"It's over, it's all over. Is this teacher a sadist? Such intense training..."
Back in the classroom, Kiana collapsed onto her desk, gasping for breath.
A thousand sword swings, a thousand lance thrusts—and each one had to be perfect, or it didn't count.
That wasn't even the worst part. Each weapon had special weighted attachments.
A single fist-sized weight weighed at least a thousand pounds.
Kiana felt like her entire body was about to give out.
"Come on, Teacher Chang Yuan is doing this for our own good. The tougher the training, the better our chances of surviving when we face real Honkai beasts."
Mei handed Kiana a bottle of energy drink, twisting the cap off for her.
Kiana took the bottle and chugged it in one go.
"Ah, I feel alive again."
"Ah, Kiana, you look exhausted~?."
"Of course I am! What's with that guy, Chang Yuan? Such intense training!"
"Mhm~, I don't know~?."
From his teaching style, Elysia could tell what was going on.
A soft look flashed in her eyes.
"Ugh, just thinking about having his classes in the future makes me want to skip school."
"Bronya doesn't think it's that bad."
"Of course you don't! You don't even have to participate in this training because of your legs!"
Hearing Bronya's nonchalant comment, Kiana was annoyed.
Bronya hadn't done any training at all, just sitting on Project Bunny's hand the entire time.
Kiana was envious.
"You could do the same if you were like Bronya."
"Yeah, no thanks."
Kiana rolled her eyes at Bronya and went back to lying on her desk.
After a short break, classes resumed.
Days passed like this until one day, after an exam.
"Hmph, I'm definitely first place. With my smarts, no one can beat me."
Seeing Kiana's confidence, Mei, who had seen her usual homework performance, shook her head.
Confidence was good, but overconfidence wasn't.
Kiana then checked the rankings.
"First place is the class monitor and Sister Elysia—tied for first! Mei's second? What? Even this shorty got third? Where am I?"
Looking through the rankings, Kiana couldn't find her name.
A bad feeling crept up on her.
She then checked the list of students who needed to retake the exam.
There, at the top of the list, was her name, glaring back at her.
"Liberal Arts Score: 7. Combat Score: Full marks."
"No way! I filled out everything! How could I only get 7 points?"
Kiana couldn't believe her eyes. She had answered every question—how could her score be so low?
Just then, Welt Yang passed by.
He overheard Kiana's complaints.
Adjusting his glasses, he said, "Kiana, if it weren't for the seven multiple-choice questions on the history exam, you might have gotten zero points. So stop complaining and prepare for the retake."
Hearing this, Kiana froze in place.
She couldn't accept it. Why? Why was this happening?
"Looks like someone needs to tutor the idiot Kiana."
Bronya, sitting on Project Bunny's hand, floated over to Kiana with her usual expressionless face.
But Kiana couldn't shake the feeling that Bronya was mocking her.
And she wasn't wrong—Bronya was indeed mocking her.
She just couldn't laugh because of her condition.
"Alright, Kiana, let's go back and study. I'll help you so you can pass next time."
"Ugh, my gaming console, my snacks, my free time!"
Thinking about all the things she'd have to give up, Kiana couldn't help but mourn her lost freedom.
"Hmph, I didn't expect to tie with Hua for first place. It seems no matter the era, I'm always this dazzling~?."
Looking at her tied score with Fu Hua, Elysia nodded in satisfaction.
"Do you need help studying? I'll teach you well, Kiana."
"No thanks, I have Mei."
After spending so much time together, Kiana had noticed that Elysia had a strange affection for her and Mei.
It wasn't love, family, or friendship—it was something more complex.
But Kiana instinctively didn't want Elysia getting too close to Mei.
She had a feeling something bad would happen if she did.
"Boo hoo, you're making me cry~?."
Seeing she was being rejected, Elysia pretended to wipe away tears.
But Kiana was completely immune to this act by now.
She just stared at Elysia, unimpressed.
Seeing Kiana's lack of reaction, Elysia stopped pretending.
"Alright, alright. Good luck, Kiana. If you fail the retake, you might never advance and end up stuck as a C-rank, relegated to logistics Valkyrie~ ~?."
"Wait, our rank can drop?!"
Hearing that her Valkyrie rank could decrease, Kiana was shocked.
"Of course. So do your best~?."
After cheering Kiana on, Elysia happily skipped away.
She was off to continue her sweet campus romance with her beloved Yuan.
"Mei, I don't want to lose my rank. I want to become the strongest S-rank Valkyrie."
Grabbing Mei's hand, Kiana looked at her with teary eyes.
"Alright, I'll help you. But it's up to you. If you don't study hard, no amount of teaching will help."
"Don't worry, Mei. I'll study hard."
11 PM...
"Zzzzz..."
Looking at Kiana, who had fallen asleep while holding a book, Mei sighed.
Earlier, Kiana had been so confident about her grades, but now she had fallen asleep seven times while studying.
Mei could only shake her head in resignation.
She then picked Kiana up in a princess carry and gently placed her on the bed.
After adjusting the air conditioning to a comfortable temperature, she tucked Kiana in.
"Mei, I like you the most. Don't leave me."