Kiana stared at the greatsword on her shoulder, speechless for a long time. From the first time their swords had clashed, she had completely fallen into Himeko's plan. Her own moves were completely read, while Himeko's sword always appeared in the right place at the right time, forcing her from offense to defense, then to evasion, and finally to defeat.
Himeko's movements were simple and effective, using the most minimal effort—no more, no less—yet it made Kiana extremely uncomfortable. This was Himeko's strength as an ordinary person, a strength honed from millions of sword swings. Every swing of the greatsword carried the shadow of those millions of blades. In terms of physical strength, Kiana might not be inferior to Himeko, but in terms of technique and grasping the timing of battle, Himeko could leave Kiana in the dust by eighteen streets.
This was the strength unique to Murata Himeko, forged through countless life-and-death situations!
"Do you see? This is the first lesson I'm teaching you!" Himeko said sternly, retracting her greatsword.
Kiana nodded meekly and returned to the formation like a defeated rooster, her head hanging low.
"Kiana, cheer up. Teacher Himeko is an A-rank Valkyrie, so she was bound to be amazing," Mei comforted the dejected Kiana.
Kiana lifted her head, managed a faint smile, and a hint of determination shone in her eyes. "I know. I won't give up!"
Ming Yu also cheered Kiana on. This was the normal Kiana—never admitting defeat, never bowing her head, the simple-minded paramecium!
Following Himeko's instructions, Ming Yu and the other three joined the main formation. Himeko walked to the front of the group and said loudly, "As a warrior, no matter how exquisite your skills are, you need a strong physique. Now, run ten laps around the training field. Move, move, move!"
Looking at the training field, which was as large as two football fields, Ming Yu groaned internally. *One lap has to be at least a thousand meters. Ten laps is a straight ten thousand meters. Even if a Valkyrie's body is far superior to an ordinary person's, this is too much, right?* But everyone else lined up and started running with unchanged expressions. Ming Yu could only curse himself for being too young, too simple, as he followed the main group.
After a sim...ple...ly grueling ten thousand meters, Ming Yu was already panting. But seeing that everyone else was only slightly flushed, especially with Kiana shooting him a mocking glance, Ming Yu couldn't help but force himself to straighten his back and steady his breathing.
Himeko glanced at the panting Ming Yu with a faint, almost imperceptible smile. Next up was practical combat practice, where students would pair up for sparring matches while Himeko provided commentary.
Watching the students whose names were called select their preferred weapons and head to the center of the training field for their duels, Ming Yu couldn't help but feel nervous. Since losing the trial version Stigmata, although he could feel his strength had weakened, he still wasn't sure exactly what level he was at. This was undoubtedly dangerous. Only by clearly understanding his own position could he move forward. And he was about to find out just how strong he really was.
Most students chose cold weapons. With Schicksal's current level of technology, most anti-Honkai weapons designed for individual use were cold weapons, as they were more effective at damaging Honkai Beasts and Honkai Zombies. Due to Honkai Energy, Honkai Beasts had excellent resistance to conventional weapons, making them largely ineffective.
Of course, heavy weaponry like cannons could ignore this, as their immense destructive power was still quite effective against Honkai Beasts. But for Valkyrie squads, lighter cold weapons were superior in both endurance and mobility, naturally making them the first choice for students. Firearms were not useless; handguns and cannons powered by Honkai Energy existed in Schicksal's arsenal, they were just rarer. Their destructive power and endurance were not weak, but cold weapons offered greater control, so sparring between students was primarily done with them.
Soon, it was Ming Yu's turn to fight. His opponent was a blonde girl named Lia Toreman.
Out of habit, Ming Yu chose the tachi he was skilled with, while Lia chose a long spear as her weapon. Lia wielded the nearly two-meter-long spear as if it were weightless, swinging it with a whoosh that was quite intimidating.
Ming Yu watched Lia swing the spear, his pupils slightly dilated and his heart tightening. *This opponent is no pushover.*
In the crowd of spectators, Kiana said to Mei with a gloating expression, "Ming Yu's opponent looks tough. He's going to have a hard time."
"Ming Yu is quite strong. He should be fine," Mei said, shaking her head slightly, but the worry in her eyes did not diminish.
After both sides bowed, Lia shouted, "Be careful, Ming Yu."
With that, Lia gripped the spear with her right hand and thrust it at Ming Yu with a sound of cutting wind.
Ming Yu held his sword with both hands in front of his chest and swung to meet the spear. The blade clashed against the spear shaft, and he slid his sword along the shaft towards Lia's gripping hand.
Faced with Ming Yu's attack, Lia was not flustered at all. She took a step forward, released her right hand, and switched to gripping the front part of the spear with her left hand, pressing the spear towards Ming Yu's body.
"Such strength!" Ming Yu couldn't help but exclaim. Although Lia's figure was not burly, the strength in her hands was even greater than his. The spear in her left hand, combined with her body weight, pressed down on him, forcing him back several steps.
Realizing the difference in strength, Ming Yu released the tachi with his left hand, forming a fist and striking at Lia's shoulder, trying to interrupt her attack.
Seeing Ming Yu's fist, Lia smiled faintly and met it with a punch from her free right hand.
*She took the bait,* a smile touched Ming Yu's lips. His clenched left fist opened, grabbing Lia's wrist. He pushed off with his legs, using her wrist as a pivot to perform a front flip. Twisting in mid-air, he landed a knee strike on Lia's back as he came down.
Lia grunted. Under the force of the gravity-assisted attack, her body stumbled forward a few steps. But even while off-balance, Lia didn't forget to swing her spear backward. The heavy spear shaft slammed towards Ming Yu's body just as he landed. Having succeeded with his attack, Ming Yu had let his guard down and didn't expect Lia to be able to counterattack in such a situation. Caught completely off guard, he was knocked to the ground by the heavy blow, tumbling a few times before getting back up.
They had exchanged one blow each, but as the saying goes, "Better to take ten punches than one elbow." In comparison, Ming Yu still had a slight advantage.
"You're not bad either," Lia said, loosening her shoulder and creating distance as she looked at Ming Yu. "I'm getting serious now. You'd better be careful."
With that, Lia held the spear in her right hand and launched a more ferocious assault, swinging the spear at Ming Yu.