Himeko waved her hand, "Oh, it's nothing. It should be very simple for you. Moreover, you should be able to understand what I mean. After all, you know your own strength best."
After speaking, Himeko seemed to glance at Bella meaningfully, and then clicked on the virtual screen in front of her. A new Diving-class Honkai Beast appeared in front of Bella.
Bella was still a little confused after hearing Himeko's words.
Simple for me? What does that mean?
However, before Bella could ask Himeko.
"Now, close your eyes first."
Himeko's words came over, and Bella had no choice but to suppress her doubts and close her eyes as Himeko said.
"Now, feel every part of your body. You should feel that something is guiding you, giving you an inexplicable feeling. Remember this feeling, don't resist…"
Himeko's voice seemed to be fading away, and Bella felt as if she had come to a mysterious space.
There was no light around, and she hadn't opened her eyes.
But Bella felt it. In the space, there were four prismatic crystal objects flashing with different colored lights.
Blazing fiery red, cold ice blue, paralyzing electric purple, and mysterious darkness.
Four colors intertwined, occupying the entire space.
Bella's consciousness left this space.
Bella felt that she seemed to know what to do.
However, Bella didn't notice that when she left, the dark prismatic crystal flickered.
It seemed that due to Bella's arrival, something that had been stagnant began to operate again.
And Bella was still unaware of all this.
In reality, Bella opened her eyes.
Looking at the Honkai Beast in front of her.
"I'll use fire" Bella thought.
"Fireball."
As Bella's voice fell, a fist-sized, intensely burning fireball appeared in front of Bella.
With a thought, Bella sent the floating fireball crashing towards the Honkai Beast, knocking it to the ground.
Although it wasn't directly eliminated, Bella felt that two more shots would be enough.
"Hmm, Honkai energy specialization in fire element, just like me, and the strength is also at the level of an B-Rank Valkyrie."
Himeko nodded after watching Bella's attack, then clicked on the virtual screen in front of her, and the Honkai Beast on the ground immediately dissipated into data.
"Alright, now you should be somewhat familiar with your abilities, so let's go straight into actual combat."
"Huh! Right away?"
Bella exclaimed.
"Don't be afraid, we're all here," Himeko waved from the side.
"Yay, is it finally time to fight! Bella! Go for it!" Kiana shouted from the side.
Hearing Kiana's words, Bella's mouth twitched.
If it weren't for the previous sentence, Bella would have really believed that Kiana wasn't there to watch the show, but to cheer her on.
"Bella, go for it." Behind Kiana, Raiden Mei, Bronya, and Fu Hua also started cheering for Bella.
"Everyone." Bella was a little moved.
Except for a certain someone, Bella squinted at a certain white-haired person who was excitedly preparing to watch her show.
"Are you ready? If you're ready, I'll start. This test is 15 minutes long. If you are defeated by a Honkai Beast within 15 minutes or fail to defeat all Honkai Beasts, the assessment will be considered a failure."
"You have to perform well, Bella~"
Himeko's meaningful words came.
Bella felt strange listening to Himeko's words, but still nodded to indicate that she was ready.
Seeing Bella nod, Himeko pressed the virtual screen in front of her, and the platform's spire emitted light, and the semi-circular light shield once again enveloped the entire platform.
Honkai Beasts slowly appeared on the open ground in front of Bella, however.
This time, 10 Honkai Beasts appeared directly, and only 4 of them were the Honkai Beasts from just now!
There were three new types of Honkai Beasts, two of which had a pair of thick limbs and a red crystalline object on their heads emitting a red glow.
There were also two Honkai Beasts holding long spears and riding horses, like cavalry.
And the last two remaining held the large shields and long spears that Bella was familiar with.
"Isn't that the Templar class Honkai Beast, and two of them! And Chariot-class and Knight-class ones, Aunt Himeko, did you drink too much and make a mistake?"
Kiana's eyes widened in surprise when she saw these Honkai Beasts, and she blurted out.
She had just fought with it not long ago, and Bella was even chased by this thing at that time. How could it be used for assessment now?
Bella: No, no, I didn't.
Everyone also reacted.
Among them, Raiden Mei anxiously said, "Yes, Teacher Himeko, an Emperor Class Honkai Beast is the standard for an A-rank Valkyrie assessment. Plus many other ones, at least an A-rank Valkyrie squad is needed to defeat them. Are you sure this is not a mistake? Please cancel the assessment quickly!"
Only Theresa glanced at Himeko thoughtfully, but said nothing, continuing to turn her head to look at Bella, who was confronting the Honkai Beasts in the center of the platform.
Grabbing the white-haired girl next to her, Himeko bent her index fingers, gritting her teeth: "First of all, I'm not old, don't call me aunt."
Ignoring Kiana, who was screaming 'pain' 'pain' 'my head is going to burst' and struggling desperately in her hands.
Himeko continued her movements while raising her chin towards Bella: "Moreover, how do you know Bella can't handle it?"
Hearing Himeko's words, Raiden Mei and the others quickly looked towards Bella.
They found that while they were talking, Bella had already dealt with two Diving-class Honkai Beasts.
On the platform, Bella faced the remaining eight Honkai Beasts expressionlessly, with faint traces of blood at the corners of her mouth that were hard to notice if not looked at carefully.
"Eight more," Bella murmured, seemingly not hearing the conversation between Himeko and the others not far away.
Time rewinded to five minutes ago.
As Himeko's voice fell, Bella looked at the 10 Honkai Beasts in front of her, as well as the two similar Honkai Beasts she had encountered in Siberia, and her first reaction was that her identity had been exposed.
Or rather, although Kiana and the others might not have noticed, Himeko and Theresa definitely did.
Her previous blow was not, as Bronya said, an unconscious use of Honkai energy to strengthen her body, but rather she delivered that blow purely with her physical body.
And seeing how Himeko was now testing her strength, that blow of hers must have gone beyond the normal range, so much so that they began to suspect her origin.
She just didn't know how much they had guessed.
Although she didn't know why Theresa and Himeko didn't directly take her down on the spot, Bella knew this was her last chance to escape.
However, for some reason, even though it seemed like a moment of life and death for her.
Bella felt a little lost. She seemed to not want to fight Theresa and the others.
And she, it seemed.
Couldn't bear to leave.
Couldn't bear to leave Kiana, who happily pulled her into St. Freya; couldn't bear to leave Mei, who had prepared dinner and gently waited for her return; couldn't bear to leave everyone who celebrated her recovery in the dormitory.
Even though they had only been together for a few days, even though they were strangers before, even though it was just…
For some reason, images of her time with everyone suddenly flashed through Bella's mind.
There was Kiana's handsome kick when she saved her, Bronya's expressionless reply even after hearing her awkward greeting, and Mei setting out the dishes and gently looking at her.
Scene after scene of her time with everyone flashed through Bella's mind, finally converging into the expectant gaze of everyone raising their hands and shouting "Cheers" while celebrating Bella's recovery.
Bella realized that she really couldn't bear to leave.
Bella stood still, and at some point, her lips had been bitten through without her noticing.
What to do, reveal her true form and escape?
Or, continue to try and conceal it from them?
Recalling Himeko's meaningful gaze before the test.
In fact, Bella knew that there was another answer in her heart, but…
"Should I trust them…?"
[Ding, system task released]
[Task: Trust]
[Task Description: Facing the choice after your identity is exposed, you choose]
[1. Revert to your true form and escape. Task reward: Full recovery of all injuries]
[2. Continue to conceal your identity from everyone. Task reward: Provide methods to continue concealing your identity]
[3. Follow your heart. Task reward: Unknown]
Bella smiled slightly. She seemed to know what she should choose.