judah'should have the upper hand," Rovel mused.'Within the 'Grace Field,'all beings are equal; the Herrscher of Binding was simply too overpowered. Although the Judgment of Shamash has its Greatsword of Finality form, that only appeared when Kevin infused it with the power of Finality. The normal upper limit of Shamash is actually its'Might of An-Utu' form.'
"Eh? This Judah isn't just data, I can actually touch it?!" Kiana exclaimed, her fingers making contact with the cold, solid surface of the cross.
Suddenly, a flat, mechanical voice echoed through the simulation:
[User Name: Kiana Kaslana. Confirmed as a member of the Kaslana Family. Commencing playback of hidden records.]
Immediately after the announcement, Kiana felt the ground vanish from beneath her feet. A sickening lurch filled her stomach.
In the next second, she discovered to her horror that she was, in fact, falling through an endless, open sky.
"Aaaah! Don't grab my hair!" Kiana screamed, her voice roaring at the tiny fox clinging desperately to her head.
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