Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

The next morning, Aleph went straight to the director's office. The aftermath of his ambush wasn't that easily dealt with.

"You look different."

Her eyes narrowed as she noticed Aleph's differences.

"It's my shoes. I developed one that hid rollers to run faster."

Of course, it was all bullshit. He could still explain the nuclear-powered suits and the likes, but immediate biological changes are hard to explain.

"The commander-in-chief will pay you a visit."

"Oh, well."

Expecting his reaction, Einstein no longer paid much attention to it.

"Will you do something with them?"

Her attention fell to Aleph's potential actions. She knew how angry he was last night.

"Yes, but not now."

His reply hid a bunch of implications.

Einstein let out a sigh. She was aware of the nuclear-powered exoskeleton suit that Aleph had been working on for nearly two months.

"Give me a heads up. If what you're planning to do is that bad, we need to prepare for the aftermath."

"I know. They must've implicitly agreed to it."

The two weren't dumb enough when it comes to politics. Although their energy was spent in scientific endeavors, they knew how the politics above worked.

Aleph's ambush was a test from above—on whether he could be as formidable as Elysia. 

If he was, they would stop touching him for a while. If he wasn't, they are ready to remove him from the equation.

"You're not the reckless type. That's all."

Hearing Einstein's trust in him, Aleph was touched. They began with exchanging research papers. He didn't think she could trust him enough.

Just like that, Aleph headed to the abandoned hangar. It has a large enough launch-pad that he could use.

He stepped on the pedestal. The mechanical arms began working around him. When the helmet was placed, the GUI started working.

"Let's see… Will they appear?"

Aleph began working on the problem he discovered yesterday. These problems were the ones that slipped past him. They only appeared once the suit was brought together.

It was mainly a problem caused by the materials itself. Some of the materials in his past life corresponded to some in this world—even, some are better compared to their original counterparts. 

Using the better materials resulted in a sort of disruption when the suit was assembled.

Fortunately, the core portion, the circular nuclear reactor, remained fully functional.

[Status check finished.]

[All 115 systems online.]

[No errors detected.]

In the next few hours, Aleph was immersed in debugging all sorts of errors. His mouth twitched whenever he recalled the [No errors detected] text. Just the ones he came across now amounted to dozens.

During his break, Aleph explored his new earnings.

"I didn't need much sleep. Was this a perk?" He mused. "It's too bad that earning achievements is difficult."

He thought of the incoming missile from yesterday. If he hadn't dodged it in time, he doesn't know whether his current strength could withstand a head-on explosion.

It also made him aware of his shortcomings.

"I still don't know my fullest capabilities."

Aleph measured his perimeters with tests. He has records of his speed, reaction time, and estimated strength. What he lacked was the records of his endurance. Unless he harms himself—which is something that no sane person would do—he wouldn't be able to know his limits.

"Ugh… Should I really do that?"

An internal struggle underwent his mind. It was at this moment did he discover that he wasn't as crazy as Mobius who dared operate on herself with great uncertainty.

"Tsk..! If I can't even know which one is lethal or not, how would I fare in a real battle?!"

As soon as Aleph made up his mind, he walked to one of his desks and opened its compartment. The M9 pistol with the [Unlimited M9 Magazine] was present there. Along with it is a silencer.

Without thinking, he disengaged the safety lock and pointed it at his left hand.

Sou-!

Aleph had closed his eyes from the moment he aimed at his left hand. 

A few seconds later, he felt no pain whatsoever. He opened his eyes and found something shocking.

"..."

The bullet remained in his left hand. If it weren't for the traces of smoke that came from it, he wouldn't have thought that his bare body could resist a bullet point blank. 

Aleph removed the bullet and found his skin unscathed.

"Base form… it was resisted."

He conducted this test two more times, one with his APS active while the other with the cursed energy strengthening to his body. During those times, the bullet failed to penetrate his skin. The amount of "unscathedness" also increased, especially when he used both the APS and the cursed energy strengthening.

"What the hell…"

Thinking of the not-so-minor details he had overlooked, Aleph was stunned. The speed at which he gained cursed energy was extremely fast. The last time he got injured was during his escape from Nagazora.

"I should test it more…"

*****

The next day.

An unexpected appointment came to Aleph. To prevent the previous incident from happening, he was the only one who went outside.

Upon entering a familiar coffee shop, he saw a purple-haired girl with her usual ponytail.

Aleph sat on the seat opposite her.

"What are those injuries?"

The first thing Mei noticed was the bloody gauze underneath his coat.

"I got into an accident."

Aleph thought of the things he did yesterday. Once he made up his mind, he slowly let go of his worries when it comes to self-harm. He tested various weapons—from guns to cold weapons—to see how far he could withstand them.

He even chose to activate his Active Power State as well as the cursed energy reinforcement to keep safe.

Unfortunately, he got the short end of a stick. He tried withstanding his own [Nitro Crystal]. Its characteristics bypassed both his cursed energy reinforcement as well as APS. Its 'sharpness', so as to say, ranks on the top list of his current weapons.

Before that, he even borrowed a mecha from the third institute. He successfully fought against it without any weapons.

The things used to deal with chariot and even templar-class beasts could be faced head-on by him.

Fortunately for him, Mei seems to have the intention of not pursuing it.

"You always told me to take care of myself. I don't want to see our positions swapped."

"Yeah, I'll be more careful next time."

After expressing her concerns, the two went to discuss some matters.