After spending the entire night in meditation, Adam felt no fatigue—his body as refreshed as if he'd slept like a log. Despite the stillness, progress had been made. Small, but noticeable.
His Reiryoku had increased by one point. His Reiatsu, by three.
One thing Adam discovered during his training was that combat greatly accelerated his Reiatsu growth. The pressure, urgency, and chaos of battle pushed his body to instinctively utilize and control Reiatsu. But while the body acted, the mind struggled to keep up. The sensations and learning were incomplete.
Meditation changed that.
It was like revising a subject after school: reinforcing what he experienced in combat, solidifying fleeting moments into understanding. And that, to him, was progress.
Feeling newly invigorated and quietly proud, Adam packed his gear again. This time, he swapped his old backpack for a waterproof sport duffle bag with more capacity. It bulged at the seams, crammed full of canned meat, sardines, fruit, and energy drinks.
The total weight exceeded 20 kilograms, but to him, it was nothing.
He had an inventory system, after all—anything he couldn't carry could simply be stored. The duffle bag was just for appearances. A disguise, in case he came across survivors. Better to look normal.
Yes.
Adam was preparing to meet people.
He wasn't just wandering anymore. As someone with knowledge of the Honkai Impact world, Adam knew Sapphire City wasn't just some random disaster zone.
This was the city where Fu Hua—one of the future Flamechasers bearing the Signet of Vicissitude—would be saved by Himeko of the Previous Era. And Adam intended to find her.
His reasons were twofold: not only to build rapport with a future Flamechaser and open doors for future plans, but also to ensure he himself would be present when Fire Moth eventually showed up—just as the story foretold.
Based on what he remembered, he could narrow down Hua's likely location.
She was a high school student from a poor rural background, whose father had fallen ill and been hospitalized. She'd recently moved to the city, and given her circumstances, she'd attend a public school with dorms.
A quick internet search confirmed there were only three such schools in Sapphire City. Today's mission was to investigate each one.
But just as Adam was about to pry away the barricade and leave the supermarket, he froze.
Then facepalmed.
"I completely forgot about that skill I have…"
Jigokuchō, the Hell Butterfly, in Bleach, was a kind of magical familiar used primarily for communication and guiding Shinigami between worlds. But in his system, it was described differently—a soul-bound familiar. A magic pet.
Intrigued, Adam gathered Reiatsu into his palms, shut his eyes, and activated the skill.
Wind swept through the supermarket. A whirlwind of energy spun around him, focusing into the orb of light in his hands. He could sense the ambient Reiryoku in the air being sucked in, pulled into the orb like a black hole.
Slowly, the sphere darkened—turning pitch black.
Crack.
A sharp sound broke the silence as fractures webbed across the orb's surface, glowing faint purple. Then—shatter. The orb burst apart.
From the remnants, a Hell Butterfly emerged.
Its lustrous black body and glowing purple swallowtail wings shimmered like moonlight. It hovered in the air, then gently landed in his palm.
Adam opened his eyes—and immediately felt like cursing.
That little bastard had sucked him dry, draining every drop of Reiryoku he had left.
But then he looked again. The butterfly was... beautiful. Otherworldly.
"…Alright, fine. Worth it."
He peered closer, wondering how they would communicate. He didn't expect a butterfly to talk.
Then—telepathy answered him.
"Oh. You're... intelligent."
The butterfly sent back a mildly offended pulse.
"Okay, okay—I'm sorry!" Adam raised his hands in surrender. "Let's focus. I need you to help me find someone."
He projected an image of Hua into the butterfly's mind—along with her name and the deductions he'd made about her possible location.
The Hell Butterfly flapped its wings and, without fanfare, opened a glowing portal before vanishing inside.
Adam exhaled, unsure whether the familiar could actually find her. After all, in the Bleach canon, Hell Butterflies didn't exactly go on scouting missions.
Still, it was worth a shot.
With his Reiryoku slowly regenerating, Adam exited the supermarket in search of a bicycle.
---
Less than an hour later, Adam was leisurely pedaling his newly acquired ride down a deserted street when a telepathic ping surged through his mind.
The Hell Butterfly had returned.
It landed lightly on his head—and projected a mental image directly into his consciousness.
He saw the interior of a school dormitory hallway—and a girl, clad in a dirty school uniform, was locked in brutal close combat with a zombie. Her fists moved with skill: Kung Fu and boxing techniques fluidly blended together.
"…Holy shit. She's actually beating zombies with her bare hands."
The girl was ragged—filthy clothes stained with purplish blood, a backpack slung over one shoulder. Likely scavenging for supplies when she got unlucky.
"Take me to her!" Adam barked, pedaling hard.
The butterfly flitted off his head—then suddenly opened a portal. He was moving too fast to stop.
Whump!
He rode straight into it.
But instead of emerging in Dangai, as he expected… he found himself in a surreal space. The sky above was a deep, endless cosmic night, filled with stars. Below him, the bicycle rode smoothly atop a mirror-like water surface that reflected the universe above.
In the center of this space sat a small glowing island, with a radiant, ethereal tree shining at its center.
Adam's jaw would fell off if it could.
"Holy shit—is that the Imaginary Tree?!"
Before he could marvel further, another portal opened beneath him, sucking him in once more.
He reappeared—this time exactly where the butterfly had shown him.
Inside the dormitory.
Crash!
Thud!
The sound of shattering glass echoed down the hallway. A zombie crashed from the fourth floor, its body splattering on the ground just ahead of him.
Looking up, Adam spotted her.
Hua—running desperately along the hallway above, a swarm of zombies in hot pursuit. A horde gathering below.
If he didn't act now, she'd be torn apart.
Sure, the original story said Himeko would rescue her—but Adam wasn't about to bet on the plot playing out exactly the same. Especially not with no Fire Moth squad in sight.
He checked his energy.
Only about two-fifths of his Reiryoku had regenerated—not enough to sustain constant attribute boosts, which consumed one unit per minute per stat.
But that's when his earlier idea paid off.
Instead of maintaining the buff like a Reinforcement Mage, why not use it in bursts—like Mana Burst?
It requires precise timing to boost his strength attribute just when his attacks are about to connect and then retract the boost immediately.
Rinse and repeat.
Adam drew in a deep breath.
"COME AT ME, YOU BASTARDS! I'LL FIGHT YOU ALL DAMN DAY!"
His roar echoed across the dorm courtyard. The effect was immediate.
The majority of zombies shifted direction—now heading toward him.
...Unfortunately, his taunt was a little too effective.
Zombies from the surrounding area began pouring in as well, flooding toward the front gate like a wave.
A diamond-shaped sign pole appeared in Adam's hands. With a surge of Reiatsu, he boosted his Strength stat to the max—and began swinging.
Steel clashed with skull. Bones cracked. Heads shattered like melons.
He cut them down in sweeping arcs, harvesting them like wheat.
When the sign pole bent under the strain, he tossed it aside—and summoned another.
"Come on! I've got plenty more to bash your rotting heads with!"
"Oraa!"
He fought relentlessly until his Reiryoku reserves were almost gone. By the end, fewer than three dozen zombies remained.
Adam turned and sprinted up the stairs, summoning his asauchi. The narrow stairs limited how many enemies could enter at once and their higher ground allowed him to bash their skulls much easier—just the advantage he needed.
Keeping the blade sheathed, he used it like a bat. With Reiatsu reinforcing the weapon, he didn't fear it breaking.
Within minutes, the remaining zombies lay still.
Adam didn't waste a second.
He bolted up the stairs toward the fourth floor.
Not all zombies had chased after him—some still pursued Hua. And right now, she could be in danger.
He wasn't going to let this chance to gain her favor slip by.
—————
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