Hearing Kiana's request, a contemptuous smile appeared on Himeko's face. She said mockingly, "Oh? Are you sure?"
Seeing the strange smile on Himeko's face, Kiana's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly shook her head. While she could be willful, she wasn't suicidal. That Honkai Beast was clearly not something she could handle. After considering her own strength, Kiana chose a Chariot-class Honkai Beast. Its C-rank difficulty was something she could currently handle and would also provide a decent score. Besides, back in Nagazora, it was a Chariot-class Honkai Beast that had chased her and Mei for so long. She had kept a tally of that debt in her little notebook.
Kiana entered the training device. After some operations by Himeko, a Chariot-class Honkai Beast quickly took shape within a cloud of purple Honkai Energy mist, revealing its physical form with a roar.
Kiana looked at the familiar figure before her, her eyes flashing with anger. She hefted her greatsword and charged forward, the Schicksal-marked cape behind her fluttering. Even during an exam, high-grade dual pistols equipped with Honkai Energy reactors were not something a trainee of Kiana's level could use. However, due to her frequent use of a greatsword recently, Kiana had become increasingly proficient with the weapon.
The behavior patterns of Honkai Beasts simulated by the device followed a set program, making their movements predictable. This made the already clumsy Chariot-class Honkai Beast seem even more cumbersome. Against Kiana's agility, the Chariot-class Honkai Beast was simply being dominated.
Neither its charged roar attack nor its leaping heavy strike could hit Kiana at all, while Kiana's occasional sword slashes on the Honkai Beast could tear through its white carapace.
There was no suspense in this battle. Soon, the Honkai Beast fell with a crash under Kiana's sword, dissolving into a shower of light particles and disappearing into the air.
Shouldering her greatsword, Kiana walked up to Himeko with a proud look on her face, showing off, "How was that, Auntie Himeko? Not bad, right?"
Himeko looked at the girl who practically had "Praise me now!" written all over her face and said irritably, "You beat one Honkai Beast and you're already getting a big head. Don't forget how you got out of Nagazora."
At the mention of Nagazora, Kiana's face instantly darkened, and she sullenly returned to the line.
After Kiana, Mei and Bronya also passed their assessments. Both of them chose Chariot-class Honkai Beasts and also defeated their opponents quickly.
But when Ming Yu saw Bronya summon Project Bunny to fight, a trace of envy inevitably arose in his heart. Using Project Bunny in a battle of this level was practically cheating. In the game, Project Bunny 19C existed as an initial four-star piece of equipment, but its significance was more special. The current Project Bunny was probably only at a three-star level, but you couldn't complain when everyone else was using one or two-star junk. Plus, with Project Bunny's special nature of possessing a certain degree of intelligence, it was top-tier even among three-star weapons. As Bronya's personal armament, the use of Project Bunny was completely within the rules. It was blatant cheating, yet no one could question it.
When it was Ming Yu's turn, Himeko looked him over and asked with a smile, "Which one will you choose? As the only male, you have to pick a difficult one, you know."
Feeling a little creeped out by Himeko's stare, Ming Yu took a small step back and, after some thought, said, "The Templar-class, then."
Hearing that Ming Yu had actually chosen a higher-difficulty Honkai Beast, Himeko became a little flustered. You have to know, most people chose the Assault-class. Only a small number who were confident in themselves would choose the Chariot-class or the equivalent Arbalest-class and Knight-class. The first four types were only C-rank in strength. The Templar-class and above were B-rank. This was not an enemy a normal trainee could handle.
Generally speaking, dealing with a Templar-class or the even higher-level Thunder God-class required dispatching a fully armed B-rank Valkyrie. This was an enemy that even B-rank Valkyries had to be careful with. A mere trainee in a school uniform wanted to challenge a Templar-class?
Himeko immediately said with a wry smile, "Stop messing around. I was just joking with you. The Templar-class is not an enemy a little guy like you can handle. You should choose between the Chariot-class or Knight-class."
In Himeko's eyes, Ming Yu might be a very hardworking trainee with considerable talent. Given time, when he became a B-rank or A-rank warrior, a Templar-class Honkai Beast would naturally be no match for him. But right now, Himeko didn't think he had the strength to challenge a Templar-class Honkai Beast. A month ago, after being assessed by Theresa and others, Ming Yu was determined to have C-rank strength. Himeko didn't believe that in just over a month, Ming Yu could have grown to the point of being able to defeat a Templar-class Honkai Beast on his own.
Shaking his head, Ming Yu insisted on his request. Choosing the Templar-class Honkai Beast was not a spur-of-the-moment decision for Ming Yu. The proficiency of his Basic Close-Quarters Combat had been nearly full a week ago, but it had refused to increase since. Daily training was no longer yielding any progress. Although he could force a breakthrough by adding points, Ming Yu had a feeling deep down that this was not the right way, that adding points might cause him to miss something important. Although this feeling was subtle, Ming Yu chose to trust his intuition. Using a difficult battle to achieve a breakthrough was the best method Ming Yu could think of.
During his usual training with Fu Hua, although she was very strict, there was less pressure. It was more about pointing things out, demonstrating for Ming Yu, and letting him gradually deepen his comprehension and understanding of the Inch-Heart Fist Technique. This way, he would naturally break through eventually. But for Ming Yu, this was too slow. Exchanging an all-out battle for a chance to break through was the fastest method at this stage. Moreover, the simulation device could be stopped in a crisis, so there was no real danger to his life, which perfectly suited Ming Yu's requirements.
Ming Yu's persistence put Himeko in a difficult position. Just as she was about to persuade him again, Fu Hua stepped forward and said, "Ms. Himeko, why not let him try? If there's a problem, I won't stand by and do nothing."
Hearing Fu Hua's guarantee, Himeko's tightly furrowed brows relaxed. She said, as if relieved, "With you here, I can rest assured." Then she turned to scold Ming Yu, "Did you hear that? I'll let you try this time, but if any accident happens, I will stop the assessment immediately."
Ming Yu nodded and said, "I know. I'll be careful. If I really can't handle it, I won't force it."
Turning to look at Fu Hua at his side, the girl's face was still as serene as ever, showing no emotional fluctuation. But Ming Yu said gratefully, "Thank you, Class Monitor."
Shaking her head slightly, Fu Hua opened her mouth to say, "No need. I also want to see how far you can go."
Nodding to the two of them, Ming Yu walked into the simulation device. Inside the device, a huge cloud of purple mist suddenly appeared. Strands of purple electricity flickered on the surface of the mist, and a colossal figure seven meters tall gradually solidified within it.
(PS: Let me briefly explain the weapon ranking in this book. Five levels and below are one-star, six to fifteen are two-star, sixteen to twenty-five are three-star, twenty-six to thirty-five are four-star, and thirty-six to fifty are five-star. It's similar to the game, but it's mainly about Valkyries of different ranks using equipment of the corresponding level. Generally, trainees use one or two-star weapons. B-rank Valkyries can be equipped with three-star weapons and matching armor. A-rank gets four-star weapons and matching armor, and S-rank gets five-star, which are the God-Throne weapons and Godslayer armor. Unless there are special circumstances, only Divine Keys can reach level fifty.
Now in the game, there are six-star weapons, which are PRI-ARMs. In the manga, only the Might of An-Utu, activated by two Herrscher cores, has reached this level. I speculate that Divine Keys probably all have PRI-ARM forms, but after the passage of time and energy loss, they can no longer exert their full power. But it's hard to say for Mag-Typhoon. MiHoYo's lore is very inconsistent, so I'll talk more about the details later. For now, let's leave it at that.)