After that conversation at the cemetery, the relationship between Ming Yu and Lia became somewhat subtle, neither distant nor close. But Ming Yu didn't pay it too much attention. For him now, strength was the top priority.
As the semester drew to a close, the Valkyrie exams arrived as scheduled. Kiana, who had been happily playing for over a month, finally felt the terror of being dominated by exam papers once again and fell into a complete panic.
Kiana even tried to persuade Ming Yu to steal Himeko's exam papers. Ming Yu righteously refused and gave Kiana a lengthy, earnest lecture, which ultimately made Kiana come to her senses and realize that Ming Yu was not a good partner for cheating.
Ming Yu sneered internally at this. What a joke. I, your brother, made it through the Shenzhou college entrance exams. You think a mere Valkyrie exam can stop me? Although the history and geography of the two worlds were not entirely the same, with some being worlds apart, the laws of physics and such were still the same. Even with the existence of Herrschers who ignored physical laws, the human side mostly abided by the rules. Furthermore, St. Freya's requirements for these subjects were not high. The reason these subjects existed was that Principal Theresa wanted to create the atmosphere of a normal high school, so the difficulty of the exams was a notch lower than that of a regular high school.
Later, Himeko somehow found out that Kiana was eyeing her exam papers. Using training as an excuse, she gave Kiana a sound beating with a cold smile, making Kiana once again feel the world's deep malice.
"Ming Yu, hurry up and teach me how to do this problem."
"Mei~, please help me with my studies~"
"Bronya, stop playing games and help me. Otherwise, I'll... play with you!"
Such scenes gradually became the norm for Kiana in the dormitory. But despite making countless resolutions to study hard, her attention would soon be drawn away by outside distractions.
"Kiana, you need to work harder. How are you going to pass the exams like this?" Mei couldn't help but complain, flicking Kiana's forehead.
"Oww~" Kiana rubbed her forehead, her eyes glued to her phone screen, pleading, "Last round, really, just one last round. I'll go study after this. With my genius talent, exams are a piece of cake."
"You don't have to worry, Mei. There are still make-up exams. I'm sure Ms. Himeko would be more than happy to give Kiana some special training," Ming Yu said, pushing up a pair of non-existent glasses as he proposed a solution. Even the game-addicted Bronya knew to go to the library to study. Why couldn't this Kiana get it? She didn't even register Ming Yu's sarcasm.
After much persuasion from Mei, Kiana was finally dragged out the door. What happened next would depend on Kiana's own resolve. Ming Yu wasn't against this kind of behavior from Kiana. A Kiana who was diligent and hardworking every day would always feel a bit strange. This was the normal Honkai world.
Arriving at the library, Ming Yu, as usual, began researching the evolutionary history of Honkai Zombies. In his view, the secrets of the Herrschers might be hidden within the evolution of Honkai Zombies. High-level Honkai Zombies not only possessed strength comparable to powerful Honkai Beasts but also had intelligence on par with humans, a clear distinction from the beast-like habits of Honkai Beasts. And the highest level of Honkai Zombie was the Pseudo-Herrscher, which had power close to S-rank. Some Pseudo-Herrschers even had abilities similar to those of a true Herrscher, allowing them to manipulate the laws of physics. Although not as powerful as a true Herrscher, they were still incredibly formidable.
As the days passed, the Valkyrie exams arrived as promised.
The written exams were similar to those in a normal high school and need no further description. Walking out of the examination hall, Kiana had an expression of mysterious confidence as she said to Mei, "See, Mei? Wasn't that exam super easy? I passed it without breaking a sweat."
"Oh? But I seem to remember you falling asleep just now, Kiana. Are you sure that's okay?" Ming Yu revealed the truth with a smile.
"Ki~a~na~" Mei's face darkened. She felt a wave of exhaustion at Kiana's baseless confidence.
Kiana's heart skipped a beat, and the composure on her face finally broke. Leaving behind a quick "I'm going to train," she hastily fled.
In addition to the written subjects, the St. Freya Valkyrie exams also included a practical combat assessment. Of course, the opponents were all simulated by a training device; St. Freya wasn't crazy enough to use real Honkai Beasts for assessments. The training device could also freely adjust the strength of the simulated opponents. The stronger the enemy challenged, the higher the score obtained.
Since they would be facing Honkai Beasts in the future, most people chose to simulate Honkai Beasts as their opponents. Fu Hua went even further and chose an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, a beast whose strength reached the peak of B-rank. The nearly ten-meter-tall Emperor-class Honkai Beast had an extraordinary oppressive presence even when standing still, not to mention the blade-like armor plates surrounding its body. It had a white, silicon-based outer shell, with purple Honkai Energy flowing through its pink patterns. When the armor plates rotated, they gave off an invincible feeling.
Facing the roaring Emperor-class Honkai Beast charging at her, Fu Hua's indifferent expression didn't change in the slightest. Even when the spinning armor plates were right in front of her, there was no trace of panic in her eyes.
Seeing this thrilling scene, Kiana, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but exclaim, "Class Monitor Fu Hua isn't moving an inch in the face of such a powerful Honkai Beast. Don't tell me she's scared stiff?"
Ming Yu shot Kiana a look and said, "What are you talking about? Fu Hua is an A-rank Valkyrie. She definitely has her own way of handling things." Although he said that, Ming Yu was still a little worried. He felt that Fu Hua was being a bit too reckless. Just because she was strong, did she have to be so flashy?
"Kiana is a big dummy. Can't you see that Ms. Himeko hasn't called a stop? The other students aren't nervous either," Bronya said to Kiana after looking around.
Indeed, Himeko's face was calm, and most of the other students had an "as expected" expression on their faces, which made Ming Yu's and Kiana's worries seem somewhat superfluous.
Inside the training device, Fu Hua pushed off with her right foot, her body suddenly leaping into the air. With astonishing jumping power, she reached the top of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's head. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Fu Hua's body turned in mid-air, and her long, straight right leg kicked towards the top of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast's head with the speed of lightning.
With a loud bang, the massive, nearly ten-meter-tall body of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast was sent tumbling like a kicked stone, stirring up a large amount of dust. Its original offensive suddenly came to a halt. Fu Hua took the opportunity to close in, her fists raining down on the Honkai Beast like a storm, quickly reducing it to scattered points of light.
The scene instantly fell silent. As Himeko shouted, "Fu Hua, full marks!" the area outside the training device erupted in thunderous applause, interspersed with occasional screams like "Big Sis is amazing today!" and "Big Sis is as awesome as ever today!"
Kiana, watching everyone cheer, was moved. She ran up to Himeko and shouted, "Auntie Himeko, I want to choose that Emperor-class Honkai Beast too!"