The story of the black silk female knight

"That's it..."

Valensa squinted and pondered for a few seconds, then chuckled softly:

"Since that's the case, how about we make a bet? I won't say top two, as long as you can get into the top three in this test, I'll promise you one thing... Of course, it can't be too much, like licking your feet or barking like a puppy, that's impossible."

"Huh? Is my big sister going to give me a reward? Yay! Yay!"

Thousand-leaf Grass did not refuse. She spun around twice and then pulled Meludil, who was whispering to Giluhari not far away, over to be her witness.

Melody, of course, wouldn't refuse something so fun, and readily agreed with a smile.

"That's right, that's right."

After receiving a satisfactory answer, Thousand Leaf Grass boasted to Melody again:

How did you do on your test this time? Are you confident you can get into the top five?

"Well..."

Melody smiled shyly, but her voice was confident as she answered, the rhinestones on her alluring white bodysuit sparkling brilliantly.

"I think I'll be number one... at most someone will tie with me."

Valensa & Thousand Leaf Grass: "?"

Chapter 156 Someone Can't Sleep Tonight

It should be number one, or at most someone might be tied?

Good heavens, that's some serious confidence! Could they be planning a massacre?

Valensa looked at Melody strangely, while Thousand Leaf Grass also opened its small mouth, unable to close it for a long time, as if it were holding an invisible egg in its mouth.

Both of them were very curious about what Melody had done, but Melody just smiled shyly and refused to say anything about her behavior in the illusionary city, only saying that they would find out tomorrow.

Valensa was fine; she's always good at adjusting her mindset and wasn't tormented by curiosity, sleeping soundly at night.

Chiba was different; she tossed and turned in bed all night, her mind filled with Melody, and inevitably ended up with dark circles under her eyes the next morning.

"It's all your fault. You kept me in suspense and made me not sleep well all night."

The next morning in the dormitory cafeteria, faced with Melody's joke, Chiba rolled her eyes in annoyance:

"You big-breasted women are all wicked!"

Amidst their noisy bickering, several girls arrived at the classroom together, waiting for class to begin.

Everyone is quite curious about the results of this three-day illusion test.

"These are the top five in the test."

Hugh didn't announce the results directly, but instead took out five magic crystals:

"Their actions in the illusion city are all recorded here. Next, I will start showing you the projection records from the fifth place and use these projection records as case studies to explain and analyze them."

Of course, not all of the three days' worth of recordings will be played; I will edit and fast-forward appropriately.

Yay, let's watch a movie!

Valensa sat up straight with great interest, while Thousand Leaf Grass stared wide-eyed at the five magic crystals, seemingly trying to guess which one was hers.

After a brief explanation, Hugh didn't waste any more time and picked up one of the five magic crystals.

"First up is fifth place, Ryan."

Hugh glanced approvingly at the descendant of the sword saint and then activated the magic crystal.

Everyone's eyes were also drawn to Ryan at that moment. Ryan himself was quite calm, showing neither joy nor frustration at his fifth-place finish, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

As the magic crystal began to operate, a magical projection about two meters in diameter appeared in front of the classroom.

Just like the most popular martial arts action movie, the projection begins with an intense battle, with hundreds of fully armed guards besieging one person.

It was Ryan.

He fully demonstrated to everyone what it means to be a descendant of a sword saint. A seemingly ordinary longsword in his hand was like a divine weapon, moving like lightning and illusion. Every strike could kill a person with minimal effort.

To the astonishment of the entire elite corps' first-year students, more than thirty in total, Ryan's battle lasted for three whole days.

It started with the guards, then the city defense army, then the nobles' private soldiers and adventurers, and finally the unlucky ordinary people.

In the past three days, Ryan didn't engage in any fancy schemes or tricks in the Illusion City. He just used his sword to cut down almost all the armed personnel in the Illusion City.

I can't do it, I really can't.

The students shook their heads in disbelief... Because the difficulty of the illusionary city was very low, the strongest person in the city was only at the Candlelight level. It was no problem for them to go on a rampage and kill most people in the city.

However, such high-intensity continuous fighting for three days is not enough; in fact, many people cannot even last half a day before they are exhausted.

Valensa didn't think she could last that long, so while watching the magical projection, she carefully observed Ryan's movements, even using her enhanced senses.

There were some gains, but not many.

Valensa was still somewhat confused about what exactly happened; she could only roughly tell that Ryan had used an extremely sophisticated technique.

"Is this the secret technique of your Sword Saint lineage, Ryan?"

With an approving smile, Valensa looked at Ryan:

"That's amazing!"

"Valenza, you flatter me. Actually, it's not a secret."

Ryan smiled calmly, displaying the demeanor of a master:

"Attack the most fatal weakness with the least effort, while adjusting your breathing to allow yourself to recover a small amount of energy between each movement, that's all."

It sounds difficult, but with enough training, it becomes second nature; it's something that can be achieved through hard work... it's considered a fundamental skill for our family."

So your family is the real Sword Saint family!

You managed to fool me.

Valensa was inwardly cursing, but could only continue to smile outwardly.

Just then, the magic projection, which was already nearing its end, also officially ended.

"……how to say."

After carefully putting away Ryan's magic crystal, Hugh's tone was somewhat complicated:

"To be honest, even I didn't expect that someone could get into the top five in this way... But this is also the most unsolvable situation among all the situations we will face in the future."

The enemy possesses overwhelming strength. Even if we risk our lives and use every means at our disposal, we cannot even delay their advance to buy them time.

Overwhelming combat power is the simplest, most brutal, and most effective form of reveler-level crime.

Such incidents are rare, but not unheard of... Most occur in relatively peaceful, remote villages and towns. These villages and towns lack skilled fighters, and often, a single Star Rank or even a Beacon Rank fighter, if they were to go on a rampage and kill indiscriminately, could create a large-scale tragedy, leaving no survivors.

"..."

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

After a long pause, a boy whose attire was somewhat unfashionable finally raised his hand:

"So what should we do if we encounter this situation, Professor Hugh? Should we be like those guards and city defense soldiers in the projection just now, knowing we are no match for them but still remaining loyal to the kingdom?"

"……Do not."

Hugh shook his head, his expression suddenly becoming very serious:

"Even when facing an invincible enemy, one must draw one's sword and charge forward. This is the bravery required of ordinary soldiers, but you, the vanguard, have an even greater responsibility in such circumstances..."

Hugh didn't give the answer directly, but instead scanned the classroom before finally fixing her gaze on Valensa:

"Top student, what do you think? As a top student who has been praised by many teachers as the most talented elite student in a century, what would you do if you were in this situation?"

"My first priority is to survive."

Valensa answered without the slightest hesitation:

"If I have the chance, I will also observe the enemy as much as possible to confirm his strongest fighting style and his possible weaknesses, so as to gather intelligence for future victories."

"Wise judgment."

Hugh nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the boy who had just asked the question:

"Do you understand? As a vanguard, courage is certainly necessary, but wisdom and a sense of the big picture are even more important."

Often, for the sake of tactical or even wartime victory, we must endure crushing defeats in battle.

Chapter 157, Top Student, what do you think?

A sense of the big picture...

Hugh's words left everyone thoughtful.

As tactical units that often operate alone or in small groups, scouts have a high degree of autonomy in making decisions on the battlefield.

In this situation, a holistic perspective is indeed very important.

The success or failure of a war is often determined by the details of each battle, and often the victory in a local battle does not bring an advantage to the war, and vice versa.

For example, sometimes an unplanned surprise attack might annihilate a small group of enemies, but it could also startle the majority of the enemy's main force, causing them to change their route and avoid the ambush.

Sometimes, repeated failures in local battles are actually a way to probe the enemy and gather intelligence, so that the enemy can be fully prepared to be defeated in one fell swoop.

After giving everyone a moment to process the insights they gained from Ryan, Hugh picked up another magic crystal and activated it:

"Next up is fourth place, Heleman."

All eyes turned to a handsome red-haired boy by the window, and Harry, who was sitting in front of him, turned around and gave him a high five to congratulate him.

Valensa was also familiar with the red-haired boy; he was a new friend Harry made after entering the academy, and they had chatted together a few times during breaks.

Heleman is also an elemental mage, and his strength in all aspects is similar to Harry's. The two often compete in cultivation together, and they are both friends and rivals.

Unlike Harry, who is proficient in fire, ice, and wind magic, Heleman specializes in fire magic and has a deep understanding of how to set fires most efficiently. He also knows some wind magic, all of which are used to support his fire magic.

Therefore, before the projection of the magic crystal was fully generated, most students had already guessed what would happen in Heleman's virtual city.

really.

The first thing you see in the projection is flames, as if the whole city is on fire, with people shouting and crying all around.

The virtual city in the illusion is similar to the capital of Fran in this respect. Whether they are commoners or nobles, most of the houses they live in are made of wood, which is very vulnerable to fire.

Heleman took his arsonist talent to the extreme, setting fires all over the virtual city and constantly using wind magic to spread the flames. In the end, almost half of the city was burning, and it burned all night long.

Countless people turned into bubbles in the flames, and many more died from smoke inhalation.

The number of people killed by Heleman in that one night was more than the number of people killed by Ryan in three days of non-stop hacking.

Unfortunately, Heleman's stamina was lacking. On the second day, he was unable to continue setting fires due to excessive magic consumption and was hunted down by the virtual city's security forces. He spent the next two days on the run.

The projection replay of the fourth place finisher has now ended.

"It's quite a coincidence... I didn't arrange it specifically, but the methods of your top five are all quite representative."

Hugh chuckled as he carefully put away the magic crystal, and at the same time summarized the case of Heleman:

"Fire can be said to be the starting point of human civilization, and it has also been a common disaster that has caused various losses to humankind since the beginning. Humankind has had no shortage of wits and courage to fight against fire."

In the Kingdom of Fran today, almost every town is garrisoned by a water-based mage. While they may not be very good at other spells, they are extremely skilled at rainmaking, which they use specifically to combat fires.

Most fires caused by accidents or arson by ordinary people are no match for these professional fire-fighting magicians... In most cases, the first sparks are extinguished by a torrential downpour brought by the rain spell.

But just like Heleman, there are always some geniuses among humans who have studied how to set fires efficiently and are the main force in the battlefield to infiltrate behind enemy lines and disrupt the supply and transport of wild beasts and provisions.

Unfortunately, not everyone uses their talents to benefit society, such as revelers who are often mentally unstable and harm others without benefiting themselves.

You've probably all heard of Firestone the Reveler. He's currently the most insane and vicious arsonist on the continent of Frenoia, having reduced nearly half a city and more than ten villages to ashes.

Based on the information currently available, Huoshi is not only a Star-level mage specializing in fire magic, but also a very powerful alchemist.

He developed a soft solid that is a highly efficient combustion accelerant that can engulf large blocks of streets in flames in the blink of an eye. It can also make flames impervious to water and even cause them to explode upon contact with water, resulting in even greater destruction.

So here's the question... if you encountered a dangerous arsonist like Flintstone, what would you do to stop the fire?

How do you control a fire that can instantly engulf a city block and is impervious to water...?

This question seemed quite difficult, and the students were all frowning in thought, the classroom falling silent for a moment.

Hugh squinted and waited for a few minutes. Seeing that no one answered, he called on Valensa again: