The progress in defeating the Bright Knight - Excelsis was relatively slow.
After all, Luo Lin and Himeko currently lacked good equipment and were being beaten by the enigmatic Durandal, who wore the Excelsis armor.
After several days of continuous attempts, the only time they had a glimmer of hope was when Himeko equipped herself with remote explosives, started the battle by throwing them at Durandal's face.
With a loud explosion, the Bright Knight was thrown backward, only stopping herself by plunging her spear into the ground.
Then?
Durandal demonstrated why her armor was called the prototype fourth-generation Valkyrie Godsbane armor:
"Awaken, defender of glory!"
Blue propulsion lights burst from Durandal's skirt armor, allowing her to float in midair. Two gigantic phantom spirits emerged from the void, one holding a sword and the other holding a shield, guarding on either side of the golden-haired knight.
What followed was a brutal three-on-two battle... No, it was three-on-one because Luo Lin was once again instantly killed by some unknown AOE attack.
Perhaps it was the Excelsis's thrown spear? Or maybe it was the whirlwind that swept through the outer circle when she activated her ultimate?
Regardless, whenever they fought the Bright Knight, Luo Lin always ended up being the first to die.
After her second transformation, Durandal remained airborne the entire time. However, the good news was that she didn't float as high as Valkyrie Accipiter's aerial comboes, barely qualifying as engaging in ground combat.
But this still required Himeko to expend extra effort to deal with the airborne knight. Coupled with the two phantoms ganging up on her, Himeko barely managed to hold on.
Although she found an opportunity to counterattack and destroyed both summoned phantoms, she ultimately failed due to exhaustion.
"It was so close... When I chopped down that phantom, it didn't seem like its something made by Shicksal's weapon departments... I was startled when I did it..."
"The weakening of this C-grade Bright Knight, Excelsis, is really severe. We actually have a good chance of defeating her..."
After coming out, Himeko couldn't help but sigh, "Luo Lin, you have to figure out a way to get us some better equipment, at least to increase our survival time..."
"I want to... but don't I have no crystals now?"
The girl looked at the wide variety of equipment in the shop, then looked at her nearly empty wallet, and then looked at the rankings in the Infinity Abyss and Memory Battlefield...
Ranking retention in Abyss: 2nd floor.
Arena ranking: 87%.
Luo Lin could easily calculate how meager her settlement rewards were, and the road to saving crystals was still long...
"Sigh, let's end today's class here... Remember to review when you go back." Himeko waved her hand. "If Bianka has any questions she doesn't understand, remember to ask Luo Lin. If she can't figure it out either, then wait until next time I come to class to get your answers."
"Okay."
Luo Lin's consciousness floated up from the system space and returned to her body. She opened her eyes, and another beautiful day began.
"Let me think, my class today is in the morning... Ragnar's class is also in the morning, so it looks like I can't help her out."
The orphanage had a considerable number of children, and with France advocating small-class education, they even split up into several classes. Luo Lin and Ragnar could only take care of one class each—however, this also slightly reduced Luo Lin's pressure, as she faced fewer troublemakers at the same time, making teaching easier.
Luo Lin tidied up the tools needed for today's handicraft class, such as scissors, glue, and colored cardstock. She put them all into a large box, ready to take them all at once later.
During breakfast, Luo Lin received a warm welcome from the children. They were enthusiastic and surrounded her, asking what fun toys they would make in the next class.
"Some things lose their surprise if you say them in advance, you know?"
Luo Lin smiled and comforted the children. But based on her previous experience teaching them, the final product would probably have a rough appearance at best. Most of it would be the children freely expressing their imagination, resulting in works full of artistic cells.
Odd shapes, probably classified as abstract art.
The children couldn't accept this explanation and started pestering her. Sister Arianna rushed over to help her out, leading the children away. Luo Lin could see the children's disappointed and sad faces as they left.
But she was a cunning adult and wouldn't yield to children in a place like this—this was also part of education.
Seeing Luo Lin unaffected, the children put away their grievances and, in the following time, watched her every move closely:
"The heartless old witch is having breakfast!"
"The bad woman has already eaten three bowls of porridge!"
"The big eater has gone back to her room!"
"The teacher is coming out with the materials for handicraft class!"
"The teacher is in the corridor!"
"Our beloved teacher Luo Lin has arrived at her faithful classroom!"
Luo Lin placed the box containing the materials on the lectern, loudly said, "Hey hey hey! Do you think I don't know that you're making up stories about me? I've heard them all, you know?"
The children immediately quieted down, evidently finding Luo Lin quite intimidating as a teacher.
"Okay, you're quiet very quickly. I would hope you'll be as quiet when you're doing handicrafts later... but, oh well! I'm an adult with patience, so I'll turn a blind eye later—but remember! Don't be too loud. If you disturb the other students in neighboring classes, I'll get angry!"
The children cheered, and Luo Lin nodded satisfactorily, starting to distribute tools and materials.
"Alright, does everyone have everything they need? Watch me demonstrate the steps first, and then you can follow along with me, okay?"
"Okay!"
In the somewhat noisy classroom, various ingenious ideas began to emerge.
---
As the sun set, Luo Lin sat outside the orphanage in the corridor connecting the different buildings.
The corridor she sat in wasn't enclosed by walls, and the gentle breeze passed through it. What was surprising was that despite the surrounding trees and grassland, there were almost no annoying insects.
Especially mosquitoes—Luo Lin hadn't seen a single one during her time at the orphanage. She wasn't sure if it was due to some special insect repellent device or medication provided by Schicksal.
After spending the whole afternoon recharging her brain, Luo Lin's stomach growled with hunger. She stretched lazily, closed her textbook, and lazily headed towards the cafeteria.
Days like this, aside from attending classes, were spent eating, drinking, sleeping, and studying, making her feel quite content.
As she walked, Luo Lin saw two people approaching the gate of the orphanage. One of them was Arianna, the nun who had welcomed her before. She had a tour guide's appearance, leading the person behind her into the orphanage.
Who could it be? It feels somewhat familiar...
The newcomer was dressed in a sleek suit, with a thin ponytail tied back. As they walked, the upper half of their body remained almost motionless, their keen eyes scanning the surroundings. Just being scanned by those eyes made Luo Lin nervous.
This was someone she knew, someone with a close relationship.
"Fu Hua?!"
Rubbing her eyes, Luo Lin felt like she was hallucinating.
Indeed, Fu Hua, dressed in a formal suit, inexplicably appeared at the orphanage, following Sister Arianna inside.
Why would she come here?