Let's Spar

Kiana and the others had been training for a long time now. The trio was starting to resemble their game counterparts.

Except Bronya, who was quite different.

Bad news: No Heavy Armor Bunny [Bronya's signature mech] and no leg armor.

Good news: Bronya could laugh, cry, run, and jump. This appearance purely stemmed from her "naughty" personality.

For a moment, Shu wasn't sure if this was good news or bad news, but personally, he thought it was good news.

"Remember to go easy on them. They're still just beginners. It wouldn't be good to discourage them," Himeko said to Shu before heading into a passage.

Shu looked at himself—skinny arms and legs—then glanced at Quinn standing nearby, seemingly spacing out. Quinn's single mechanical arm was as thick as Shu's entire body…

Who exactly needed to hold back here?

Shu resignedly entered the elevator, preparing to head to basement level 11 to accept the Titan unit's challenge.

"Mei~ I'm so sleepy~" As soon as the door opened, Shu heard a wail from the soul.

Sure enough, Shu immediately spotted a white-haired furball clinging to Mei, pleading like a boneless creature.

"Kiana, we start the mission the day after tomorrow. We can't slack off anymore," Mei pulled Kiana, her tone gentle, but the content made Kiana feel like the world wasn't beautiful at all.

How could a world that didn't even allow sleeping in be called beautiful!

Bronya stood nearby with drooping eyelids, a hint of inexplicable resentment in her eyes.

She didn't want to stay in this team for another second. She needed to start the 'Pioneer Plan' immediately and then go find Seele at Cocolia's Orphanage!

Bronya had already re-established contact with Cocolia through [Spark]. Cocolia was quite shocked that Bronya had joined the Fire Moth.

But at the same time, she was very relieved.

The Fire Moth's "strength" had been demonstrated to everyone. Under the Fire Moth's protection, Bronya wouldn't be in danger anymore.

Cocolia believed Bronya had the ability to establish herself within the Fire Moth, perhaps even thrive within the entire organization.

Bronya had also told Cocolia that she had joined a Fire Moth action squad and was now a member.

Cocolia's assumption: Bronya passed the Fire Moth's rigorous assessments through her own abilities but was assigned to a more peripheral team due to her age.

The reality…

Well, at least Cocolia was relieved!

Bronya didn't dare say she was actually on the front line, and the only front-line team at that.

A front-line team meant directly confronting those things called Herrschers.

Mama Cocolia and everyone at the orphanage would worry about her! Maybe the next chat would involve Sin Mal yelling three curses a second at her through the screen!

It was better to wait until they met in person to tell everyone she now had the ability to protect herself.

"Shu, good morning." Mei, currently wrestling with Kiana, saw Shu arrive and freed a hand from Kiana's grasp to greet him.

Shu smiled in response, then greeted Bronya and Kiana with a "good morning" as if it were the most normal thing.

Kiana was basically like this every morning. She hadn't seen Mei's stern side yet, so naturally, she clung to Mei without fear.

To put it bluntly, Kiana needed Mei to let her go hungry twice; she was spoiled.

"Morning..." Kiana's eyes were still closed as she greeted Shu sleepily. "Why are you at the training ground so early today?"

"Came to practice with Himeko and the others," Shu replied with a smile, starting to stretch and get himself ready.

Warming up required focus, after all.

Besides, due to the unique mode of his [Wish], if he didn't take it seriously while limiting his [Hope], he could genuinely mess up.

"Oh..." Kiana nodded, continuing to hang onto Mei with half-closed eyes.

"Hm?" Kiana suddenly realized something. She finally opened her sky-blue eyes and looked at Shu. "What did you say?"

"I said, I'm here to fight," Shu did a big backbend, feeling a wave of soreness.

Tsk… Never felt my body being this out of shape so clearly. Maybe I should ask Otto to get me some glasses after all…

"Seriously?" Kiana finally detached herself from Mei, her eyes shining as she approached Shu. "Sealed away for two months, are you finally making a comeback?!"

Shu: "…"

"Mei, did she stay up late reading novels again?" Shu turned his head expressionlessly to Mei and asked.

Mei gave a slightly awkward laugh.

She shared a dorm with Kiana; how could she not know what Kiana was doing under the covers at night?

Bronya: "…"

She was also in that dorm… It was supposed to be a four-person dorm, but Shu happened to be male… A world where only she suffered was achieved…

Seele, Bronya misses you.

"Hehe… If I don't read now, I won't have the chance later…" Kiana mumbled, neither righteously nor confidently, then seemed to remember something and pulled Shu over.

"Right! I read a book last night, what was it called… Magical Homu Index [likely a parody of A Certain Magical Index]! There was a really touching scene!"

Shu's eye twitched. Mei raised her hand as if to say something, but it just froze there. Bronya facepalmed and sighed.

None of the three heard what Kiana said.

They only caught something about "crying and making a fuss"…

The training ground door opened at that moment. A fiery red Titan mech entered, followed by several silver Titan mechs.

Kiana instantly sprang away from Shu.

"Wow! It's Aunt Himeko's Blood Rose!" Kiana looked enviously at the mechs following Himeko. "Speaking of which, are they here to train too?"

Besides Himeko, there were five people capable of piloting Titan mechs, and Kiana wasn't one of them.

Bronya was the designated Titan pilot in the Pioneer Squad.

Shu's eye twitched again.

So you didn't hear a single word I said earlier…

Shu felt his team members might be a bit dense… especially now that he himself felt less dense.

"Kiana, Shu is going to train with Instructor Himeko and the others."

"Seriously?!" Kiana's eyes widened.

"Watch carefully," Shu smiled helplessly, patted her shoulder, and walked past her.

"See what the correct way to use novels looks like," Shu stood before the mechs with one hand behind his back, smiling at Kiana.