Arts and Sports Duo

"No." Fu Hua shook her head solemnly.

That motion was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Kiana.

"Who else in our class is exempt from the exams?"

After a long while, Kiana finally gathered the courage to ask.

"I'm the proctor, so I don't need to take them. Xina is a new student, so she's exempt. Mei got full marks last semester, so she's exempt. Bronya is talented in electronics, so she can be exempt too!"

Right in front of Kiana, Fu Hua counted off the students exempt from the exams on her fingers.

With every name Fu Hua mentioned, Kiana's face grew a shade paler.

So all four students living in the same villa as her were exempt!

She was the only one who had to take the final exams?!

God, what kind of suffering was this?!

"Oh! I don't have to take exams this semester? That's fantastic!"

Secretly delighted, Xina set down her thermos, her face blooming with a smile called happiness. It was as if countless tiny fireworks were sparkling above her head.

Culture class was no problem for her; she basically knew all of it. But... she couldn't forget that the Valkyrie Assessment tested more than just culture class. There was also that deadly physical fitness class.

Suddenly, Fu Hua's communicator rang. She answered it, gave a few brief replies, then quietly shifted her gaze from Kiana to Xina.

Xina felt a chill run down her back, and an ominous premonition rose from the depths of her heart.

Just as she was about to make a break for it, Fu Hua put down her personal communicator and called out to her.

Fu Hua said, "Xina, don't leave either. Principal Theresa just said that physical fitness doesn't depend on how long you've been enrolled. You don't need to take the culture class exam, but you can't escape the physical fitness exam!"

"Ah?!" Xina collapsed lifelessly onto the floor, her expression vividly and lifelikely illustrating the phrase "utterly devastated."

As everyone knew, smiles did not disappear. They simply transferred to someone else's face.

Seeing the same utterly lifeless little expression on Xina's face, Kiana's depressed mood improved considerably.

It was wrong to revel in someone else's misfortune, but she really wanted to laugh! Hahahahaha!

After Fu Hua tutored Kiana in culture class, Xina was dragged into memorizing material as well under the excuse that she was free anyway and might as well attend. Thus, she and Kiana formed a deep friendship through tutoring.

As they walked downstairs, the two stared at each other, seeming to see the exact same unbearable agony in one another's eyes.

Kiana: Great, culture class tutoring was over. She had finally survived today.

Xina: I'm doomed. Kiana's culture class tutoring was over, which meant it was my turn to suffer!

Led into the indoor Gymnasium by Fu Hua, Xina stood on the track and watched helplessly as Fu Hua somehow produced an old acquaintance of hers—a hemp rope as thick as a girl's wrist—and tied its two ends around Xina's and Kiana's waists.

As everyone knew, Kiana was not very good at memorizing, but she was incredibly strong.

For once, Fu Hua shamelessly slacked off and handed the arduous task of dragging Xina along while running to Kiana, who possessed inborn superhuman strength.

What happened afterward, no one knew.

All that was known was that when Himeko returned home after finishing a day of work, the first thing she saw was a pair of suffering sisters sitting on the sofa, their faces seemingly bearing the word "haggard."

"Teacher Himeko... can I transfer to clerical work? Sob..." Xina threw herself into Himeko's arms and tearfully recounted her miserable fate that afternoon—after completing the required laps, Kiana had felt like she had not even warmed up yet and actually dragged her through another five laps!

"But... even if you transfer to clerical work, the physical fitness standards for Valkyries are the same..."

"Ah!!"

At that moment, Himeko could even see the last spark of hope in Xina's eyes extinguish completely, transforming into... utter despair.

Honestly, Himeko did not want to crush Xina with such a cruel fact, but... even for clerical Valkyries, only the scoring for practical combat subjects was reduced.

Physical fitness was a foundational subject, and its standards had long been set in stone.

"Destroy it all, I'm tired!" Xina trembled with every step as she walked over to the sofa and face-planted onto it.

After dinner, Xina climbed to the second floor while gripping the railing and resting after every step, taking a full half hour.

Too lazy even to take off her clothes, Xina slowly opened her bedroom door and collapsed onto the bed without strength.

And so, amid the agonizing days that felt like years for St. Freya's Arts and Sports Duo, time quickly reached the day before the final exams.

"In 1953, during the First Honkai Eruption in Berlin, humanity first discovered that when high concentrations of Honkai energy gathered and formed a core within a human body, a Herrscher capable of distorting the laws of physics could be born."

"On February 1, 2000, in Siberia, the Herrscher of the Void awakened, and the Second Honkai Eruption became a global disaster..."

At the podium, Himeko was conducting a pre-exam review for the class. "These two questions appear every semester. That's fifteen points sitting right there—take them or leave them!"

Below the podium, Xina leaned her head against the wall and caught up on sleep—she was truly exhausted.

Glancing at the drowsy Kiana and Xina, who had not woken up at all, Himeko's brows furrowed again.

"Hey, Kiana?!"

"..." Kiana acted as though she had not heard her, her head still bobbing up and down like a pecking chicken.

"..." Himeko was silent for a moment before changing her words. "Hey, Kiana, it's time to eat!"

"Mmh... ah, food! I want chicken legs... Ah! T-Teacher Himeko!"

Still trapped in her dream, Kiana sprang to her feet at Himeko's words as if by reflex.

Looking at Kiana, who was standing there in a daze, Himeko sighed. "Sigh. The thought of you fighting the Honkai for the sake of the world makes me feel sorry for the world."

"Uh... well..." Kiana wiped her face and happened to spot Xina, who was sleeping even more soundly than she was.

Himeko followed Kiana's gaze, rolled her eyes irritably, and said, "Do you think you and Xina are the same just because you both sleep in class?"

Seeing Kiana's resentful little look, Himeko took a deep breath and tried not to let her blood pressure rise. "What, you don't believe me?"

"Xina! Name three forms of Honkai disasters!"

"Huh? Me? Herrschers, Honkai Beasts, Death Stalkers..." Xina pushed herself weakly upright against the wall. Without even opening her eyes, she gave the correct answer the moment she opened her mouth.

"When and where did the Second Herrscher awaken?" Himeko asked again.

"February 1, 2000. Siberia. Babylon Tower."

"Describe a Temple-Class Honkai Beast!"

"Temple-Class Honkai Beasts are known as the guards of Herrschers. Their standard height is twelve meters. Their bodies resemble humanoids..."