This is Bloodline Awakening

Although she had no idea why this was the only unique piece in the entire weapon vault, the moment Xina laid eyes on it, she could sense it was something special.

She returned the standard-issue pistol to its place, pulled the specially crafted metal whip from its hook, and gave it a few flicks in her hand.

Not too heavy, not too light—the feel was just right. Gripping the handle, Xina nodded in satisfaction and said, "Teacher Himeko, I've made my choice. This one!"

"This one?" Himeko stepped forward and read the tag hanging beside it to learn the weapon's origins. Though inwardly impressed by Xina's eye for quality, her responsibility as a teacher compelled her to offer a word of caution:

"Xina, this is the only prototype that was cut from the Gods' Throne Series. Are you sure you want to use it?"

"Huh?! What's the Gods' Throne Series?" Xina tilted her head, looking at Himeko with confusion, because she genuinely had no idea what this so-called Gods' Throne Series was.

"Series weapons—series weapons, as the name implies, are just code names for weapons! Among the series developed by Schicksal using Soul Steel, one batch was designated by the name 'Gods' Throne.'"

When it came to her area of expertise, Himeko could talk endlessly. In just a few minutes, she crammed a mountain of knowledge—most of which was optional to learn anyway—into her bewildered student's head.

"Oh!" Xina nodded with a vague sense of awe, staring at the whip in her hand without fully understanding.

Even though she hadn't grasped most of it, she could tell from Himeko's tone that the whip she'd picked was probably the best thing in this room, bar none.

Not bad, her instincts were pretty sharp! Out of a pile of standard-issue gear, she'd singled out a special model.

With that thought, a bright smile spread across Xina's face.

Seeing the radiant smile on her student's face from gaining knowledge, Himeko felt encouraged. She stepped forward like a caring older sister, reached out, and ruffled Xina's head. "A whip is a tricky weapon to handle. One mistake and you'll hurt yourself."

"This model was never mass-produced—only one sample was kept—and that's largely for this reason."

"Have you ever trained with anything like this before?" Himeko asked.

"Teacher Himeko, don't worry. I've never learned it, but the moment I held it, I already knew how to use it."

With that, Xina gave her hand a light flick, and the whip traced a beautiful serpentine whip flower through the air.

Crack! Crack!

With a few crisp snaps, the bladed tip of the whip lashed into the black humanoid target standing nearby, leaving two striking marks on its surface.

"!" Himeko stared in astonishment as Xina wielded the whip as naturally as an extension of her own arm. Every crack landed precisely on the black target, carving deep scars.

But what was even stranger was that the white target and the other colored targets remained completely untouched.

Baffled, Himeko rubbed her chin, then finally raised a hand and tapped her forehead with the back of it.

"Fine, if you can handle it, take it and use it! It's getting late anyway—time to take you to the testing ground!"

Jogging behind Himeko all the way to the Headmaster's Office door, Xina braced herself against the wall, wiping sweat and panting as she begged, "Teacher Himeko, we're almost there—can we stop running?!"

"You've rested three times on such a short walk. I'm starting to worry about your physical fitness scores as much as I worry about Kiana's Culture Class grades!"

Himeko watched her student, who had the potential to be an S-Rank Valkyrie, doubled over from exhaustion after such a short distance, and something clicked.

So... the D in physical fitness on the report wasn't because Xina was only at D level—it was because D was the lowest score on the scale. If F existed, Xina would undoubtedly have set a record with an unprecedented F.

Imagining a future S-Rank Valkyrie failing her first semester's physical fitness class, Himeko shook her head frantically, as if trying to purge that terrifying thought from her mind.

"Starting tomorrow, you're joining Fu Hua for morning training!"

"Huh?!"

And just like that, poor Xina's schedule was set in stone.

After arranging Xina's fate, Himeko pushed open the Headmaster's Office door and walked straight in. "Theresa! Theresa! Hey, where is she? Off slacking off again?"

Staring at the empty office, Himeko couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Ah, Himeko, how dare you barge in without knocking!"

Suddenly, a small white head popped up from the desk that had seemed empty moments before.

"Yikes!" Startled by the sudden white-haired head, Xina recognized its owner and quietly stashed the Blue Energy Orb she'd almost thrown.

Only then, hearing Theresa's voice, did Himeko finally spot her. "So you were here! You didn't say a word when I came in—I thought you were gone."

"Ahem, of course I'm here. Someone who loves their work as much as I do would never be absent during office hours."

Hearing this, Xina frowned, sensing something was off.

She took a few small, silent steps, moving to the side of Theresa's desk—a blind spot in the line of sight.

Blocked by several stacks of documents, Xina could see what was on Theresa's desk, but Theresa couldn't see her.

Sure enough, among the scattered files, a blue-covered manga stood out like a sore thumb.

Houmu King's Adventure Volume 4... Wasn't this supposed to come out the month after next? How did Theresa already have a release copy this month?

Feeling played, rage surged in Xina's heart, and malice rose in her mind. The energy orb she'd just put away was clenched in her hand again.

She had no idea where the lazy author who kept delaying was, but that didn't stop her from jotting down a grudge against that bastard in her little notebook.

On the other side, while answering Himeko, Theresa was secretly gauging Himeko's expression.

When she realized Himeko hadn't caught her slacking off and reading manga during work hours, Theresa breathed a sigh of relief.

But as she sat back down in her chair, the corner of her eye caught sight of another person.

Following Xina's gaze, Theresa finally noticed that there was almost nothing blocking the line of sight between Xina's current position and her desk.

In other words, Xina had already caught her slacking off just now.

What to do—even if she tore up the manga and destroyed the evidence right now, it was already too late!

Could it be that her dignity as Principal... was just gone like that? No!!!

Just as Theresa was sinking into deep mental anguish, Xina silently averted her gaze and spaced out.

She didn't really care about Theresa slacking off during work hours—after all, she herself was currently a Herrscher coasting on the job...