"Mm-hmm. Your body is perfectly healthy. Although it was briefly eroded by Honkai Energy, there won't be any lasting effects."
After checking Su Qing'an's physical data, Changguang nodded in satisfaction.
"This data is highly valuable for reference. Although the composite sword—Black Tortoise—was destroyed, lasting one second against the third-stage attack before melting down is already a huge improvement. After all, it's a mass-produced weapon. This is more or less the limit of what can be achieved for now."
The limit Changguang Changchuan spoke of naturally wasn't a true limit. If she wanted to, she could still increase the strength of mass-produced weapons, but further improvements would have little meaning. Ultimately, with her skill, researching higher-level weapons was the proper path.
"All right, Hua, your task is complete too. Just report to the headmaster and you'll be done."
"As for you, leave your sword here. Come pick it up in three days. I'll do my best to reforge a good sword for you according to your physical data." The girl patted the shoulder of the youth sitting on the ground, a confident smile belonging to a master bladesmith on her face.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Changguang." Su Qing'an replied. He could vaguely recognize that the bladesmith before him was a character from one of the game's sets of stigmata.
Combined with this rather famous name from Japanese history, it wasn't hard to imagine how formidable her skills were. The fact that [Calming the Tempest], a weapon of such importance to him, could be reforged by her was an unexpected delight.
After a long while.
After the two of them left, Changguang Changchuan looked at the wreckage of the weapon on the ground and muttered to herself, "Fortunately, although things deviated from what I expected, the deviation wasn't too great. If it had been any worse, I would've had to use anti-Honkai serum and inject him."
"In that case, that overprotective little dwarf Theresa would've chewed me out."
Running her fingers over the fragments of [Calming the Tempest], the girl narrowed her eyes as if she had seen something interesting. "It's a Shenzhou sword-forging method. I haven't been there in a while, but the forging techniques used for this sword have unexpectedly given me some inspiration."
"Then I might as well take it seriously and really go all out."
Completely ignoring the fact that she hadn't slept for several days, Changguang Changchuan spoke excitedly before walking toward the forge.
In every sense, this woman was a pure bladesmith. Compared with fighting the Honkai and protecting the world, forging the finest blades and swords in the world was what concerned her more.
"Headmaster Theresa, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first." After reporting the results of Changguang's task, the girl spoke.
"Hmph. That woman is as willful as ever. She actually made my adorable student test such a strange and dangerous weapon. Sooner or later, I'm going to cut off her funding and make her show some restraint."
While talking about something she probably couldn't accomplish, Theresa gestured for the youth to lower his head. After he obediently did so, she happily stroked his head with her small, tender hand, wearing an adorable expression that clearly said, "I've got your back."
Theresa was simply too approachable in the academy on a daily basis, which made her seem lacking in dignity. Some students even treated her like a cute little child.
So when it came to people like Su Qing'an and Hua, who were more serious and solemn, she was somewhat unused to it and found it a little difficult on the surface, but secretly felt rather pleased.
Even though she wasn't someone who liked putting on airs, being treated this way still made her happy. This feeling was different from the joy of getting along with the students as equals.
But in Theresa's heart, every one of her students was important.
Although she understood that she was being naive, she was unwilling to abandon that naivety. For the sake of the utopia she had built herself, she was willing to transform into a rakshasa when necessary. The title of former S-rank Valkyrie wasn't merely for show.
"Headmaster, Himeko must have told you about my willful request, right?" Su Qing'an said.
"Mm. You want to go back to Senba Academy and take another look, right?" Theresa's smile faded. She looked directly at the youth's face and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why? You should know that only a few of you survived Changkong City, right? What good would going there do? All that remains are ruins and wandering Honkai Beasts."
"Even if you once had friends there, now they're nothing more than corpses that can no longer be found—or Zombies." The girl spoke indifferently, her words like a scalpel precisely cutting into the heart of the matter.
"Satou Yunona was an ordinary high school student. She was only an ordinary friend of mine." As he spoke, his ink-dark eyes remained calm and unruffled, his tone flat.
"I know she's dead. Maybe she's a corpse, or maybe a Zombie."
"I understand all that. I just can't accept not going to see her even once."
"Can't accept it?" The girl quietly repeated Su Qing'an's answer, only to find herself momentarily speechless.
What a pure and pointless reason. Naive, and utterly meaningless.
Yet the woman named Theresa Apocalypse couldn't refute it. After all, hadn't she founded St. Freya Academy for the very same reason?
In January 2000, for the sake of the innocent children in Babylon Laboratory, she had asked her grandfather for an artificial island in the Far East, intending to establish an academy there to teach girls with Honkai adaptability how to control the power within their bodies.
The reason was simple: she wanted them to one day return to normal lives, or become excellent Valkyries.
But as time passed, although that original intention never changed, another reason was added.
In Schicksal, Valkyries were treated like tools of war. In the eyes of those in power, their lifespans were like expiration dates printed on food.
They used those children endlessly and without pause as weapons against the Honkai. The so-called Valkyries were thrown into the Honkai meat grinder like cheap goods, and could hardly be more disposable.
For the Valkyries who had left this world at such young ages while fighting the Honkai, and so that she could find peace within herself, Theresa could not accept Schicksal's actions, yet could find no better way to fight the Honkai. Thus, she could only persist with St. Freya Academy, a Valkyrie training school considered deformed by Schicksal.
With someone as willful as herself, having a willful student like this was probably unavoidable.
In the end, Theresa Apocalypse nodded and said, "Hmph. Although it really is a meaningless and willful request, I agree."
"However, you'll have to wait until Changguang has finished forging your weapon."
"Don't be fooled by her unreliable appearance. Her skills are at the pinnacle of the world. With a weapon reforged by her, you'll be safer out there too."
"Mm. Thank you, Headmaster Theresa." Su Qing'an naturally wasn't going to reject an offer that had been made entirely with his safety in mind.
In this world, gradually being destroyed by the Honkai and tottering on the brink of collapse, Su Qing'an had slowly formed bonds with people who would originally never have crossed paths with him. A strange feeling began to grow in his heart.
If this was the kind of world it was,
then he seemed to have found a reason to protect it.
Before you continue