(POV - 3RD)

"How is it that I turn around and you're back with some more ludicrous news?" Mimir remarked with her tiny hands on her hips.

"It was not something I would know of." Kiryu simply replied, meeting her scrutinising gaze with his own calm one.

"Right, and now you come back with an almost dead wolf in your hands that was apparently subjected to Honkai infection earlier, so where's the infection??" The ELF asked.

"...Gone, it disappeared." The Commandant lied as naturally as he breathed, unsure on whether to explain the little lightshow he performed on the animal.

"You... are a horrible liar." Mimir rebuked, earning a swift response from Kiryu who shrugged as he blatantly admitted his attempted deception.

"I never said I was a good one." 

The ELF only sighed before leaving her small corner of the bunker's "laboratory" and then began examining the wolf from top to bottom, the said animal in question was breathing rather calmly as if it never went on a murderous icy rampage against Kiryu.

"Although Honkai infection in animals are less common than humans, it can still happen if there happen to be a huge concentration of the energy or if the animal is unfortunate." Mimir commented, leaning forward as she added further. "Since it's less common and almost rare, MOTH never really focused too deeply into anatomical alterations within animals." 

"Because they'd rather help themselves than others?" Kiryu interjected.

"That and we're stretched thinly across all fields involving the Honkai, be it scientific or combative." The ELF answered, probing the wolf.

Kiryu said nothing to that, at the end of the day, humans will always be humans who prioritises their own benefits first and then other species later. Perhaps he's being pessimistic, perhaps he's being too biased against humanity of this world but that's what he thinks.

Some individuals back at his own universe were no better... scowling silently as he recalled he and the Gray Raven's encounter with the people of Akdilek, especially the "aristocrats" onboard who gave not a single glance for the lives of the commoners.

That rotten system was flawed as much as it disgusted him to no end... it was a miracle he didn't punch that bastard Ashlar who exploited the Hetero-Core that fell from the orbit after he and the team alongside Watanabe and Ayla managed to eliminate the Heteromer.

Said exploitation caused the unnecessary deaths of many commoners onboard that train, it would have been avoided or at least resulted in fewer casualties but at the end of the day, human greed of the majority triumphed over the needs of the minority.

A light hum caused him to return his attention to the quiet ELF as she leaned away from the wolf which prompted him to put forward a question for her.

"Anything concrete?"

"Not really... there's only so much my systems as an ELF can do, not to mention we have limited resources and equipment to make a full analysis for it." Mimir responded.

"Can you determine whether the Honkai energy inside the wolf is gone?" Kiryu asked, gesturing to the animal still breathing normally.

"Well, besides bodily functions, it's practically fine though there is only a small portion of Honkai energy lingering within its body." Replied the ELF.

"Dangerous or not?" 

"Shouldn't be any less threatening than a mild fever though I don't know if a fever in an animal is similar to that in a human."

"I see..." Kiryu muttered as Mimir looked back at him with a renewed curiosity.

"Why do you want to save it? As far as I know, it's better to put it out of its misery before it succumbs to Honkai infection." She questioned bluntly.

"No creatures should suffer for a disease that could be cured and... call it a hunch but I think the animal could be useful later on." Kiryu answered.

"Useful? In what way? The fur? The bones? The meat? All of them would be spoiled already by the Honkai so there's virtually nothing useful." Mimir rebuked bluntly.

"As I said, it's a hunch." Kiryu retorted with another shrug.

"A 'hunch' is just as unreliable as your lies." The ELF remarked bluntly once again, narrowing her eyes as the Commandant who decided to ask.

"Call it however you wish, I do not care but the main issue you said is material sources?" 

"Yep, even though I've acquired more results than anticipated from the theoretical formula you've provided to me, it won't matter if we don't have the resources to utilise it." Mimir said.

"Hm... then I suppose it's time to find some..." The Commandant remarked, as Mimir turned to him with a look of slight surprise.

"You want to make contact with a town or city?"

"A minor one, hopefully one that doesn't require too much information of anyone entering and leaving though I wouldn't count on that...." Kiryu answered.

"That would be difficult if you're still desperately hiding yourself away from the grid... which I still don't know why." The ELF then stated.

"A question for another time." Kiryu simply replied.

"When is 'another' time?" Mimir stressed out the words.

"When it is right." 

"Can you say something more than just a few words?" Remarked the ELF with a snark.

"No." Was all she got in response, prompting her to throw up her hands in exasperation.

=================================

Kiryu's objective the next day was overall simple to put it lightly; make contact with the nearest settlements and people and hope they have raw materials to trade with... but the real issue comes in the form of currency, he is essentially broke in this world.

As a Commandant and one that was quite renowned if he is to brag, he mostly received digital payments through his personal card which he invested into upgrading his Constructs' frames and weapons as well as some personal interests.

Though he was paid quite handsomely, he didn't really find any interests in purchasing any other things besides for his squad members though Kamui did beg him once to help him pay for a limited edition game to which Chrome subsequently repaid him back while apologising for the former's actions even though Kiryu didn't mind.

He had too much money which has proven quite worthless in this world.

Perhaps... he could do some hunting and trade off his games for materials or information of equal worth? Unlikely if he wants something that's more valuable than a carcass of meat.

The thought of stealing would not even come close to lingering within his mind, he will not devolve himself down to a common thief no matter how dire the situation is.

However, prior to his time for departure to find a town or city, he and Mimir have been mulling over the old layouts of Yekaterinburg or whatever remained of it and so far, both of them had expressed interest in exploring industrial factories and structures that specifically worked on metallurgical products and metalworking.

The city's electrical equipment industries was another one to venture into though both of them wouldn't allow themselves to think that anything was even remotely working or functioning.

Processed materials aside, the abandoned city was a literal goldmine of raw resources lying around albeit with some Honkai beasts roaming the streets, if he is lucky enough then he could possibly find a factory or warehouse containing some unused goods.

Although if it's involving direct metalworking such as the tempering and moulding of steel or iron then that's going to be another hurdle to overcome and he highly doubts there's even a barely functioning forging machine.

If there is some leftover machineries that can be salvaged or repaired then that's what he and Mimir will do for the next coming months or even perhaps years.

That and he also needed to get some planning started especially on his next move when he is stranded in another universe without contact to Babylonia, there's no viable methods that he knows of to reverse-engineer whatever Gabriel had done to send him here in the first place.

The Commandant scowled lightly as he recalled the Ascendant piercing a dull golden piece of rock or metal into his body, that was the single trigger which prompted him to disappear from his world and getting thrown into a wormhole that led to this place.

Kiryu's memories were foggy but not exactly a blur, he vaguely recalled the sight of a... titanic glowing tree with branches filled to the brim with equally bright leaves? The entire dimension he saw the thing in was alien to say the least with shattered grounds and stones floating in the air as well as some structures surrounding the place with viscous red liquid on the ground.

He'll ask Mimir about that thing possibly being related to this universe but for now, there is much to be done regarding his future in this world but if he is to consider his current situation, the best thing he could do is clear out any Honkai beasts dwelling in Yekaterinburg.

As far as he disapprove to admit it, he had been feeling rusty from the lack of fighting and the constant battles against the Corrupted and mission to counteract against the Punishing Virus had completely tuned his body and instincts into overdrive whenever he was out on the earth.

Now he is still on the earth but in a completely different case, all battles now were unnecessary and encounters with Honkai beasts were avoided if can be, the only time he had truly been fighting by using the Tiga Suit or not was when he had no choice or his objectives requires it.

He was trained to be a fighter and an efficiently deadly one to be exact, utilising every single moves his body can pull regardless if it's dirty or brutal or overkill, eliminating Corrupted remained the topmost priority back at Babylonia so maximum efforts were demanded.

Henceforth he regularly sparred with Lucia or Constructs from other teams such as Strike Hawk or Cerberus, training with Chrome had been enlightening in how to counteract against a fighter that used a scythe despite the latter's agreement on it being an impractical weapon.

Unless one is packing enough strength to quickly swing the weapon around swiftly without breaking the flow then even an impractical weapon like the scythe can become a deadly tool.

Chrome had specifically tutored him on how to fight against a scythe-fighter like him though it's only based on the former's fighting style which involved various wide but powerful swings.

Though the Strike Hawk captain had lectured on the inefficiency of the scythe with only one side of it being bladed, it didn't really matter when the enemies he fought against were mindless robot zombies that had little to no self-preservation.

Kiryu had summed it to simply close in the target and strike with a sharp-tipped weapon, preferably a dagger or sword and targeting a vital area at most which will end the fight quickly.

Assuming his opponent who wielded a scythe was also proficient in using one then what Kiryu was advised in doing was avoid getting hooked on by the blade section and strike at openings when the chances present themselves. 

If he'd also considered his inhuman strength then another counter he could perform was to grab the shaft of the scythe before the blade could reach him, locking his opponent down with him.

That did prove effective enough for Chrome to forgo his scythe and turn the spar into a fistfight though Kiryu was mostly parried or blocked until the former could retrieve his weapon.

Against Vera though... let's just say he learnt from every sparring matches that the human body is bound to hurt more in some areas over others, Kiryu could only pity the person who drew her ire be it human or Construct or Corrupted.

Kamui was a tank of a powerhouse and vice versa, each strike from him was heavy and burdening to his arms with him switching to Power-Type being the only way to retaliate.

Lee was clearly straightforward with his shots, he had used rubber bullets but they still stung quite hard even against clothed skin and it was a match that proved beneficial to his reflexes.

While he didn't spar with Liv, the latter being too soft and kind to even fight against especially with her own team, she and Wanshi simply stood on the side looking out for any possible injuries or incident that might happen though the latter was contently dozing away.

Camu didn't really appear to spar due to his Transcendant nature and counting the fact that he'd rather spend his time sleeping away inside Kamui's M.I.N.D like his fellow Strike Hawk member.

Regarding Cerberus' other members, No.21 and Noctis were both absent so Vera was the only one to spare him some time with sparring though Kiryu had to admit, he'd rather fight hordes of Corrupted than spar with the sadistic redhead.

Before Kiryu knew it, he had walked onto a plateau that overlooked the wintry land below with frozen trees and river that spanned all across the region, it was certainly more beautiful than the scenery seen in the Arctic Route Union territories.

Amidst his thoughts, the Commandant didn't realise he had a light smile etched onto his face as he recalled all those fond memories before falling into this world though it disappeared as quickly as it came as he realised his situation.

Any mishaps and he'll die, forgotten and alone in this foreign world.

Perhaps some combat would be good to keep his skills in check, that and also in case he might be required to extensively fight in future conflicts which could include helping out civilians with hostile entities such as the Honkai beasts and zombies or even criminals.

Kiryu sighed before retrieving a folded map out from one of his pockets, it was obtained when he scoured the ruins of Yekaterinburg for more resources and from the quality of the material, it was still in relatively good condition though he couldn't say the same for the data inside.

If the early 1900s was any indication, he didn't have extensive knowledge of other settlements built outside the presence of Yekaterinburg and other cities but that was his side of history, this world's history is its own so he could be wrong in some way.

The Commandant was soon proven correct as the first time he saw the uncovered map, he managed to spot other towns and smaller cities just a few miles away from Yekaterinburg and right now, he is on the route to one of them.

Прекрасная or Prekrasnaya was the name, it is the sister city of Снежная or in this case, Snezhnaya but considerably smaller in both population and scale but still a rather active city for businesses to partake in and for economic goods to be shipped in and out.

That and also hopefully it will have some potential source of supplies and even currency for him to survive longer in this world but honestly speaking, he isn't optimistic about him succeeding but as pessimistic as he is right now, he's wasting precious time so he'll make a move on.

In time, Kiryu had reached his destination in a few hours of flight through the snow and biting winds that was hardly obstructed by his hood, he left his helmet and Lucia's blades back at the bunker with Mimir since it would draw too much attention to him.

If this is the early 20th century then he can expect technology to be subpar or even lacklustre in general especially in a rural area such as this but this is also another world and timeline so he cannot rule out a shockingly advanced era of humanity.

However, his search in Yekaterinburg alongside Mimir had only increased the ELF's own disdain for the lack of proper "modern" technology so his earlier thought would likely be improbable.

Of course, the Commandant had landed far before he'd reached the small town or city that he had looked forward to scouting out for material sources so the rest of the trip was on foot and through the snow-covered earth but it didn't take long as he soon arrived.

Prekrasnaya can be argued as a proper city but its population that lags behind an average city's number of civilians had others disagree with the place being a city despite their proper development of societal laws and orders and infrastructures.

Although small, it meant the entire city was small enough for anyone to recognise at least two or three or more people across the streets but still big enough for everyone to consider others as a stranger or business partner or more or less.

Though that's what Kiryu thought at first as he entered through the decrepit gateway leading into the city which is when the former realised something was completely off about the city.

Empty, no people walking through the streets that were in dire need of a snowplough, no lights flickered or lit up the buildings that were dark as the night with the almost blinding snowfall making them even darker as they are, nothing was virtually in sight.

Just a barren empty place, a ghost town within the snow.

"A dead end." Was all Kiryu said, walking through the city, surveying every single bits and pieces for anything that could be salvaged.

Unfortunately, he was still in the 1920s thus the number of useful materials can be roughly estimated as little to none which made his entire trip a waste of time and energy. At this point, he wasn't annoyed or even remotely upset but the least he could do is make the most out of this situation and take back any materials.

"...Damn it." Kiryu muttered again, stepping out from a building that had shown nothing but dust and rubbish to him.

The Commandant took a bite out of one of his bland jerkies that made his nose and throat flare up due to the smoked taste, it wasn't good but it at least kept him distracted from the snow as he decidedly made his way back towards the direction of Yekaterinburg.

Snezhnaya would be his next location to explore but he'll have to secure a means of transportation for any possible resources since the distance between the former and the abandoned city he dwelled was significantly longer than that of Prekrasnaya.

Kiryu hummed though the minor cough from ingesting the smoked jerkies made his throat emit a sound more akin to that of a growl, he nevertheless took out his Sparklence before allowing the light within to engulf his body.

Not even a second later, an armoured figure is seen flying back towards Yekaterinburg with a pair of wings that was in fact flame-like light being emitted from its back appendages.

Another second and the boosters that materialised onto his leg components also began emitting out light before the Commandant rocketed forward through the snowfall, causing a burst of air that split apart the wintry skies and clouds.

All that's left behind is a streak of light that disappeared as quick as it came.

Kiryu kept himself low below the clouds, though this world was severely and technologically behind as compared to his own world, he wouldn't risk the possibility of a third party intercepting his presence through a satellite. The year 1920 didn't have any remarkable feats regarding technology but he knew better than to be overconfident and play by his own rules.

Now concerning the lack of said technology and the resources to manufacture more, Kiryu could only hope there would be more of those underground infrastructures belonging to Fire Moth like when he discovered Mimir for the first time.

If he's optimistic enough to even humour the idea, perhaps the Previous Era would have left some of its own relics behind that could be proven useful for future usages but the main issue would be securing and pinpointing their existence in the first place.

While Mimir hadn't let him down ever since her awakening, Kiryu still wasn't sure if he could possibly trust her with any secrets that he holds within his helmet, namely being the single chip that holds up to a one petabyte of data and information from his world.

However, with his current situation and the complete absence of any helpful factors that could assist him and Mimir, while the latter had made several hypotheses and breakthroughs by considerately utilising the Maxima Overdrive System that he had introduced, both of them lacked the materials needed to harness the system itself.

He'll make his return and improvise the next steps with the ELF, perhaps he could also get a bearing on just how technologically advanced the Previous Era was when she was built.

For now, he's not going to die before going home, not here nor anywhere else.

=================================

Realised I hadn't touched this story that I have much plans for in the coming future so I rushed this chapter in one night, it was mostly a filler chapter and one that wasn't at all entertaining imo so I'll improve on the next one and so on though I have to make a forewarning and state that there will be a lot of timeskips in months and years since this is like a century before the main story even starts so bear with me, I also won't go into details on how MC acquired this technology or that ability and all that since that's going to force me into rationalising everything and waste time.