"The problem is, I don't think I've mastered the Valkyrie courses either..." Luo Lin lay on the floor of the system space, muttering helplessly.
A shadow gradually fell over her—Murata Himeko leaned down looking at Luo Lin lying in front of her, somewhat speechless. "Why are you lying down like this?"
"Just taking a little rest... I feel this position helps me relax..." Murata Himeko's assist cooldown had just finished, and Luo Lin couldn't wait to call her over.
This time, when Himeko was summoned, she was in a good state and not having drunk any alcohol yet. Or rather, she was just about to drink but hadn't managed to take a sip yet.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Murata Himeko put down the beer can in her hand and chuckled, "Um, Luo Lin, right? Hello..."
"Teacher Himeko, don't you have any other hobbies besides drinking? Do you really have no other thoughts besides drinking?" Luo Lin asked, "Seriously, nothing else comes to mind besides drinking?"
"Uh, attending banquets?" Himeko said somewhat nervously.
Luo Lin mercilessly pierced through the lie, "You mean looking for a boyfriend, right?"
"What do you mean looking for a boyfriend, can you say that... You're already a graduated Valkyrie working, and you understand our situation," Himeko said with a broken expression, sitting cross-legged on the floor and opening the beer can with a pop. She looked at the white foam emerging and was about to take a sip when she suddenly realized.
"Wait a minute, am I not dreaming right now?"
Looking around, the empty system space awakened her memories. This magical space couldn't take her back with these magical experiences; in reality, she was still living a regular teaching life in Saint Freya.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then set the beer aside and waved to Luo Lin.
"Come over here, next to me."
Luo Lin was puzzled but still came to Murata Himeko's side, squatting halfway on the ground.
Himeko could feel the steady breath of the young girl in her logistics Valkyrie uniform. She reached out and rubbed the girl's head, feeling the slightly dry and messy texture of her short hair. Luo Lin stared at Himeko in confusion, as if trying to figure out what she was doing.
Then, Murata Himeko used her other hand to give herself a hard pinch on the thigh, feeling the pain clearly transmitting to her brain, making her realize that this wasn't her absurd dream.
"Oh, I remember now..." Himeko stopped rubbing Luo Lin's head and pressed down a little harder on the girl's head, elongating her voice, "Luo Lin... um... I remember I asked you to review some things before I left, right?"
"Yes." Luo Lin felt the pressure from above and swallowed nervously.
Himeko narrowed her eyes, patted the girl's shoulder, and said, "Bring out the teaching materials... I want to check how well you've studied."
Already entering teacher mode so quickly?!
Luo Lin, with a mix of joy and sadness, handed the textbooks and equipment to Murata Himeko, watching as she quickly produced a new notebook, then smiled and handed it back to her.
"Come on, ten minutes."
Soon, Luo Lin was once again submerged in the ocean of questions—compared to last time, the questions this time were more concentrated in terms of knowledge points, and they were all extensions or variations of what Himeko had taught in the previous class, with no original questions.
Thanks to Luo Lin's diligent review of the textbook after returning and consulting Ragnar on some questions, she didn't falter when faced with this set of difficult test papers but pushed through them with difficulty.
Seeing Luo Lin wracking her brains, Himeko chuckled.
Ten minutes passed quickly, and Luo Lin looked like she had burned herself out, handing the test paper back to the marking teacher. Himeko almost immediately gave her the score, with several glaring red marks making Luo Lin blush.
Murata Himeko explained the mistakes seriously, "Although in practical combat, people often say we should adapt to the situation, it's undeniable that the experiences summarized by our predecessors can help us adapt more quickly... Here I can still warn you of your mistakes with red marks, but on the battlefield, the consequences won't be as simple as criticism..."
"Between life and death, Luo Lin, not to mention... your mistakes won't necessarily be borne by you alone, but also by your teammates, your superiors, and those innocent civilians..." Himeko said, "By then, it'll be too late to regret..."
"Mm."
---
Once again, the Herrscher of the Void summoned her loyal Templar-class Honkai Beast, but this time she only managed to summon one, as the other was shattered into pieces by Luo Lin and Himeko while it was still in its spear form, leaving the summoned Honkai Beast with injuries and in a poor state.
Himeko shattered the shield of the Templar-class Honkai Beast with her Sunfire greatsword, then decisively withdrew. The Honkai Beast wildly swung its spear and roared, but was struck in the head by something—that was a grenade thrown by Luo Lin.
"Boom!"
The Honkai Beast was torn apart, and the smoke from the grenade explosion blocked the Herrscher of the Void's view.
"Dadada!"
Luo Lin quickly moved her gun, bullets covering the area around the Herrscher of the Void. Several unclosed portals were hit, shrinking into a dot in a distortion. The Herrscher of the Void, with a frown, couldn't evade the subsequent bullets, and when she solidified again, her expression was grim, filled with displeasure.
So she clenched her hand, and a golden cube appeared next to Luo Lin. The familiar spatial field enveloped the Valkyrie, surrounded by densely packed portals. The spear tip of the Subspace Lance merged, but Luo Lin smiled.
The next moment, Murata Himeko broke through the remaining smoke, radiating heat with her sword pointing directly at the Herrscher.
The Herrscher of the Void's face stiffened; she had already targeted most of her resources at Luo Lin, and with her spatial phase ability just used, she couldn't enter the void space again to evade the attack, leaving her unable to deal with the charging Murata Himeko for a while.
Reluctantly, she raised her hand, using her Honkai energy to forcibly create a shield. When the shield collided with the sword, it shattered after a few seconds.
However, those few seconds were enough. Himeko's attack bypassed the Herrscher of the Void's shadow—she entered the void space again and quickly teleported away from there.
"Tsk!"
Although Himeko wanted to continue the pursuit, the Herrscher of the Void wouldn't give her a second chance. Her golden cross eyes gleamed, and a continuous series of attacks made Murata Himeko stay in place, watching as her opponent filled the sky with teleport portals.
The teacher from Saint Freya turned her head and saw Luo Lin, who had already been severely wounded by the previous attacks, kneeling on the ground, covered in blood, using her still-moving hand to pull the trigger, attracting the Herrscher of the Void's attention.
"Face judgment, human!"
The light rained down, and everything returned to square one—
"It feels like only the first wave of attacks posed a threat to the Herrscher of the Void; her responses afterward were just too fast..."
Luo Lin grimaced, rubbing her stomach. That last assault was almost the closest chance she had to the Herrscher of the Void, but unfortunately, her and Himeko's equipment wasn't strong enough...
"Ah, don't expect enemies to be idiots... At least you did well in coordinating during the battle," Himeko also shook her body, clearing the residual pain from her mind.
"Too bad, if I were more proficient in Kaslana gunplay, I might have lasted longer..."
Wait a minute, did the system's assist only say it could summon one person? It didn't seem to say that, did it?
Luo Lin summoned the assist Valkyrie frame from the system, looking at the name "Bianka Ataegina" and touched it.
"Take a few minutes to rest, let's consolidate our theoretical knowledge and review what just happened...?" Himeko paused halfway through her sentence, her attention drawn by the commotion coming from Luo Lin's side.
A beam of light descended from the sky, forming a small figure on the ground.
"Sister Luo Lin! How did I do in arts and crafts class yesterday?"
"Very good, you did great!" Luo Lin praised, rubbing the girl's head, then introducing her to Himeko.
"This is Bianka Ataegina, she's my student now. Bianka, this is my teacher, Murata Himeko, come and say hello."
"Hello, Teacher Murata!" Little Bianka smiled foolishly.
"Bianka, hello... Bianka?!"
Wasn't Bianka Ataegina already grown up and a pillar of Schiksal's will, an S-rank Valkyrie? Why did she look so small here, almost like a child...
Suddenly, a possibility flashed through her mind.
Murata Himeko swallowed hard, pretending to casually ask, "Luo Lin, I think I'm a bit confused because of drinking, what year is it now?"
"What? I didn't see you drink..." Luo Lin didn't catch on, but little Bianka eagerly answered Himeko's question:
"It's summer of 2010 now, and Sister Luo Lin has been teaching us a lot of interesting things at the orphanage!"
Murata Himeko stared blankly at the girl, at the figure that only existed in her memory, and many memories surged, crashing around in her consciousness.
Captain Ragnar...
Winter 2010, the Valkyrie Assault Team encountered a sudden incident, and apart from the absent Murata Himeko, the entire army was wiped out.
It was her lifelong regret.