Himeko Murata was St. Freya Academy's primary combat force and the current captain of the Hyperion. With the Third Honkai Eruption having just occurred, she should have been busy dealing with other matters and temporarily giving up her role as a teacher.
But Himeko was very worried about Evan's condition, so ignoring Theresa's confusion, she insisted on serving as the instructor for the Honkai-related courses. Other subjects were naturally handled by the respective teachers, so Himeko didn't need to worry about them.
"Alright, class begins. Since there are new students in the class, we'll cover relatively basic knowledge this time. But precisely because it's basic, it's extremely important. Remember it well and absolutely do not forget."
After all, she was an active A‑rank Valkyrie, the most active force in St. Freya's fight against the Honkai. Not a single student objected to Himeko's words. Even the usually unruly Kiana looked somewhat serious at this moment. Seeing this, Himeko was very satisfied and continued:
"Honkai Beasts are divided into seven grades from low to high: Archangel, Knight, Ballista, Chariot, and Templar classes all belong to the Lower Honkai Beasts, while Emperor and Judgment classes are Upper Honkai Beasts. Besides the huge difference between Lower and Upper beasts, the combat power of beasts within the same rank is mainly distinguished by size, divided into ten meters, one hundred meters, and over one hundred meters..."
Evan, Raiden Mei, and Bronya all listened very attentively. Even if they knew some of the information, they didn't slack off now, not wanting to miss any details. Kiana started off serious too, but before long she was a bit dizzy.
Those messy names and size classifications gave her a headache. Whatever, I'm a new student so I won't be tested on these anyway. As for the daily knowledge a Valkyrie needs to fight the Honkai—I, Kiana Kaslana, lived alone for over a year!
I've got this exam in the bag.
This thought lasted for forty-eight hours—two days—until now.
The exams were over, and today was the day results were announced. Kiana felt she should have done pretty well.
The enemies were merely giant combat puppets created by humans. Aside from having a size similar to Honkai Beasts, their combat power was far inferior, and they wouldn't really put students in life-threatening danger. Although students couldn't use their own weapons in the combat exam to prevent relying on powerful gear for high scores, Kiana still performed very well relying on the Gun Kata taught by her father.
Raiden Mei used the tachi issued by St. Freya, and Bronya piloted her special Project Bunny using regulation weapons; both performed well.
Evan, naturally, had no issues either.
Now, the students of St. Freya Academy were gathered in front of the bulletin board.
Here, student grades and rankings were completely public. As for whether it would hurt the self-esteem of poor students—fighting the Honkai was no child's play. If one couldn't even accept this level of ranking, it was better to quit early.
Once one became a Valkyrie and formed a combat squad, members had to obey the captain, and the weak had to obey the strong. That was the rule.
"Great, I passed!"
"My combat score is better than I imagined, happy~"
"Yay! My ranking went up."
The students had no objections to this either, happy for their rankings or improvements in grades.
Because they were transfer students, although the others took the Honkai knowledge test this time, it wasn't counted in the total ranking score, serving only as a review in exam format.
Kiana's eyes were also scanning the bulletin board.
"Third place is Bronya, fourth is Mei, huh? So I should be first place? No, no, Evan should be first. As expected, I'll be second."
The girl muttered to herself while moving her gaze upward.
"Tied for first, Evan and Fu Hua? Then where am I?!"
Evan, standing beside her, wasn't surprised by this ranking. Both he and Fu Hua had achieved perfect scores, so naturally, they tied.
Hearing Kiana's incredulous cry, Evan tried hard not to show a gloating smile as he pointed a finger at the corner of the board.
"Here. Failed: Kiana Kaslana."
"How is that possible!!"
"Because you failed the written exam. Biology, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry—added together, you only got 21 points. Among them, History contributed a solid 0 points."
"Don't look! Don't look!"
Evan seemed to have been too direct, causing Kiana to cover the written exam score column in shame and anger, leaving only the combat score visible.
If judging solely by combat scores, Kiana was indeed extremely outstanding.
Looking at the girl acting like this, Evan grinned.
"Shy?"
"Hmph."
Kiana wasn't just shy because of her bad grades; she rejected the idea that her poor performance had been seen by someone she cared about.
So annoying. Even though I worked harder and was more careful in combat than before, the written test... why do Valkyries have to be tested on this stuff? I fought the Honkai fine without learning this before!
"If you're shy, then work hard. There's a make-up exam in a week. Passing is best, but if you don't, you'll have remedial classes during the upcoming vacation. Whichever subject you fail, you'll have to retake."
"A week? A week isn't enough at all! There are so many subjects..."
Kiana felt that during this vacation, she might actually die.
"At least do some damage control. I'll go plead for you later. But a total of 21 points across all subjects is really too exaggerated. Which subject are you most confident in improving quickly? I can specially tutor you in that one."
"I guessed on all of them."
"...All of them?"
"...Mm."
Seeming to know she had performed terribly this time, Kiana became reserved.
"Let's go back first. We'll think of a way together then."
Knowing the girl hadn't received a truly systematic education before, Evan wasn't too surprised. He rubbed the dejected girl's head, comforting her.
Kiana nodded weakly and followed beside Evan.
Raiden Mei was also full of worry, and even Bronya, who usually bickered with Kiana, showed a thoughtful look on her usually emotionless pretty face. Clearly, she was thinking of ways to help Kiana.
Read ahead with 100+ chapters now with daily updates!
@patreon.com/Zefyrus