Cocolia clapped her hands, and two women in identical military uniforms immediately entered. They seemed to be her subordinates, carrying the equipment needed for the upcoming measurements.
After a brief period of preparation, the ability tests officially began.
The little girls took turns testing their abilities. This time, Cocolia had specifically brought researchers responsible for this field to record the children's ability-control data, so suitable training programs could be arranged for them in the future.
After finishing the preparations, Cocolia did not stay to watch the little girls' tests. Instead, she strode over to the chairs beside the training room, where Ishiu was sitting.
"Auntie Cocolia, you look even more beautiful today." Seeing Cocolia approach, Ishiu obediently stood up and greeted her with a smile.
"Ishiu, you're still such a smooth talker. You already know how to charm girls at such a young age—what will become of you when you grow up?" Cocolia would have been lying if she said Ishiu's praise did not make her happy. No woman disliked compliments, especially when Ishiu was her "son."
Cocolia chuckled and tapped Ishiu on the head, punishing him for his glib tongue. Then she took his hand and sat down with him.
"Hehe, I wasn't trying to charm any other girls. Auntie Cocolia, you know me—I'm the most honest person around. I've always loved telling the truth." Ishiu scratched his cheek. With skin thicker than a city wall, he had absolutely no limits when it came to sweet talk.
"You still have the nerve to call yourself the most honest? Of all the children I adopted, you're the cleverest." Cocolia pinched Ishiu's cheek with a hint of coquettish reproach.
If Bronya was the child who put Cocolia most at ease, then Ishiu was the child she liked best.
In Cocolia's eyes, Ishiu was far more sensible than the other children. Though he usually acted unreliable and loved making jokes, at crucial moments he was stronger than anyone else, and he had plenty of clever tricks up his sleeve.
Moreover, this child knew how to please her. Although she felt somewhat disappointed that Ishiu refused to call her Mom no matter how she tempted him, his good qualities perfectly covered up those issues that hardly counted as issues.
"By the way, how are things progressing between you and Bronya?" As if recalling something, Cocolia's violet eyes flickered slightly as she asked with obvious interest.
"Uh... what progress? Auntie Cocolia, what are you talking about?" Three black lines instantly appeared on Ishiu's forehead. Cocolia's face practically screamed, I want gossip, making him both annoyed and amused.
"You brat, don't play dumb with me. Do you think your mother doesn't know anything?" Cocolia gently pinched Ishiu's ear, as if displeased that he was still lying in front of her. "You've been getting so close to Bronya. Do you dare say you have no feelings for her?"
"Hey, hey, Auntie Cocolia, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! I've always treated Bronya as my little sister. I don't have those kinds of thoughts!" Ishiu was speechless. How could a single woman of who-knew-what age be so obsessed with other people's love lives?
Besides, Bronya was only fourteen! How much of a freak would he have to be to have those kinds of thoughts about a little girl?!
"Oh? Really?" Cocolia raised a brow, leaned closer, and stared directly into Ishiu's eyes with her exotic violet gaze.
Ishiu suddenly felt a little nervous. It was not because he felt guilty, but because Cocolia had moved far too close. Less than a finger's width separated them. Ishiu could clearly smell her fragrance and feel the warmth of her breath.
"R-really."
"I don't believe you." Cocolia's eyes shifted, and she suddenly slid both hands under Ishiu's arms, lifted him up, and placed him on her lap.
She held him like a doll, her arms wrapped around his waist and her chin resting on his shoulder. Smiling, she said, "Unless you call me Mom, you definitely have feelings for Bronya."
Ishiu was instantly speechless. So this woman's real goal was still to make him call her Mom.
Honestly, Cocolia was being completely unreasonable. She had no dignity as an elder at all. Still, women were unreasonable by nature, so he could understand that much.
But what the hell did whether he called her Mom have to do with whether he had feelings for Bronya?!
Even if she wanted to exercise a woman's special privileges, she could not do it like this!
Ishiu ranted wildly in his heart. Of course, he definitely would not call Cocolia Mom. He had been an orphan in his previous life too and had never had a mother, so he had no particular psychological hangup about it.
It was just that, as someone with an adult soul, calling a young and beautiful woman Mom was too embarrassing for him to stomach.
Thus, Ishiu made up his mind. He would rather die, jump out from here—he absolutely would not...
Ding! System mission issued: Call Cocolia Mom. Mission reward: Unknown.
"..."
Seven Nights Assassination Technique!
At this moment, Ishiu's feelings were incredibly complicated. His system seemed like someone else's system—aside from screwing him over, it was completely useless.
But the most frustrating part was that even though he knew this damned system wanted to screw him over, he could not help jumping straight into the trap.
There was no helping it. He wanted the system's reward. He was honest.
"Little Ishiu, are you going to call me or not? If you do, Mommy will give you a reward~" Cocolia was like a creepy uncle luring little girls with candy, eagerly waiting to hear Ishiu call her Mom.
"M-Mom..."
Cocolia froze, wondering whether she had heard wrong. She had tried every possible way to make Ishiu call her Mom before, yet always failed. This time, she had only said it casually and had not truly expected Ishiu to obediently comply. But... had she succeeded?
"Ishiu, what did you just say?" Cocolia became somewhat excited. She wanted to hear it again.
"I said, Mom Cocolia. You should be satisfied now, right?" Ishiu took a deep breath. As the saying went, the first step was always the hardest. Once he had uttered that embarrassing title for the first time, his skin rapidly thickened, carrying a strong sense of giving up completely.
At the same time, he viciously cursed the brain-dead system in his heart. He had thrown away all shame this time. If it still did not give him something good, he would perish together with this brain-dead system right now!
Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission. Reward obtained: Seven Nights Assassination Technique - Flash Step.
Hearing the system's voice, Ishiu was initially stunned. What exactly was this Seven Nights Assassination Technique - Flash Step? The name sounded pretty cool, so it should not be some useless skill, right?
"Satisfied? I'm beyond satisfied! You little rascal, after all this time, you finally agreed to call me Mom today." Cocolia happily hugged Ishiu, unable to conceal the smile on her face. The fatigue from work felt like a burden cast aside, leaving her completely refreshed.
"As long as you're happy." Ishiu smiled. Seeing Cocolia so happy, he felt somewhat touched as well.
Across both his lives, Cocolia could be said to be the person who had treated him best. And there was no self-interest involved—it was completely selfless kindness.
Since he was an orphan anyway, perhaps having a mother was not so bad?
"Little Ishiu, is there any reward you want?" Cocolia asked with a smile.
"Uh... there's nothing I want." Ishiu shook his head. He was telling the truth. He did not lack food or clothes, and the Orphanage was full of little girls. He had everything he could ask for, while the power he wanted was something Cocolia could not give him.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Mm... all right, then. Since there's nothing you want right now, Mommy will keep it in mind. If there's ever something you want or a request you have, you can tell me. I'll definitely satisfy you." Cocolia lightly touched her red lips, her smile radiant as a flower. The faint scent of her beauty left Ishiu a little intoxicated.
However, a cool female voice from behind shattered the warm atmosphere.
"Mother, we have finished the tests. Please review them."
"Mm, I understand, Bronya. I'll be right there." Cocolia released Ishiu and smiled at the approaching Bronya. She could not resist pinching Ishiu's cheek once more before getting up and walking toward the testing area, leaving only a fragrant breeze behind.
"What did you say to Mother just now? She seems very happy." Bronya did not follow Cocolia. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and looked at Ishiu with a somewhat unfriendly expression.
"Huh? Nothing much. We were just chatting normally." Ishiu had always been good at playing dumb. Naturally, he could not say that Cocolia had asked how things were progressing between him and Bronya... If he dared say that, Bronya would undoubtedly beat him into a pig's head.
Besides, perhaps it was just his imagination, but he vaguely felt that Bronya... seemed jealous of him?
Uh... that was a little awkward. It was not as though he had deliberately gotten close to Cocolia, but this adopted mother of his simply liked him. What could he do about it?
Ishiu knew that all the children at the Orphanage liked Cocolia, yet Cocolia liked him best. If he did not have some skill at handling people, he would probably have been targeted by every child in the Orphanage.
"Really?" Bronya stepped closer, her eyes fixed intently on Ishiu. She was a little shorter than him, and though she had to look up at him, Ishiu somehow felt smaller in presence.
"Really." Ishiu forcibly stopped himself from shifting his gaze and nodded with an innocent expression.
Because they were so close, although Bronya carried a little sweat from training, it did nothing to hide her natural fragrance. Ishiu caught the pleasant scent of green lemon, making him instinctively pull his neck back slightly.
"Hmph..." It was impossible to tell whether Bronya believed him, but she did not press the matter any further. Instead, she took Ishiu's hand and led him toward the testing area.
"There's nothing interesting about sitting here alone. Come with me."
"You came in first again this time, right?" Though Ishiu phrased it as a question, there was no doubt in his tone. Even without looking, he knew Bronya had definitely taken first place in this ability test again.
People really were different. Bronya was simply a genius when it came to controlling Honkai Energy.
For example, while everyone spent three hours training, Bronya could achieve in those three hours what others would need six or even ten hours to accomplish.
"Of course. Bronya is the best." Hearing Ishiu say that, Bronya did not act modestly at all. Instead, she puffed out her little chest and spoke with pride.
Ishiu glanced at her chest, a smile of unclear meaning appearing on his face.
God truly was fair. Whenever He gave someone something, He took something away too.
Bronya was clearly a few months older than Seele, yet Seele's chest was several sizes larger than Bronya's... Thinking about it that way, Bronya's excellence was understandable.
"Hm? Were you saying something bad about me in your head just now?" Bronya frowned slightly. She vaguely sensed a malicious feeling lingering around her chest.
"No." Ishiu shook his head with an innocent expression. "Why would I say anything bad about you?"
Although Bronya's instincts told her Ishiu had definitely harbored some improper thoughts about her just now, she had no evidence and could do nothing to him. She could only silently add another mark to Ishiu's little notebook, planning to settle it together the next time he provoked her.
Bronya is number one in the world!.jpg
On the way to the testing area, Ishiu casually claimed the reward stored in the System Space.
Naturally, he did not claim that scammy Masochistic Constitution. He claimed Seven Nights Assassination Technique - Flash Step, which sounded incredibly high-class just from the name.
When all the techniques related to Flash Step flowed into Ishiu's mind and were deeply engraved there, Ishiu finally understood what the Seven Nights Assassination Technique truly was.
The Seven Nights Assassination Technique was not merely an ordinary assassination skill. It was the culmination of movement techniques, martial skill, concealment, surprise attacks, and countless other elements.
Its original purpose seemed to be fighting inhuman monsters. Although Ishiu had not yet tried this technique, he could infer its power from the memories he had received.
It seemed that the brain-dead system had finally shown him some kindness for once and given him an SSR-tier reward.
Unfortunately, what he had received this time was only half of the Seven Nights Assassination Technique—the techniques of Flash Step.
The Seven Nights Assassination Technique was divided into two parts: Flash Sheath and Flash Step.
Flash Sheath was the arms, while Flash Step was the legs. Flash Sheath represented methods and techniques of killing, while Flash Step was a movement technique that allowed one to move freely anywhere. It even allowed someone moving at high speed to turn and retreat at will, accomplishing techniques ordinary people could never perform.
Feeling those deeply engraved memories in his mind, Ishiu could not help becoming excited.
If the circumstances had not been wrong, he would have wanted to personally test this miraculous skill immediately.
When they reached the testing area, Cocolia checked everyone's results and announced that Bronya had come in first. The little girls immediately let out miserable cries.
However, their complaints lasted only a short while. After all, Bronya taking first place had practically become a certainty. They knew the gap between themselves and Bronya, so they quickly recovered.
However, the "they" in question did not include one particular person.
"Waaah!!! Ishiu, I'm last again this time! Waaah!"
Rosaliya wailed as she threw herself into Ishiu's arms, wrapping her hands around his neck and desperately rubbing her face against his chest. Her tears and snot smeared all over Ishiu's clothes, leaving him with a face full of black lines.
"All right, all right. It's just last place. It's not like this is your first time. You'll get used to it. Stop crying, stop crying. Be good." Ishiu patted the pink-haired idiot's back and comforted her helplessly.
"But I worked really hard... waaah..." Rosaliya said through sobs.
"By 'worked really hard,' Rosaliya means eating, drinking, and playing every day, sleeping until she wakes up naturally, and always slacking off during training?" Liliya mercilessly exposed her.
"Uh..." Rosaliya's sobbing abruptly stopped.
"Rosaliya..." Ishiu was speechless.
"W-what? Liliya isn't much better than me!" Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Rosaliya's little face flushed red as she angrily retorted.
"At least I'm not last." Liliya replied airily.
"Wah... Liliya is so mean!" Rosaliya let out a kitten-like wail, and Ishiu felt as though this idiot was about to strangle him.
"Sigh... what a worry-inducing big sister." Liliya sighed like a little adult, then stepped forward and rubbed Rosaliya's head as if petting a cat. Before long, Rosaliya's sniffles gradually quieted down.
"Rosaliya, work harder next time." The obedient little angel Seele softly encouraged Rosaliya from the side.
"Mm! Next time, I'll definitely work hard and try to surpass Bronya!" Idiots' emotions truly came quickly and went quickly. Rosaliya had just been bawling in Ishiu's arms, but now she was immediately full of energy again. If not for the tear stains still on her face, Ishiu would have thought what had just happened was an illusion.
"Then I'll wait for you to surpass me." Bronya walked over from Cocolia's side just then, having happened to hear Rosaliya's last words. She smiled as she responded.
"Hmph, hmph! Just you wait, Bronya!"
"Big Sister Bronya took first place again. You're so amazing." Seele looked at Bronya with the expression of a devoted little fan, her words filled with deep admiration.
"It's nothing. I was just lucky." When facing Seele and the others, Bronya did not show the same smugness she did around Ishiu. Instead, she modestly shook her head.
"Hmph! That's right, you were just lucky. Don't think that means you've beaten me, Bronya. I haven't lost yet!"
The speaker was a purple-haired girl standing some distance away. She was fairly cute, but her expression was too fierce. Combined with the sharp teeth faintly visible in her mouth, she naturally inspired a degree of fear.
Her name was Xing. She was also a member of the Orphanage, but unlike the other children, she was extremely withdrawn and unsociable. She often clashed with the other children over trivial matters. The children at the Orphanage were angry but dared not speak out, because aside from Bronya, she was the strongest one here.
Thus, she often deliberately picked fights with Bronya, apparently wanting to suppress her and prove herself.
This test was no exception. She had placed second behind Bronya, and seeing Bronya getting along so well with Seele, Ishiu, and the others immediately stirred up jealousy in her.
"You can't beat Bronya, Xing." Bronya glanced at her, with no extra emotion in her eyes. To Bronya, Xing was not an opponent, merely one of her companions.
"You said I can't beat you?" Xing's face immediately darkened. She slightly opened her mouth, revealing a neat row of shark-like teeth and a vicious expression.
"That's right." Bronya was not frightened in the slightest by her fierce look. She nodded without changing expression. "You're still far from it."
Before you continue