Even though she had a deep grudge against this kind of skill-locking situation, Siberian Duck still obediently checked Nero's skills.
[Basic Attack: Showing Off in Public (single-target). Level 5. Filled with high spirits, riding a furious horse with a red blade, stepping in to settle injustice wherever he goes. Nero casually picks a 'weapon' from around him and deals wind-type damage to the designated enemy equal to 90% of his Attack.]
[Skill: Two Sleeves of Clear Breeze (ricochet). Level 8. Consumes 1 Skill Point. Wielding the wind as a sword, following like a shadow, lightly tapping the water while slicing red leaves. Deals a total of 6 hits of damage, each one dealing wind-type damage equal to 35% of Nero's Attack to a random enemy unit, and applies one stack of a stackable Winded state. Winded can stack up to 6 layers on the same target.]
These two were the only descriptions she could view. The base stats, Light Cone, Ultimate, Talent, and Technique all displayed "???".
"Argh, I'm so mad!"
Siberian Duck ground her teeth, but her hands still very honestly continued operating.
After all, this was a rare character trial segment, she had to watch all the attack animations first.
Right after, she saw Dan Heng's basic attack deal a whole two-digit damage of 39. The Trampler's HP bar visibly dropped a bit.
Then she tried Nero's basic attack.
A breeze wrapped around Nero's body; he casually reached out and grabbed Dan Heng's Cloud-Piercer into his own hand. Then the white-haired boy leapt high and smashed down on the Trampler with a jump-slash, dealing a whole 309 damage.
"Wow, why is the damage so different?! This doesn't match the usual character-trial rules at all!"
Siberian Duck stared at the outrageous damage gap and the Trampler's HP bar dropping like an avalanche, and swallowed hard.
[Stingy Tomato: Maybe they're trying to show that Nero is super strong right now?]
[I use Pantene: Could be. After all, Nero did ride a sword over from outer space. Even if there was some accident, he still physically crossed the universe, right?]
[Aha's Messenger: Did any of you notice the basic attack? Nero straight-up stole Dan Heng's spear!]
[Little Sunny: Based on Nero's basic-attack description, this is probably an Easter egg!]
"Next, let's check the Skill." Siberian Duck said eagerly.
In the game, Dan Heng's Skill dealt a high damage of 89. The Trampler kicked back immediately and knocked off one-third of Dan Heng's HP bar.
Then came Nero's Skill.
Since the only enemy was the Trampler, all six hits landed on him.
Nero turned into a gust of wind, drifted out and returned, leaving behind a thin line formed from violent wind. The boy raised his hand and lightly hooked that line with a finger, six gusts tore through the Trampler like sword slashes.
Nero's Skill dealt 721 damage total and applied six full stacks of Winded.
The Trampler's HP bar vanished instantly.
Then the animation played, naturally, it was Nero and Dan Heng's coordinated sequence.
"Ohhh, so cool!!" Siberian Duck laughed. "The moment the battle starts, the sword-immortal vibe jumps right out. Both of them look so handsome!"
This part of the story continued until meeting Arlan and seeing March 7th, after that, the game view shifted elsewhere.
March 7th and Stelle were walking together, and along the way they casually picked up the Galactic Baseballer's signature weapon.
———
After a few more stages in the game, Stelle and March 7th arrived at the ring-shaped platform.
The white elevator surrounded by rifts was at the center of the platform.
March 7th admired Stelle's combat ability and complained that the two new people they met today were also very strong fighters. After working with Stelle to take down a few Void Ranger, Distorters, the two walked along the ring-platform toward the elevator.
When they reached the elevator, March 7th approached the control terminal with a serious face to try activating it. Stelle stood behind her, her catlike expression full of confusion as she looked at the sci-fi-yet-fantastical mechanical structures and area layout of the space station, all while staying vigilant to make sure no Void Rangers approached.
March 7th tapped the terminal a few times, nothing happened. She showed a helpless expression.
"Sigh… I knew it…"
"You broke it?" Stelle asked, confused.
March 7th turned around, sounding confident despite having no confidence at all, raising both small hands, "It wasn't me! It must be the Antimatter Legion's fault!"
Then, lacking conviction, she lowered her head. "Sigh… If only the all-knowing Teacher Dan Heng were here. He knows tons of strange things, maybe he could even fix the elevator."
The two pretty girls chatted, completely unaware of the three figures who had appeared behind them at some point.
Dan Heng listened calmly, showing no emotion at all.
Arlan held his injured arm, looking at the two girls with a strange expression, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, but in the end held back.
Nero stood obediently in place, eyes unfocused, looking like he was spacing out.
But in reality, he was reading the system's real-time notifications.
[Ding! Host has gained over five thousand followers.]
[Reward: Skill: Showing Off in Public.]
[Ding! Host has gained over five thousand followers. Achievement unlocked, Testing the Blade.
[Reward: 500 Stellar Jade.]
[Ding! Host may now design his own playable character and choose his banner timing.]
Nero glanced at the Showing Off in Public description, it matched the style of Two Sleeves of Clear Breeze, just a few lines.
Then he checked the Stellar Jade. After studying it through the system, he was sure it was useless to him, just regular clumps of stardust.
To be blunt, pretty but full of impurities.
Maybe he should later create a mission and give players some freebies. And if he could become the first HSR "foundational" character… wouldn't players call him "Godfather Nero"?
Would the popularity and follower count not explode?
As for the playable-character design and banner time, Nero wasn't in a rush.
He planned to enter the pool during the Arbor Calamity, it would match his Xianzhou Luofu identity and also match the scenes shown in the intergalactic travel sequences.
"I don't know how."
Dan Heng finally couldn't keep listening to the two girls talking and interrupted them.
March 7th jumped back in fright, "Ah! Why are you here?, wait no, how did you get here faster than us?!"
"Wind-type being faster is normal."
Nero spread his hands innocently.
"Dan Heng and I took another route. We found slightly-injured Arlan in the monitoring room, and then saw you two."
While speaking, Nero patted Arlan beside him.
"Ahaha…" March 7th laughed awkwardly twice. "Have you… been here long?"
"Mhm." Nero nodded. "We saw you break the elevator."
March 7th clenched her fists, pouting, "I didn't do it!"
Teacher Dan Heng sighed at the two troublemakers, then turned to the head of the Security Department, the dark-skinned boy, Arlan.
"Arlan, do you know what's going on with the elevator?"