The three of them seemed to be discussing something. When they saw Ming Yu arrive, Mei raised a hand and waved at him.
"My goal isn't just to become an A-Rank Valkyrie!"
Kiana put her hands on her hips, then delivered that classic line:
"This young lady is going to become Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie!"
"..."
Ming Yu's expression became somewhat subtle.
"What? You don't believe me?"
Kiana noticed the change in his expression.
"It's nothing... You should keep your feet on the ground and take it one step at a time."
He answered lazily.
Kiana, who had inherited the genes of Sirin and Durandal, actually possessed considerable potential in combat.
If she were truly willing to put in the effort, accomplishing that would not be impossible.
It was just that, almost until Queen's Advent, she had shown little improvement in strength. She had not even reached A-Rank Valkyrie, let alone fulfilled Theresa's promise: "Once you reach A-Rank, I'll tell you where your father Siegfried is."
—It was only after her friends and loved ones around her had passed away that she had been forced to begin growing.
Honestly, if Kiana could truly train seriously and diligently, the future might really turn out very differently.
After all, Durandal had become a Valkyrie at the age of ten, then an S-Rank Valkyrie only five or six years later.
If Kiana, who possessed Sirin's Herrscher constitution and Durandal's potential, could become stronger before Otto made his move, many things during Queen's Advent could be changed.
Unfortunately, with her current mix of stupidity and laziness...
Of course, that was only the story from the timeline he originally knew. Perhaps this Kiana would become especially hardworking.
Ming Yu rubbed his head and temporarily put Kiana's matters aside.
No matter what others did, he himself had to become stronger.
Right, logically speaking, there should be an examiner overseeing their rank assessment... It should be Aunt Himeko?
"Your identities are rather special... so we won't be using simulated combat for the evaluation. I'll assess you personally."
At some point, a gray-haired woman appeared beside them.
"You're... Senior Fu Hua?"
Mei recognized her. She had seen her before aboard the Hyperion.
Fu Hua nodded slightly, wearing a helpless expression.
"Himeko was originally supposed to handle this, but... you probably know why. She got drunk last night."
That was just how casually an older single woman lived.
In short, she had been forced to fill in because of that.
"I remember, Senior Fu Hua, you're an A-Rank Valkyrie, right?"
Kiana suddenly asked curiously.
"Mm."
Fu Hua nodded.
"If I can defeat you, that means I'll have met the condition Theresa set, right?"
The white-haired girl suddenly became excited.
If she could defeat an A-Rank Valkyrie, wouldn't that prove she had A-Rank strength too?
Then Theresa would have to tell her immediately where that stinking old man of a father was!
Fu Hua smiled faintly and said calmly:
"If you can do it."
Three Against Fu Hua
Because Kiana's fighting spirit was soaring and she desperately wanted to defeat Fu Hua to fulfill Theresa's condition, she chose to be the first to spar with Fu Hua.
Before the battle, Fu Hua had her choose a weapon that suited her.
Kiana looked through them for a while before finally choosing a chainsaw greatsword.
Though she was more accustomed to fighting with dual pistols and gun kata, she had also dabbled in other weapons.
The greatsword was enormous, far larger than her own body. But for Kiana, who possessed the Kaslana family's monstrous strength, it was no problem at all and did not feel heavy in the slightest.
A moment later, Fu Hua and Kiana stood in the training ground.
Ming Yu, Mei, and Bronya watched from the sidelines.
"Come, Kiana."
Fu Hua extended her right hand and curled her fingers slightly, signaling that Kiana could begin attacking.
"Y-You aren't using a weapon?"
Kiana was somewhat surprised as she looked at the gray-haired woman's empty hands.
"Mm... I do have weapons I commonly use, but against the likes of you, there's no need for them."
Fu Hua waved a hand and smiled.
Those words were practically saying that Kiana's strength was nowhere near enough to make her take things seriously.
"...Don't blame me if you get hurt!"
The white-haired girl gripped the sword with both hands, pushed off fiercely with her feet, and charged at Fu Hua while dragging the greatsword at incredible speed. Then she brought it down in a savage diagonal slash.
Fu Hua merely sidestepped unhurriedly and shifted one small step. The greatsword grazed past her body as it fell, and Kiana's powerful strike missed completely.
At the same time, Fu Hua lightly extended her palm and tapped the center of the blade. The greatsword immediately veered away from Kiana's control.
Kiana had originally been wielding the greatsword, but now the sword forcibly dragged her to one side instead. Her body was no longer under her control, exposing every opening before Fu Hua.
Facing Kiana, who was full of openings from head to toe, Fu Hua casually swung her other palm, shaping it into a hand blade as she chopped toward Kiana's neck.
Having failed to land her strike, Kiana sensed the sharp attack. She decisively abandoned the greatsword, clenched both hands into fists, and raised them before herself to block.
—In her view, with her inborn monstrous strength, she could gain the advantage even in unarmed combat against Fu Hua.
After blocking Fu Hua's hand blade with both arms, Kiana grabbed one of Fu Hua's hands with one hand, while her other hand immediately drove a fierce punch toward Fu Hua's chest.
Unfortunately, the scene Kiana had imagined—her fist hitting Fu Hua's chest and sending her flying—never appeared.
Instead, the world spun before her eyes, and before she knew it, Fu Hua had already thrown her to the ground.
"...W-What happened?"
Kiana was still dazed.
Fu Hua unhurriedly walked over to her, bent down to look at the girl lying on the ground, and said:
"Kiana, it's clear that your martial arts haven't undergone much systematic training, yet they still possess a certain degree of power. I believe that comes from your own understanding mixed into them, which is enough to show that you have considerable talent."
"Hmph, of course. This young lady is Schick—"
Before Kiana could finish, she sprang up from the ground and attacked Fu Hua again.
A feint, then a sneak attack!
Yet once again, her fist was forced to stop before it reached Fu Hua.
Because Fu Hua's hand blade had already reached Kiana's neck first.
—She had not even clearly seen the other woman's movements. Every exchange over the past few seconds had been entirely within Fu Hua's expectations.
"I wasn't finished... You are talented, but you lack a solid foundation. You aren't even bringing out one-tenth of your actual ability."
Fu Hua said flatly:
"Your current strength is, without exaggeration or understatement, indeed at the level of a B-Rank Valkyrie. But there is still some distance between you and the goal Theresa set for you."
—Not to mention the level of Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie that Kiana had just aspired to.
"If you want to become an A-Rank Valkyrie, you need solid training. You mustn't rush for quick results, or else... haste will make waste."
Fu Hua advised.
She had indeed seen many genius girls like Kiana.
But talent did not equal strength. If one could not use the proper training to draw out one's own potential, one would be no different from everyone else.
"Rush for what...? And what does 'haste will make waste' mean?"
Kiana asked with a blank look.
She had spent her life wandering the world, and to put it bluntly, her education was severely lacking.
Now that she had encountered Fu Hua, a woman from Shenzhou who spoke in refined old-fashioned phrases, she could not understand a single word.
"..."
Fu Hua could tell that the girl before her had not understood anything she had just said. She helplessly rubbed her head and put it another way:
"You need to properly practice your combat skills, train your physique, and, well..."
Thinking of Kiana's utterly bewildered expression at those two old Shenzhou sayings, the gray-haired woman added:
"You also need to study your academic subjects properly."
"...Can I refuse that last one?"
Kiana protested.
She had no objections to combat training, but that last part... it was better to forget it!
"All right, get up."
Fu Hua smiled slightly, extended a hand, and pulled Kiana up from the ground.
—Kiana had suffered a complete defeat.
Then Fu Hua turned her gaze toward the other girl in the spectator seats.
"Mei, you're next."
"Yes, Senior Fu Hua."
The black-haired girl obediently walked onto the training ground.
Her weapon was, without question, a katana.
"...Please guide me."
After deeply bowing, Mei drew the katana at her waist and slashed fiercely toward Fu Hua in an exquisite arc.
Unlike Kiana's half-baked techniques, Mei's swordsmanship had truly been forged through rigorous training.
Thanks to her father spending years disguising himself as the "Homu Swordsman" to practice swordsmanship with her, she had developed formidable martial skills despite living in the safety of a large city.
The sword techniques of Hokushin Ittō-ryū specialized in combat against people, and thus put a certain amount of pressure on Fu Hua.
Fu Hua's expression grew slightly more serious as she continuously shifted and evaded Mei's attacks.
However, no matter how fierce Mei's offensive appeared, it never managed to touch Fu Hua even once.
The girl naturally noticed this. She pressed her lips together slightly as a flash of lightning passed through her eyes.
At the same time, her movements sped up significantly as she prepared to alter her attack pattern.
Fu Hua reacted with lightning speed, seizing the instant Mei shifted her stance. She struck out with both hands at once, one landing on Mei's abdomen and the other hitting the wrist holding her sword.
The girl reacted swiftly, adjusting her stance to lessen the impact of Fu Hua's blow.
However, when she reached toward her waist to find her weapon, she discovered that she had grabbed nothing but air.
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