Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Slacking off was out of the question—on the contrary, she was brimming with enthusiasm for her work.

No one, it seemed, had anticipated a department booking training facilities so early. Even the facilities manager, responsible for unlocking the doors, was momentarily stunned to see the silver-haired girl followed by a whole retinue of students.

What was going on? Shouldn’t everyone be preoccupied with the Five-School League selections right now?

As he picked up his keys and rose, he couldn't help but ask, "Classmates, are you here to train for the Five-School League?"

"Yes," Eve replied, mistakenly thinking the teacher was verifying their identities. "We’re from the Mecha Department. Our reservation request should have already been approved."

Of course, the teacher knew they were from the Mecha Department. They were the only ones who had booked over thirty simulation rooms at this hour, and all at once. What puzzled him more was—

"Isn’t each department only allowed to send ten people to the league?" He eyed the large crowd behind her, utterly baffled. "But you’ve brought dozens here."

Jessica chimed in from nearby, "Teacher, these are all potential candidates. Our Department Chief just wants to spar with each of them individually before making the final selection."

The management teacher was speechless.

Such a rigorous selection method—he was at a loss for words.

But how was this any different from re-running the Department Chief elections? In any case, this pragmatic approach to choosing candidates was something he’d never witnessed in his decades at the First Empire Academy. If nothing else, it was certainly objective.

One by one, the locks clicked open. Jessica personally directed the students inside according to the prearranged order. She and Eve entered last. Before going in, the little princess whispered, shocked by the sheer effort this selection would demand: "If you get too tired, don’t push yourself. You can switch with me."

"Don’t worry," Eve said, rolling up her sleeves and flashing a confident smile. "I’ve got this under control. Just focus on your part of the work."

Jessica’s mouth twitched. How could someone who claimed to "have it under control" be even more unsettling than someone who didn’t?

The simulation room was, as always, a sensory overload. Deep blue data streams flashed, and when they opened their eyes again, they were inside a virtual space.

Eve created a new room and pulled all the Mecha Department students into it. The original blue space was replaced by a vast, open arena reminiscent of an ancient colosseum, and everyone gradually entered.

"Jessica has already explained the rules, right?" Eve said with a kind smile. "Don’t hold back later. Just take turns sparring with me in the order we arranged."

Liz, who was among the candidates, boldly raised her hand and asked, "Chief, when will we be notified about the selection results?"

"Today," Eve replied. "If anyone has objections to the results, you can raise them on the spot. Any other questions?"

Seeing that no one else had questions, Eve clapped her hands and signaled Jessica to begin.

Two identical advanced mechas stood at opposite ends of the circular arena, their bodies silver-white. Surrounding them were spectator seats where Jessica and the non-participating students sat to watch.

The advantage of simulated combat was the freedom to choose training grounds, mecha models, and restrictions without draining spiritual energy. Of course, the duration of training varied depending on one’s spiritual energy level.

Since the focus was on mecha piloting and application skills, Eve selected a well-known advanced mecha model famous for its versatility—a show-off model in the mecha world. As such, it heavily tested the pilot’s technical skills. If operated correctly, it could demonstrate high offensive and defensive coordination. However, if the pilot lacked skill, it could lead to embarrassing situations like pressing the wrong functions or being overwhelmed.

Just seeing which mecha Eve had chosen made some of the students nervous.

Liz mused, "The Chief really isn’t holding back."

"Isn’t that just like her?" Jessica muttered, scrolling through student profiles on her screen. "Cold and ruthless, tough on herself and others. But you have to admit, she’s very responsible."

Liz: "...Your Highness, I remember you saying just the other day that the Chief was irresponsible and completely neglected department affairs. You even said you wouldn’t give her a warm welcome when she returned."

"Am I the kind of person to hold a grudge?" Jessica sniffed. "To err is human, to forgive divine. Since she’s shown remorse, can’t I forgive her?"

Such fickleness and self-righteousness left Liz speechless, so she chose to stay quiet.

The first contestant was a third-year student with fairly proficient mecha piloting skills. They lasted about a dozen moves under Eve’s pressure before making the mistake of concentrating their mecha’s energy into the shield too early. Eve feinted and kicked them off the arena.

The moment they landed, they were teleported back to the spectator seats, and their mecha reset to its original position. The student seemed regretful, sighing and clutching their forehead over their mistake.

"What seemed like a mistake was actually a lack of combat awareness. Due to nerves, they didn’t notice that I hadn’t drawn my weapon during my first move, which is why they activated the shield prematurely," Eve sheathed her blade with a crisp motion. "But their piloting was smooth, and their controls were clean with no wasted movements. That’s good—next."

The second contestant was a first-year student. Compared to the first, their skills were somewhat rusty. In less than three moves, they mistakenly pressed the acceleration button instead of deploying their weapon and were promptly kicked off the arena.

Eve: "Skills are unrefined, and you didn’t fully utilize your abilities. Learn to integrate your strong spiritual energy into your combat rhythm—next."

The third, the fourth... Soon, five or six more students were swiftly knocked off the platform by Eve, so quickly that it felt like they’d barely stepped onto the arena before being sent packing. What they didn’t know was that Eve had been holding back to gauge their abilities.

Originally, since Eve had only appeared for one night during the Department Chief selection and Jessica had handled the rest, coupled with Eve’s subsequent repeated absences, many of them had doubts about her. But after being thoroughly beaten and receiving pointed criticism, those doubts turned into awed fear and respect.

This was the First Empire Academy—where strength spoke for itself.

It wasn’t until the tenth contestant stepped onto the arena that things changed slightly. This person’s Spiritual State was "Morning Glory," capable of emitting sound waves that directly impacted consciousness. Eve’s spiritual energy happened to be locked, so several times, under the interference of the sound waves, the contestant managed to evade.

"Huh," Jessica frowned from below. "That shouldn’t be... Eve’s resistance to such skills should be quite strong."

She still remembered when she competed against Eve for the Chief position. Even the Oath Ability of the Otto royal family had left room for resistance. What was a mere A-rank Morning Glory to Eve? It might as well be air.

"Could the Chief have restricted her own Spiritual State?" Liz guessed.

To achieve targeted training effects, simulated combat allowed for ability restrictions—come to think of it, the Chief hadn’t used her Spiritual State since the start.

The guess sounded bold, but given Eve’s consistently rigorous and fair nature, it wasn’t impossible that she had restricted her Spiritual State in advance since today was just a trial.

Both of them fell silent.

Back on the arena, despite the inherent difference in spiritual energy levels, the contestant, though possessing a unique Spiritual State Ability, wasn’t at much of an advantage and was struggling. Soon, they noticed that the duration of Eve being controlled by the sound waves was becoming increasingly consistent. Several times, she could have dodged but chose to stand still and take the hit, as if deliberately experiencing the sensation of being mentally attacked.

Contestant: "?"

For some reason, he found it somewhat unsettling.

After taking two more hits, Eve felt she had a good grasp of this Spiritual State and stopped holding back. Seizing the cooldown between sound waves, she kicked the student off the arena.

Mid-fall, the student was teleported back to the spectator seats. As he clutched his hair, awaiting the Chief’s merciless judgment, Eve on the platform remained still and didn’t immediately call for the next contestant.

After a moment, Eve chuckled lightly and piloted her mecha back to its position. "Just pass him directly. A very interesting Spiritual State Ability, and his mecha piloting is proficient. Focus on practicing combination techniques with teammates later and master the timing of ability release. He might become a trump card."

This was the first praise amid all the criticism today!

Everyone turned to look at the young student who had just been eliminated, including Jessica. She instinctively glanced down and found the tenth candidate’s name: Song Xingxing.

Song Xingxing himself was clearly surprised. He stammered, "B-but my Spiritual State is only A-rank."

A mere A-rank wasn’t particularly outstanding at school. At a place like the Five-School League, where geniuses gathered, he was afraid he’d embarrass the school and the Chief.

"Don’t worry," Eve rolled her wrist inside the cockpit. A suspended screen displayed the interior of the cockpit, and her beautiful face turned toward it with a radiant smile. "Your potential is greater than you think. Since I’m the one sending you, even if something goes wrong, I’ll be there to take responsibility. Don’t undervalue yourself."

Besides, it was just a league match. Even if they lost, so what?

Life had a higher tolerance for error than one might think. Only these kids still in school would act like the sky was falling after losing one match.

Song Xingxing was stunned, then blushed and lowered his head. The surrounding students cast him looks of envy and jealousy.

This guy just got a few extra moves in against the Chief because of his unique Spiritual State Ability? And he even got personal reassurance from the Chief... So jealous.

The next student up was also someone familiar—brown curly hair, delicate makeup, yet smooth and practiced climbing into the mecha. Who else could it be but Liz?

Eve gave an interested "Oh?" while Liz properly assumed a starting stance. "Hello, Chief."

"I usually only see you following Jessica around. Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually seen you in action," Eve remarked, not rushing to start and instead asking leisurely, "But since the Prince selected you to accompany the Third Princess, you must have some exceptional skills, right?"

The Crown Prince was always accompanied by military-trained attendants, personally assigned by the Empress. The Fourth Princess’s dedicated attendant was Eve of the Medici family, with Sophia as her aide. Jessica, though slightly lower in status than the former two, was still the daughter of a prince and the empire’s Third Princess. Liz, who stayed by her side day and night, wasn’t from nobility, and Eve doubted Liz could have risen to such a position merely through flattery.

Liz sighed: "Actually, my Spiritual State Ability is quite special..."

"Oh?"

Eve raised an eyebrow slightly, while Jessica in the audience seats covered her face.

"Well, it’s just... it’s just..." Liz hemmed and hawed for a while, unable to get the words out, before closing her eyes and blurted out, throwing caution to the wind, "You’ll understand once you experience it."

"—My apologies, Chief!"

The silver-white mecha shot forward. Eve drew her ion gun, her fingers swiftly activating the energy shield while slamming the acceleration to maximum. Just as she was about to aim at her charging opponent, a strange feeling suddenly hit her.

Warm, gentle, like the spring sunlight, it spread from head to toe, a comforting feeling as if her entire body were soaking in warm springs. It made her want to slow down, to calmly face the flow of events.

This comfort hit too suddenly. Eve’s hand holding the gun paused involuntarily, and a twisted expression flashed across her face. Even bystanders were startled by the fierce look on the girl’s face in that instant. Only Jessica’s eyelids twitched violently, her unspoken "Oh no" still hanging in the air as the two mechas slammed together.

The Chief... had actually stood there motionless and let Liz crash into her.

Not that it was so dramatic, though. Thanks to the mecha’s excellent quality and the energy shield Eve had activated preventively the moment Liz spoke, even at Liz’s full charge, Eve was only pushed back three or four steps.

But even those few steps were enough to stun everyone else.

"What happened? Why didn't the Chief even move?"

"Did any of you figure out what Liz’s Spiritual State Ability is?"

"Paralyze or intimidate... The Chief’s expression looked terrible just now."

Their hushed whispers were interrupted by a light, almost eerie laugh. Just before, Eve’s head had accidentally slammed against the cockpit's metal wall with a loud thud, knocking her out of that overly comfortable state.

"How interesting. It actually overlaps with Song Xingxing’s Spiritual State from earlier."

Accustomed to wielding psychic abilities, being hit with two similar skills in a row was no laughing matter. The first time, against Song Xingxing, she could still treat it as fun, but the second time, against Liz, she couldn’t find it amusing at all.

Eve’s head was still ringing faintly. Gritting her teeth, she said, "You two could form a duo. I’ve even thought of a name for you: the 'Forced Log-Off Combo.'"

One used sound waves to forcibly scatter consciousness, the other forced others to relax and zone out. They could even take turns using their abilities during cooldown, ensuring whoever they targeted would be disoriented for the entire round.

Liz gave an awkward smile. If she hadn’t guessed that Eve had intentionally locked her own spiritual power, she would never have dared to use this nerve ability on her.

But it was too late to bow out now. Noticing the Chief’s expression growing cold and hard on the virtual screen, Liz’s heart sank, her sixth sense screaming warnings. Just as she considered trying the same trick again, reactivating her Spiritual State while frantically pressing buttons on the control panel.

Unfortunately, operating this model of advanced mecha was incredibly tricky. Even the most basic acceleration function required two buttons and a lever to operate. While she was racking her brain trying to remember "which two buttons to press after pulling this lever," Eve had already calmly drawn a short dagger from the virtual system and stabbed it into her own side before pulling it out with a "thud."

Silence fell. In the virtual blood spray, Liz’s terrified, pale face was reflected.

Everyone was stunned by her actions. Even though simulated combat didn’t cause real injury, not everyone had the guts to stab themselves just to break free from mental influence.

What they didn’t know was that ever since Eve was sixteen and began training with the Medici family, she had been subjected to getting beaten up in the simulation chamber almost every other day. She was very familiar with the extent to which the simulator could replicate pain, the intensity of pain from injuries in different areas, and their impact on performance.

Compared to other body parts, the abdomen had fewer nerves. By quickly withdrawing the weapon, the organs didn’t even have time to register severe pain. It didn’t affect her piloting and allowed her to break free from mental manipulation swiftly.

Liz, whose mecha piloting skills weren’t as polished as Song Xingxing’s, was quickly knocked out of the arena by an exceptionally clear-headed and no-longer-holding-back Eve. The moment Liz was teleported back to the audience seats, Eve’s figure vanished from inside the mecha.

A few distorted data streams flickered in the air, and the silver-haired girl, having logged off and back on, reappeared in the mecha’s cockpit with her body automatically restored by the system. But to the other students at that moment, their Chief’s beautiful, smiling face seemed no different from a devil’s.

"Your Spiritual State Ability is quite special. You can practice combo skills with Song Xingxing. You pass."

Eve tilted her head and looked toward the audience seats, asking gently, "So, who’s next? Come on up."

"......"

Under the sympathetic gazes of the other students, a second-year male student shakily stood and said with forced courage, "R-reporting, Chief. It’s me... My Spiritual State is just an ordinary defensive type. C-could you please—"

...please go easy on him?