Assessment Results

"Damn, I'm exhausted!" Sheng Jiu collapsed onto a restaurant chair, his body feeling limp. "I feel like I could fall asleep instantly if I closed my eyes."

"Tch, like I'm any different!" Kiana, across from him, leaned against Yae Sakura, looking half-dead.

"Bronya believes that silly Sheng Jiu and silly Kiana brought this upon themselves," Bronya said indifferently from the side.

"What?!" Kiana and Sheng Jiu exclaimed in unison. "How is this my fault?! He/She was the one who didn't follow the rules! Don't copy me!"

Seeing their synchronized outburst again, Yae Sakura chuckled helplessly. "You two are such a pair of goofballs, even talking in sync."

"Tch, I'm no partner of his. I'm not that sleazy," Kiana said, turning her head away with a look of disgust.

"Miss Hovos has a point, my skin really isn't as thick as yours."

"You!"

"Alright, alright, stop bickering, you two," Yae Sakura said, quickly intervening as they were about to start fighting again. She then turned to Sheng Jiu. "By the way, Sheng Jiu, your movements during the fight with Kiana were so fast we couldn't even see them. How did you do that? Did anyone teach you before?"

Hearing this, Sheng Jiu's expression turned serious. He gave a wry smile. "If I told you I didn't know, would you believe me?"

"Huh? Seriously? Do you know how shocked I was when we sparred just now? This is the first time in a monthly exam that someone has managed to dodge my bullets!" Kiana eyed Sheng Jiu with suspicion.

"It's really like that. Growing up in the orphanage, I found my reaction speed seemed to be much quicker than others my age. Take our duel just now, for example. The bullets you shot at me seemed incredibly slow in my eyes. I could have easily caught them in my palm with a simple grasp."

Kiana and the other two exchanged glances. Bronya spoke first. "Bronya believes silly Sheng Jiu is no ordinary person."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"Although Bronya has Heavy Trooper Bunny, even Heavy Trooper Bunny couldn't replicate the series of movements silly Sheng Jiu made on the training grounds earlier. Therefore, Bronya concludes that silly Sheng Jiu must possess some extraordinary talent."

"Exactly! Spill it, were you deliberately sent to monitor us, Herrscher!" Kiana's eyes widened as she tried to find any flaw in Sheng Jiu's expression to prove her theory.

"What are you talking about, you're like a brainless worm. Use your head. Have you ever seen a Herrscher this pathetic? I'm a human! A proper human!" Sheng Jiu retorted, unwilling to back down.

"Bronya agrees. No Herrscher would be as foolish as silly Sheng Jiu."

"You! Forget it, a good man doesn't fight with women. Oh, right, I just heard from the class representative that we have another monthly exam in two months. Is that true?"

"It's true. Not only is there a monthly exam, but those who don't pass will have to retake it. If they fail the retake, they'll be demoted. Since we're all reserve Valkyries, further demotion would mean going to logistics and doing chores like cleaning the battleship."

Yae Sakura patted Kiana's head as she was eating heartily, a wry smile on her face. Kiana, however, said confidently, "Don't worry, Yae. I'm going to be an S-rank Valkyrie in the future, I won't fail!"

"I hope so," Sheng Jiu sighed with a troubled expression.

The two months of training passed quickly. Unknowingly, this group of young men and women soon arrived for their first assessment at Schicksal's St. Freya Academy.

"Hey, you pervert, are you nervous for the first assessment?" Kiana asked Sheng Jiu smugly.

"Nervous? The word 'nervous' isn't in my vocabulary!" Sheng Jiu, standing beside her, looked equally confident, his nose practically pointing to the sky like Pinocchio's.

Over these two months, Sheng Jiu, Yae Sakura, Bronya, and Kiana had formed a team, constantly engaging in coordinated combat and displaying astonishing teamwork. Facing projected Honkai Beasts used for drills, Sheng Jiu would engage them head-on to draw their attention, while Bronya provided fire support from the rear. Yae Sakura would tie down the Honkai Beast from the flank, hindering its movements. Kiana would then seize the opportunity to forcefully strike the beast's weak point, rendering it immobile and ending the fight.

After all, the reserve Valkyries at the academy had no actual combat experience against Honkai Beasts, let alone the trio of Kiana, who had fought their way through Changkong City. Although Sheng Jiu, who joined later, seemed to lack experience fighting Honkai Beasts, he was able to coordinate with the trio after absorbing their combined combat experience multiple times.

On the day the results were announced, everyone gathered in the classroom, awaiting the announcement of their scores.

"Yae Yae, do you think my score will be first in the class... no, first in the whole school?" Kiana asked, clinging to Yae Sakura's arm coquettishly, full of confidence.

Yae Sakura lightly tapped Kiana's nose and chided with a smile, "You, it'll be good enough if you just pass this exam."

"Bronya reminds silly Kiana that the exam is divided into theoretical and practical components. Given Kiana's intelligence, not scoring negative one hundred points is already a miracle."

"Tch, Bronya is just jealous of the ice-smart me. You'll see my true strength when the results come out!" Kiana was determined to ace this assessment.

"Go home and sleep, you. After the exam the other day, you were crying and shouting, 'How can there be such a difficult chemistry test!' I'd say it's a miracle if you even pass the theoretical subjects this time!" Sheng Jiu said lazily, with his legs crossed.

"Tch, even if I'm not first in the whole school, I'm definitely still way stronger than a muggle like you!" Kiana's eyes were filled with defiance.

"The results are out!" someone shouted. At that moment, everyone rushed towards the announcement board by the door.

"Let's go see," Sheng Jiu said, walking out first. The moment he saw the results board, his expression became priceless.

"What's wrong?" The three of them looked at Sheng Jiu, who was staring blankly, and followed his gaze. The name at the top of the results board was clearly "Fu Hua."

"Holy crap, the top spot is really Class Monitor!" Sheng Jiu stammered, then pointed at the names below for second and third place. "So you two are monsters too, scoring so high!" The names for second and third place were "Raiden Yae Sakura" and "Bronya Zaychik."

"Bronya believes this is the score that Bronya and Sister Yae deserve."

"No, no, it was just luck this time. We're not usually this high," Yae Sakura patted Sheng Jiu and gestured with her eyes toward another part of the results board.

Sheng Jiu followed her gaze and found his own ranking at 68th place. Valkyries ranked below 72nd would face the risk of a retake. Sheng Jiu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat for his ranking.

"Yae Yae, why isn't my name on this report card!" Kiana scanned the results sheet, not even finding her name among those who failed below Sheng Jiu's name, and quickly shook Yae Sakura's arm.

"Kiana, yours... is actually on that other one." Yae Sakura smiled wryly, pointing to another results sheet next to them.

"My score must be too good, so they decided to... what?! Failed?! How is that possible!" Kiana visibly deflated at a rapid pace, squatting in a corner with a look of utter despair.

Sheng Jiu sympathetically patted her shoulder. "It's okay, you only failed the theoretical exam. Your practical score was a B+. You only have to retake the subject you failed."

"Go to hell! My first place, boo hoo hoo..."

"Then I'll treat you to ice cream?"

"Get lost! I want two! Sob sob sob..."

Sheng Jiu looked speechlessly at Kiana, who was gradually turning to stone in the corner, and shook his head at Yae Sakura.

"If silly Kiana can't pass the retake this time, she'll really have no choice but to clean battleships."

"I don't want to! I want to fight! I don't want to scrub decks!"

Yae Sakura frowned. "This retake is Kiana's only chance. Otherwise, there's really nothing we can do..."