Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

The center of conflict in the Fate Series that Aleph watched was the "omniscient" Wish-granting Grail. The energy needed to power it comes from the dead servants and masters, hence creating the necessity for a "seven-man war", rightfully dubbed as the "Holy Grail War".

However, things weren't always as it seems.

In the case of the Fuyuki Grail War, the "omniscient" Holy Grail was a huge scam. The Greater Grail, which was built to withstand impossibly vast amounts of energy, was corrupted during the third grail war.

In simple terms, they summoned a computer virus and allowed it to corrupt all the system files, leaving a defunct holy grail that grants its wielder's wishes in a twistedly evil way.

"Cursed spirits… and this guy. Is there any difference?"

Aleph stared at the black mud approaching his feet. The white light surrounding him began counteracting it. 

Moments later, the black mud split as if it hit a solid wall.

The ground around Aleph was soon swept over by the black mud. Only the place he was standing remained incorrupt.

"My authority works…"

His fingers tapped his crossed arms. 

A minute later, Aleph received the initial result from Great Sage.

{Result: The target entity contains an unquantifiable amount of negative emotions. Contacting it directly will result in an immediate death for normal humans. The ways to counteract it is to use the nullification authority, exorcise using cursed energy, annihilate using honkai energy…}

'...So this is the trouble of going to other worlds.' Aleph mused.

The Embryonic Power System was an example of that 'happy trouble'. Though he could now switch his energy based on the things he came in contact with, it was up to him to research their nature. He didn't have much knowledge on other worlds interacting together—say, honkai energy acting upon this black mud.

Everything was up for him to be experimented on. His elemental sight required practical experiences.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone.

"The one with the biggest compatibility was cursed energy. It does have better effects when dealing with negative emotions... and in this case, curses. Their concepts are good enough, too."

Aleph recalled his time in Shibuya. Most of the people he encountered did not have a strong raw power. Even Jogo, the classified special-grade cursed spirit, fell short compared to the top combat forces in his world.

Nevertheless, the merit of cursed techniques lies in their ability to affect concepts. So long as they had the same access to high amounts of energy—similar to Herrschers—and improved their output, the sorcerers' potential would be better, though it mostly depends on the cursed technique itself.

Aleph realized this early on and headed in this direction.

Hum-!

The black mud's direct contact caused the trees in Mount Enzou to start burning.

"Alright."

Amidst the flames and crawling black mud, Aleph raised his hand. Cursed energy gathered in its place. His surroundings turned vague as the gathered energy reached a focal point.

'Juezhao was the prerequisite… because you still need to go through it.'

Aleph gathered the energy through Juezhao. However, it did not end there. His surroundings turning vague was a result of engulfing his radius in dense cursed energy.

It was the second part.

Combining these two parts make up Li Shuwen's signature move—

Bam-!

Aleph's fist contacted the ground. The sheer impact caused it to cave several meters in an instant. It was done in an instant, making it as if a portion of the ground disappeared.

Cracks spread from his radius. The purple-black energy crept through the crevices and began slicing through the black mud.

Sizzle-!

"Cursed spirits…"

Cursed energy was the antithesis of cursed spirits—even in other worlds.

Aleph saw how his single attack cut through thirty percent of the black mud. The ones hit by him evaporated. The remaining black mud did not dare touch the places with crevices.

"Alright. The next one."

[Conversion Successful.]

[Cursed Energy → Honkai Energy]

Aleph felt a portion of his brain 'sleeping'. His frontal lobe where cursed techniques were 'stored' fell silent without cursed energy.

It was one of the disadvantages he discovered. Perhaps it was still 'undeveloped', the Embryonic Power System does not support cross-usage of other worlds' energies. 

Meaning to say, Aleph's strengths as a Sorcerer could only be used with cursed energy, nothing else. The loss of it meant the loss of access to that power.

In the end, it was a matter of advantages and disadvantages. It was completely up to him to use which.

Fizzle-!

Circuit-like lines appeared all over his arms. It matched with the few scales in it.

"At least Albion's powers were not affected by the switch. He did want me to find out about this myself..."

The sheathed blade appeared in his grasp.

Click.

Zoom-!

A transparent arc headed straight into the split grail statue. 

Bam-!

Shatter-!

The broken 'mystical artwork', a man-made treasure made up of thousands of circuits, was treated like a punching bag. It wasn't just it—the black mud too.

"It accepted honkai energy. I see…"

Aleph's heart began beating faster and faster. He looked at the black mud with a renewed gaze.

"My perfect sparring partner."

At this moment, the evils of the world faced malicious intents comparable to it.

*****

A week had passed since the three-day spar in the fifth institute.

"The hero arrived on the scene. Half expected, he thought of his comrades' desperate struggle. He always arrives on the scene, on-time. Instead, his comrades' dismembered bodies greeted his—"

Sakura swiftly took the magazine from her younger sister's hands. She folded the magazine and patted her sister's head with it.

"Ow. Big sis—"

"It is the usual section, isn't it? The one with bloody scenes."

Sakura hit the mark. For some reason, her younger sister, Rin, held an eccentric hobby of reading bloody entries. It was either that or horror short stories she often found in one of the magazines delivered to their house.

"But—"

Hearing her reprimand, Rin wanted to retort when a knock in the door disrupted her.

Knock.

Knock.

In Rin's eyes, her usually stern sister showed a startled look. It was as if she knew who was beyond the door.

"I'll open it."

Her eyes remained stuck on her older sister's back as it headed to the tall pink fox ears. They trembled slightly, further expressing Sakura's surprise.

When the door was opened, it revealed a tall young man with golden pupils.

"This is a good time to visit, no?"

Rin stood on the sofa and saw his figure. A single thought entered her mind:

"It couldn't be…"

*****

A/N: Bonus Chapter (1/3)