Honkai Impact

Tesla thought for a moment, then said, "But I'm sorry. My main fields of research are mecha and armor, all mechanical engineering-related. Memory falls under biology, and I honestly don't know much about it. At most, I can treat or modify a Valkyrie's body. I've basically never dealt with memories!"

"So that's how it is..."

Ling Feng was somewhat disappointed. It seemed solving this problem really wouldn't be easy...

"Are you in a hurry?"

Seeing the disappointed look on Ling Feng's face, Tesla had no choice but to say, "If you're in a hurry, I can introduce you to a friend—Einstein. She's been my closest friend since childhood, and she's got a ridiculously gifted mind. Valkyries, mecha, Honkai Beasts, and all sorts of other fields—she's dabbled in nearly all of them. I think she might be able to solve your problem, but there's one little issue..."

"Einstein... where is she now?"

Ling Feng thought it was a good idea. Tesla had recommended her, after all, and given her such high praise. She had to be capable!

"Anti-Entropy!"

Tesla smiled helplessly. "That's the little issue I mentioned. Actually, the prototype for Anti-Entropy's mecha was something that girl and I developed together back in college. After graduation, we came to Schicksal together for an interview, hoping to use mecha to replace Valkyries in fighting Honkai Beasts, so Valkyries wouldn't have to suffer anymore. But mecha were expensive, and they were still in their early stages back then, so Schicksal refused!"

"So, she went to Anti-Entropy instead. Her ideas happened to align closely with theirs, and before long, Anti-Entropy's new mecha appeared. They were far stronger than the mecha we had developed together back then, and they became Schicksal's most troublesome enemy. Schicksal practically hates her to death now. And since you're a Valkyrie of Schicksal, just meeting her would already be very difficult!"

"Then why didn't you go to Anti-Entropy with her?"

Ling Feng didn't know much about the grudge between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, but he knew both organizations aimed to fight the Honkai. There was simply no way to tell who was righteous and who was evil!

"I just didn't want to!"

Tesla shook her head slightly and smiled. "Einstein invited me too, but I felt that working at Anti-Entropy would be exhausting. Besides, Anti-Entropy's higher-ups aren't simple people. I don't want to spend every day living somewhere full of schemes and intrigue, fighting people at every turn. I just want to go to work, get off work, collect my paycheck, and take vacations without having to worry about anything else. That's life!"

"Right now, my job at St. Freya Academy is to calibrate Valkyrie Armor and occasionally make weapons or combat suits. There's practically no pressure, the pay is enough, and Theresa is here with me. This kind of life is pretty great!"

Ling Feng: "..." This girl was a total slacker...

Of course, he had no right to criticize her. After all, he had initially planned to coast along in Team 233 too, and he still felt that way now. He had only given Kiana and Mei Stigmata, that was all!

Besides, after realizing that he no longer possessed the power to save the world, he stopped thinking about saving the world all day long. Compared with his former life as an S-rank Valkyrie, Ling Feng didn't dislike this slacker-like life either. He didn't have to fight every day, worry that his friends might die at any moment, or fear the world being destroyed. The Honkai Beasts of this era were pretty weak...

"Beep beep..."

Suddenly, a message came through on Tesla's computer. She hurriedly opened it, then smiled. "Ling Feng, Kiana, the captain of your Team 233, is going to take the B-rank Valkyrie promotion assessment!"

"Oh? That soon? I thought she would wait a little longer!"

Ling Feng wasn't surprised by the news. Kiana already possessed strength close to B-rank, and he had engraved the Attila Lower Stigmata onto her last night. With that girl's personality, she would definitely take the promotion assessment!

"You don't seem surprised at all?"

Tesla could tell that Ling Feng wasn't surprised!

"That's just the kind of person Kiana is. Where will the promotion assessment take place? I want to watch!"

Although it was only a minor B-rank promotion assessment, Ling Feng still decided to go take a look. Kiana was in his team, after all. Besides, he had promised the Academy Head that he would train Kiana into an A-rank Valkyrie, so he might as well go watch. If he got the chance, he could give her some guidance too!

"Perfect. Let's go together!"

Tesla didn't waste any words. She immediately stood up, straightened her collar, and headed leisurely toward the training hall with Ling Feng!

St. Freya Academy's training hall had four small training rooms as well as a large open-air combat arena, making its total area fairly sizeable!

As for its layout, it was much like an ordinary stadium. The spectator stands were on the outside, while the combat grounds were in the center. It also came equipped with holographic projection devices and a commentary booth, so the facilities were quite complete!

At the same time, the armory and armor storage were also located within the training hall, making it convenient for Valkyries to use and change their equipment!

Before long, Ling Feng and Tesla arrived at the training hall. However, the assessment had not begun yet, because Kiana was still changing her weapons and armor!

First of all, the academy provided weapons and equipment free of charge. They could be taken away, but remember: they were not given to you, merely lent to you. Valkyries could use them as they pleased, and even if they were damaged, no responsibility had to be taken—but selling or giving them away was prohibited...

Kiana had previously used a two-star standard-issue pistol, whose power could only be described as average. This time, she applied to use the four-star weapon Aquatic Elf Type B. The application process was simple as well. Weapons and Valkyries had compatibility ratings, so as long as one held the weapon and activated it, it could be used if no severe rejection reaction occurred!

Kiana accomplished this easily. She had not used Aquatic Elf before because she felt its attack power was too low and it couldn't deal much damage. For someone who had always liked solving problems through brute force, it simply wasn't very useful!

In the future, anything inconvenient to describe or difficult to present directly would simply be represented with symbols!

But...

Among the enemies she would face today was the Temple-type Honkai Beast, the Temple Guard. If she couldn't find a way to control it, then there was no way she could win!

Kiana had participated in B-rank Valkyrie promotion assessments before, but every time, she had failed because she had enough damage output but no safe opportunity to deal it. Yet if she switched to Aquatic Elf, then her damage output would be insufficient!

But this time...

With the boost from the Attila Lower Stigmata, her damage output would definitely be enough. As long as she made up for the lack of a proper opening to attack, passing the assessment shouldn't be a problem!

After choosing her weapon, Kiana entered the preparation room, removed her coat, and changed into her exclusive combat suit. That's right, the legendary—Valkyrie armor, White Comet!

White Comet was one of the basic Valkyrie combat suits. Its attribute was Mecha. It possessed balanced offense, balanced defense, balanced speed, balanced energy, balanced stats—in short, everything was balanced. Put plainly, it was—White Comet...

However, because White Comet possessed no additional elemental attributes and had no special requirements, almost any Valkyrie could equip it. It was one of the two standard combat suits for novice Valkyries!

Ling Feng and Tesla casually found a spot, then sat down to wait for the assessment to begin!

Soon, Kiana, having finished her preparations, stepped out of the preparation room and into the combat arena. The assessment was about to begin!

Then, a holographic projection appeared in the center of the arena and began a ten-second countdown, accompanied by an announcement: "First-year Class A student Kiana Kaslana, C-rank Valkyrie. The B-rank promotion assessment now begins. Quantum barrier activated. Virtual battlefield simulation successful. Assessment... begin!"

The metal pillars around the combat arena emitted a blue barrier, separating the battlefield from the spectator stands. At the same time, the environment within the battlefield began to change!

"Three!"

"Two!"

"Beep!"

As the countdown reached zero, the three weakest Rush-type Honkai Beasts appeared first, flapping their wings as they flew toward Kiana!

"Hmph!"

Kiana remained perfectly calm. She drew her dual pistols, flashed behind one of the Rush-type Honkai Beasts, and then... kicked it...

"Pfft... cough, cough!"

Ling Feng was instantly startled and nearly choked. What the hell... no, why were you using your feet when you had guns? Were you stupid?

Still, Kiana's attack power was not weak. She had not even used the power of her Stigmata yet, but one kick sent a Honkai Beast flying, and it vanished immediately!

These were Honkai Beasts simulated by the battlefield system. They were generated according to the standard stats of Honkai Beasts, so they were not too different from real ones!

Then, with two more kicks, Kiana sent the remaining two Honkai Beasts flying as well...

Then the second wave of enemies appeared. This time, there were two Guard Mortes and one Knight-type Honkai Beast, instantly raising the difficulty by a whole level!

But Kiana seemed long accustomed to this, and she finally deigned to fire her guns. Two blue energy beams instantly froze the two Mortes, after which she used her signature flying kick again and defeated them both...

At the same time, however, the Knight-type Honkai Beast launched an attack from behind Kiana, its sharp lance aimed straight at her back...

"Time Slowdown..."

Kiana immediately activated White Comet's Time Slowdown function. Although it only lasted one second, that was enough...

Within the Time Slowdown field, the Knight-type Honkai Beast's speed dropped to one-fifth of its original speed. In that second, Kiana fired several shots at it in succession, then finished with a flying kick, successfully defeating the Knight-type Honkai Beast!

"Beep beep beep..."

Then, the holographic projection above the battlefield flashed red, and an alarm sounded. Kiana understood that the real enemy was about to appear...

Sure enough, amid the piercing alarm, a giant Honkai Beast appeared. It stood a full five meters tall, holding a shield in its left hand and a spear in its right. This was the Temple-type Honkai Beast with the strongest defense among the Honkai forces—the initial variant, the Temple Guard, also known as the sluggish, shield-bearing Honkai Beast...

"Hmph, come on!"

Without another word, Kiana charged forward. As expected, the Honkai Beast immediately raised its shield. Kiana promptly changed direction and moved to its left side, raising Water Sprite and firing a shot...

"Bang—whoom!"

Two energy beams infused with frost power instantly froze the Honkai Beast. Seizing the opportunity, Kiana circled behind it and launched herself into a kick. "Neko Charm!"

However, how could the Temple-type Honkai Beast's defense compare to those small fry from before? Even after taking that kick, it did not seem to have any effect at all. The Temple Guard did not even budge!

The Honkai Beast swung its spear backhandedly, but Kiana had been prepared. She sidestepped the fatal strike and raised her dual pistols, firing continuously, but the effect was still minimal...

And so, the two sides remained locked in a stalemate. The Honkai Beast was too slow to hurt Kiana, while Kiana had no way to deal with a Honkai Beast as solid as an iron plate. She could only whittle it down bit by bit. Mechanical against Psychic—it really was hard to fight...

"Damn it..."

After several exchanges, Kiana felt that she did not have much energy left. If she kept wearing it down, she might run out of energy before she could kill it. Then she would lose again...

"Right, my Stigmata!"

Kiana suddenly remembered that she had a four-star Stigmata. The earlier battles had gone so smoothly that she had actually forgotten about it!

"Stigmata energy, activate!"

Kiana spread her arms, releasing all her energy at once while activating the Stigmata engraved on her back!

As the Stigmata activated, an arrow-shaped pattern lit up on Kiana's back. This was the pattern of the Attila Stigmata...

"Huh? That's... Attila?"

Himeko seemed to recognize it. As an A-rank Valkyrie, although she did not use the Attila Stigmata herself, she certainly knew of it. Once she confirmed that she had not seen wrong, Himeko looked rather troubled. "What's going on with that girl? Who engraved a four-star Stigmata on her?"

"Is that... the Attila Stigmata?"

At the same time, Theresa, who was observing the advancement assessment through a computer in the principal's office, also recognized Kiana's Stigmata. After staring blankly for a moment, she immediately thought of something and smiled. "That guy actually managed to draw a Stigmata on Kiana's back so quickly. Pretty impressive..."

"What is that? Aren't we all using two-star Stigmata? What's with Kiana's Stigmata?"

"That should be Attila's lower-piece Stigmata. No way, she can actually withstand the power of a four-star Stigmata?"

"Aren't you curious who engraved it for her? We can rule out the academy first. The academy would never engrave a four-star Stigmata on a C-rank Valkyrie. Even machine engraving would be impossible!"

Clearly, Kiana had achieved her goal of showing off. The instant her Stigmata lit up, she once again became the center of everyone's attention, though there were not many spectators to begin with...

"Hmph, watch me break through you from the front!"

After a round of shooting, Kiana charged straight forward and used her Gun Fu to attack the shield directly. Rather than circling around and around, she might as well break through it head-on. Ultimate Skill: Valkyrie Burst!

Kiana activated the Ultimate Skill, Valkyrie Burst. Her energy consumption increased, while her attack power and attack speed rose across the board. Her defense also increased, and she became immune to all negative statuses!

Valkyrie Burst was the most basic yet most important Ultimate Skill for Valkyries, a skill every Valkyrie had to master. In the Valkyrie state, a Valkyrie's strength increased severalfold, but the rate at which energy was consumed was terrifyingly high. The longer it lasted, the faster energy was drained, so it could generally only be used at the most crucial moments!

"Yaaah! Break for me!"

In her Valkyrie state, Kiana leaped high into the air, then kicked at the Honkai Beast with all her strength, striking the Temple Guard's shield precisely. Then...

The shield shattered like glass. Kiana's foot broke through it and struck the Honkai Beast's body directly, sending it flying completely. Then the Temple Guard vanished from the battlefield...

As the Honkai Beast vanished, the virtual scenario disappeared as well, and the holographic display flashed a message of victory: "Kiana Kaslana, assessment passed. Congratulations on becoming a B-rank Valkyrie!"

"Woohoo!"

Kiana jumped up happily. Ling Feng and Mei in the spectator stands were naturally happy for her as well. Though she had only become a B-rank Valkyrie, this was merely the first step. A B-rank Valkyrie was only the beginning...

Ling Feng smiled helplessly and turned to leave...

"What, aren't you going to congratulate her?"

Tesla asked curiously.

"She only advanced to B-rank. What's the big deal? Save the congratulations for when she reaches A-rank. I'm off, Tesla. Bye..."

After saying goodbye, Ling Feng left the training hall. It really hadn't been easy for Kiana to advance to B-rank Valkyrie. She had taken so long just to defeat a Temple-type enemy, and despite clearly carrying guns, she insisted on rushing in for close combat. She really was something else...

Of course, though Ling Feng said there was no need to congratulate her, he still intended to encourage Kiana. After all, she had worked hard. With her talent, if she were willing to train and study properly, she might become an A-rank Valkyrie even faster than Mei!

However, Ling Feng had no idea what Kiana liked, so...

All-purpose snacks, you're up. There was a supermarket in the academy anyway...

"Hey, Kiana, how did you suddenly become so amazing? And who helped imprint your Stigmata? I don't remember the academy having an Attila Stigmata machine!" After the assessment ended, a group of girls gathered around Kiana, bombarding her with questions!

"Hmph, I was always amazing. As for the Stigmata... heh heh, I'm not telling you..."

Kiana wasn't stupid. How could she tell anyone about something like that? Besides, Ling Feng's method of imprinting Stigmata was far too embarrassing. She absolutely couldn't let anyone else find out how Ling Feng imprinted Stigmata...

"Look, Mei has the same Stigmata too?"

At that moment, someone spotted Mei in the training room. She was attacking a Honkai Beast with a wooden sword, and the same Stigmata patterns as Kiana's were glowing across her back...