Murata Himeko was one of St. Freya Academy's primary combatants and the current captain of the aerial battleship, the Hyperion. Since the Third Honkai Eruption had only recently occurred, she should have been occupied with various other matters and temporarily stepped away from her duties as a teacher.
However, Himeko was deeply concerned about Hua Yi's condition. Despite Theresa's confusion, she had insisted on taking charge of the Honkai-related courses. As for the other subjects, they were handled by their respective teachers, leaving Himeko with one less thing to worry about.
"Alright, let's begin the lesson. Since we have new students joining the class, we will go over the basics once more. Precisely because this is the foundation, it is extremely important. Commit it to memory and never forget it."
As an active A-rank Valkyrie and the most prominent force in St. Freya Academy's fight against the Honkai, none of the students dared to disagree with Himeko. Even the usually restless Kiana sat with a relatively serious expression. Seeing this, Himeko felt a sense of satisfaction and continued.
"Honkai Beasts are divided into seven grades from low to high. The Deadly-class, Knight-class, Ballista-class, Chariot-class, and Templar-class all belong to the Lower Honkai Beasts. The Emperor-class and Judgement-class are classified as Higher Honkai Beasts.
Aside from the massive power gap between the Lower and Higher categories, the combat strength of beasts within the same grade is primarily determined by their size, categorized into ten-meter, hundred-meter, and over-a-hundred-meter classes..."
Hua Yi, Raiden Mei, and Bronya listened intently. Even though they were already familiar with some of this information, they didn't slack off, unwilling to miss even a single detail. Kiana started off serious as well, but it wasn't long before her head began to spin.
The jumble of names and size classifications gave her a massive headache. Anyway, she thought, I just enrolled, so they probably won't test me on this. As for the common sense a Valkyrie needs while fighting the Honkai... I, Kiana Kaslana, have lived on my own for over a year!
I've got this exam in the bag.
That thought lasted for exactly forty-eight hourstwo full daysuntil now.
The exam was over, and today was the day the results were posted. Kiana felt she must have done quite well.
The enemies were merely giant artificial battle dolls. Aside from being similar in size to Honkai Beasts, their combat strength was far inferior, and they didn't pose a real threat to the students' lives.
Although the combat exam prohibited the use of personal weapons to prevent students from relying on powerful gear to get high scores, Kiana had still performed excellently by relying on the Gun Kata her father had taught her.
Raiden Mei had used a katana issued by St. Freya Academy, and Bronya had operated her special Project Bunny 19C with the regulation weapons. Both had performed well.
Hua Yi, naturally, had no problems at all.
Now, the students of St. Freya Academy were crowded in front of the bulletin board.
The board displayed the students' scores and rankings publicly. As for whether this would hurt the self-esteem of the underachieversfighting the Honkai was no game. If one couldn't even handle a ranking like this, it was better to quit early.
Once one became a Valkyrie and joined a combat squad, members had to obey their captain. The weak had to follow the strong; that was the rule.
"Great, I passed!"
"My practical results were better than I expected. I'm so happy~"
"Yes! My rank went up!"
The students were delighted, celebrating their rankings or their progress.
Because of the transfer students, the Honkai knowledge test taken by the others wasn't factored into the total ranking this time; it served more as a formal review.
Kiana's eyes swept across the bulletin board.
"Third place is Bronya, fourth is Mei... Then I must be first, right? No, wait, Hua Yi should be first. So, I'll be second."
The girl muttered to herself as her gaze drifted upward.
"A tie for first place: Hua Yi and Fu Hua? Then where am I?!"
Standing beside her, Hua Yi wasn't surprised by the rankings. Both he and Fu Hua had achieved perfect scores, so a tie was only natural.
Hearing Kiana's cry of disbelief, Hua Yi tried his best to suppress a schadenfreude-filled grin. He pointed his finger toward a corner of the board.
"Right here. Failing grade: Kiana Kaslana."
"How is that possible?!"
"Because you failed the written portion. Your combined score for Biology, History, Geography, Physics, and Chemistry was only 21. And of that, you contributed a big fat zero to History."
"Don't look! Don't look at it!"
Hua Yi had been a bit too blunt, causing a shamed and indignant Kiana to cover her written scores with her hands, leaving only her practical results visible.
In terms of pure combat performance, Kiana was indeed exceptionally talented.
Looking at the girl's current state, Hua Yi smirked.
"Are you embarrassed?"
"Hmph."
Kiana wasn't just embarrassed because of the bad grade; she was more upset that her poor performance had been seen by someone she cared about.
So annoying! I worked much harder and was more careful during the combat part than before, but the written part... Why do Valkyries have to test on this stuff? I didn't study any of this before and I could still fight the Honkai just fine.
"If you're embarrassed, then work hard. There's a makeup exam in a week. It'll be best if you pass. If you don't, you'll have to spend your upcoming holiday in remedial classes for every subject you failed."
"A week? A week isn't nearly enough for so many subjects..."
Kiana felt like she was going to die during this holiday.
"We have to at least try to fix this. I'll go and ask for some leniency when the time comes, but having only 21 points across all subjects is a bit too much. Which subject are you most confident in improving quickly? I can give you special tutoring for that one."
"I guessed on all of them."
"...All of them?"
"...Yes."
Seeming to realize just how poorly she had performed, Kiana became quite timid.
"Let's go back first. We'll all figure out a way to help together."
Knowing that the girl had never received a truly systematic education, Hua Yi wasn't overly surprised. He rubbed the dejected girl's head to comfort her.
Kiana nodded weakly and stayed close to Hua Yi's side.
Raiden Mei, standing nearby, was also full of worry. Even Bronya, who usually bickered with Kiana, had a thoughtful expression on her usually expressionless face. She was clearly contemplating a way to help.
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