After the first round of competition ended, some students who performed poorly were immediately marked as unqualified by the examiners. This meant they were at least temporarily downgraded from B-rank Valkyries to D-rank Valkyries, losing their qualifications to fight on the front lines and heading to the rear to run small shops instead.
The second round of drawing lots was completed, and the very first match was Kiana versus Raiden Mei.
“Ugh, Kiana, why do you look so pale? You didn’t eat something bad late last night and upset your stomach, did you?”
“Mmm… lately, I’ve been having all sorts of strange dreams, but after I wake up, I can’t remember anything from them clearly…”
Mei smiled gently:
“Having frequent dreams really can lead to poor sleep quality. It must be the pressure from the exams these past couple of days. I’ll stay by your side and keep cooking delicious things for you.”
Kiana’s heart immediately blossomed with joy:
“Really? Hehe, so in the next match, will you go easy on me, Mei?”
Mei’s expression instantly turned serious:
“No way, that would be cheating on the exam. Perk up now, stop being so coquettish.”
“Ah~~ Even though it’s just between us, Mei, you’re so heartless～～”
Perhaps it was the two of them showing off their affection in public that irritated the examiner, who was still single. This examiner, who hadn’t said much until now, spoke sternly:
“The assessment has already started. If you don’t begin the battle soon, you will be disqualified!”
“Kiana, here I come, be careful!”
Raiden Mei wasted no more words. Lightning wrapped around her body as she brandished her blade and launched a series of slashes at Kiana.
Kiana dodged while launching counterattacks. Perhaps because they knew each other too well, both could predict the other’s next move. Therefore, each could neutralize the other’s offense, but neither could break through the other’s defense. For a time, they were locked in a stalemate.
“Going on like this, I can’t beat Mei. Looks like I’ll have to try that move…”
Kiana retracted her dual guns to her waist, opened her right hand, and pointed her palm toward Mei.
“What is Kiana doing? Her guns should still have bullets left…”
An ice crystal shot out from Kiana’s palm, heading straight for Mei.
“What!”
Mei was completely caught off guard; she hadn’t expected Kiana to have such an attack method. Struck by the ice crystal, a wave of chill immediately swept through her body. She couldn’t help but exhale a breath of cold air and shiver.
It wasn’t just Raiden Mei; the other students in the stands were also startled and began whispering among themselves:
“Has Schicksal’s Valkyrie armor advanced again? They can directly manipulate elements now?”
“Don’t make such a big deal out of it. In the last match, Raiden Mei could manipulate lightning too, and you all didn’t react this strongly.”
“That match was too fast; it ended before we could even be surprised…”
Among those equally surprised was Theresa. She certainly didn’t remember the White Comet armor having this mode.
While the whole arena buzzed with discussion, only Rita and Enoxia, who knew the inside story, smiled and said nothing.
“Mei, are you okay?”
Seeing Mei looking unwell, Kiana immediately withdrew that power back into her body and came forward with concern.
“Kiana, I’m fine… But I know that now, I definitely can’t beat you… I surrender…”
Before the examiner could even announce the end of the match, Kiana had already helped Raiden Mei off the arena stage.
Outside the arena, Raiden Mei rested for a while and finally returned to normal.
“Sorry, Mei, I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s not your fault. Since you can use that power to defeat me, on the battlefield, you can surely kill more Honkai beasts and save more people…”
“By the way, during the fight just now, your state suddenly became really good. You were like a completely different person from before the match.”
Hearing this, Kiana scratched her head a little sheepishly:
“Me? I just wanted to show off a bit in front of you, Mei, get some glory.”
Mei smiled without speaking and took the initiative to hold Kiana’s hand as they returned to the arena.
Before long, it was Enoxia’s turn, and her opponent in the second round was actually Fu Hua.
“Class monitor, go easy on me, okay.”
“Miss Eno need not be so modest. To defeat you, I would also need to go all out to have a chance. Please, begin.”
Enoxia thought about it; no matter how she looked at it, Fu Hua’s statement was indeed correct.
Just as her attention wavered, Fu Hua’s fist was already flying towards her. Enoxia once again used Elysia’s footwork, easily evading the attack.
Taking advantage of the gap in Fu Hua’s assault, Enoxia drew her bow, and when Fu Hua closed in again, she loosed an arrow, forcing Fu Hua back dozens of meters.
As the saying goes, an archer who can’t fight up close isn’t a good archer. Although getting in close greatly increased Fu Hua’s chance of being hit, it also significantly boosted her own accuracy.
From less than half a meter away, even with eyes closed, you could hit the target.
Fu Hua charged forward again, but this time, Enoxia could clearly sense that her entire demeanor had changed.
“Wait… this move… no way, is this a Valkyrie assessment? Why is she even using something like ‘Fist of Taixu – Heaven’s Open’?”
“Alright, she started it, so you can’t blame me now.”
Enoxia immediately commanded all her avatars within Schicksal’s database to extract Fu Hua’s data and run simulations, using AI to predict her next attack.
Obviously, Fu Hua’s various stats exceeded the upper limits of what the AI could predict, but at this moment, Fu Hua could only use the strength of an A-rank Valkyrie. So, with Enoxia having this external assistance, Fu Hua gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Just as she was steadily gaining the upper hand, Enoxia realized a serious problem:
“Hiss… Fu Hua is supposed to be the strongest among the new students at St. Freya… So if I beat her, wouldn’t that make me the strongest? No can do. Not to mention Rita is right here, but I really don’t want to be number one.”
In a long-distance race, the person in the lead faces the greatest resistance, not just from the air, but also from the watchful eyes of those behind.
In a class where exam scores are considered extremely important, the pressure on the top student is greatest, because only that person has no room for further improvement.
When parents, classmates, and teachers talk about grades, the frequency of mentioning “so-and-so is first in XX” is definitely much higher than “so-and-so is second in XX.”
While being first represents honor, it also carries a commensurate amount of pressure.
For someone like Enoxia, who doesn’t want too much attention, consistently being in the top ten, but never first, is the best choice.
Therefore, even when Fu Hua herself thought she was about to lose, Enoxia suddenly leaned her body toward Fu Hua’s fist, letting the punch send her flying.
