The exam had begun, and Chen Tiannuo found it laughably simple—probably around the difficulty of a midterm from junior high. Just some light memorization and you could easily rack up points; barely any analysis required.
The written portion? Handled with ease.
"Kiana, how'd the written exam go?" Chen Tiannuo asked out of curiosity.
"Easy-peasy!" Kiana replied with confidence.
"Really?" Chen Tiannuo was skeptical. After all, Kiana didn't earn the nickname Baka Tuna for nothing.
"What about you two, Mei, Bronya?" He didn't press Kiana further—after all, she hadn't had proper schooling when she was younger. Unlike him, who had at least worked his way into college back on Earth. His study skills weren't bad.
"Hmm, I thought it was pretty simple." Mei, being a refined young lady, naturally excelled at academics.
"Bronya had no difficulty," Bronya replied flatly.
"Bronya, that device I mentioned isn't fully calibrated yet, but once it's ready, it should be able to repair your body. It's still in the testing phase, but we're close." Chen Tiannuo said, a bit pained seeing Bronya's stoic expression.
"Mm. Understood." Though her face remained blank, her eyes sparkled faintly.
"Alright, let's head to the practical exam."
…
"We will now begin the combat assessment. Valkyrie candidates will pair off for duels. Scores will be based on combat performance," Theresa announced. "All instructors and students, prepare yourselves."
"Looks like we're up first, Bronya. Careful now," Chen Tiannuo said with a grin.
"Bronya will not lose to you," Bronya replied seriously.
With the power of the Void at his fingertips, Chen Tiannuo had now mastered his energy control. No longer would he recklessly unleash everything at once.
Previously, it had been all brute force—great power, but poor sustainability. Once his energy ran dry, recovery was painfully slow. Now? He could fight and recover simultaneously, with far greater endurance. (Using all of it requires a full minute to begin medium-speed recovery. Using partial energy and stopping for three seconds triggers rapid recovery. Recovery based on energy cap.)
"Project Bunny 19C—fire." Bronya launched missiles at him the moment he spaced out.
"Tsk tsk tsk, not playing fair, huh?" Chen Tiannuo bantered as he Void-jumped in front of her. "You do know I can blink, right?"
He swung a punch, Void Energy coating his fist, aiming straight for her abdomen.
Boom. Bronya's Project Bunny blocked the blow, retaliating by firing several more missiles at close range.
"Tch." As a high-attack, low-defense assassin type, Chen Tiannuo couldn't tank those easily. He could block with Void Energy, but the blast's concussive force would throw off his balance, forcing him to relocate again.
Bronya launched tracking missiles next, following up with a laser assault from Heavy Bunny's arm cannons.
Chen Tiannuo kept jumping through the Void. Tch, once my Warframe's finished, I'll be a high-attack, high-defense beast.
Hmm… weapons overheated? My turn then. Rather than teleport in front of her, he blinked above her head.
Easily bypassing Project Bunny's defenses, he chopped the back of Bronya's neck with a hand strike. Void energy surged into her, knocking her out cold.
"Even if you knew I'm an assassin, you still couldn't stop me." Chen Tiannuo caught her as she fell, glancing at the fading image of Project Bunny. "Tch."
He carried her to the infirmary and gently placed her on the bed.
"Principal, I'll be skipping the rest of the assessments," Chen Tiannuo said. He planned to finally complete his Amp. Theresa had told him a week ago that the Foundry was finished and ready for use in Lab 3. "Time to go build something."
"Oh, alright." Theresa didn't object. He had already passed—no need to push it further.
…
At Lab 3, a small Foundry sat at the center. It looked modest, but for Chen Tiannuo, who was used to the Orbiter's equipment, it didn't seem particularly small.
The Foundry interface showed it was in the final phase of constructing the Mote Amp, the most basic type—simple, functional, and mass-produced. It couldn't match a customized Amp, but it would do for now.
Only a minute remained.
As the countdown ended, the glowing Amp materialized, transitioning from pure energy into physical form. Chen Tiannuo grabbed it, visibly excited, and installed it onto his arm.
"Whoa! Looks pretty slick." Chen Tiannuo grinned. The Amp could be hidden within the Void around his body, but he chose to keep it visible, showing it off as he walked toward the testing grounds.
"Principal, I finished building my weapon. Wanna see what it can do?" Chen Tiannuo displayed the Amp on his arm with a proud smirk. "Even if it's just a mass-produced unit, don't underestimate its power."
"Huh? So that's what you needed those materials for?" Theresa looked at him, unimpressed. "It doesn't even look like a weapon."
"Ah, now don't go judging by appearances. This Amp enhances my Void Ray attacks. It's powerful—but wasn't very agile before." Chen Tiannuo explained the mechanics openly. After all, they wouldn't be able to use it even if they understood it.
"Is that so." Theresa eyed the device thoughtfully. "For testing, head to the training room later."
"Training room? Sure." Chen Tiannuo accepted without hesitation. He'd been wanting to spar with Theresa for a while—after all, she was the strongest person at the academy he knew of. It'd be a good benchmark.
He made his way straight to the training room to get familiar with the Amp.
Half a day later, the exam was officially over.
Theresa announced the conclusion and stated that results would be posted in two days.
"Alright, let's go to the training room." She led Himeko and the others. "Chen Tiannuo's waiting for us there."
"Huh? Training room? What's Chen Tiannuo doing there? Can we come too?" Kiana asked excitedly.
"If you're curious, come along."
"Mei, let's go!" Kiana grabbed Mei's hand and rushed after Theresa.
…
Inside the training room, Chen Tiannuo was testing the Amp's base stats.
A full charge gave him 100 energy units. It consumed 6 units per second, could hit enemies up to 20 meters away, and dealt 240 damage per second. Once firing stopped, energy recovery began immediately at a rate of 30 units per second.
"Tsk tsk tsk, not bad at all—just lacks burst damage," Chen Tiannuo muttered. Still, he was satisfied. For a mass-production unit, this wasn't bad at all.