The mistress kept putting food into Brian Walker's bowl. “Xiao Wei, eat as much as you want. Your teacher may not be good at much, but at least we can afford three meals a day.”

Brian Walker was not shy at all and ate boldly. The first bite of rice she hadn’t tasted in so long nearly brought her to tears.

Who would have thought that a top engineer like her would end up in such a situation?

“After you finish eating, come run ten laps around the river with me.” Halfway through the meal, Peter Thompson suddenly spoke.

Brian Walker choked on a mouthful of rice. “?”

“You need to intensify your training.”

“Let Xiao Wei finish her meal first.” The mistress put the last piece of meat into Brian Walker’s bowl. “Do you want me to make another dish?”

Brian Walker swallowed her food. “No need, mistress.”

In the end, Brian Walker finished all the rice by herself, not even needing any more dishes. Peter Thompson sat beside her, the corner of his mouth twitching as he watched.

All these years, he had no idea about Brian Walker’s situation. Logically, someone as poor as her would show it in her words and actions—maybe be a little self-conscious or timid. But ever since she started school, she had always been confident, never showing any sign of it. Plus, with everyone wearing the same uniform at school, Peter Thompson had assumed her family was well-off.

“Are you full?”

Brian Walker patted her stomach. “I’m full.”

After sitting inside for a while, Brian Walker was taken outside to go running.

From that day on, Peter Thompson started giving Brian Walker extra training every day after school.

Brian Walker originally thought she couldn’t handle it, but maybe because the mistress fed her so well every day, her dizziness and faintness gradually disappeared.

With proper nutrition, Brian Walker started to shoot up in height.

“Xiao Wei?” The mistress was surprised to see Brian Walker still not up and stood outside knocking on the door. “If you don’t get up, you’ll be late.”

After hearing nothing for a long time, the mistress had to find the spare key. When she opened the door, she saw Brian Walker curled up, hugging one leg, drenched in cold sweat.

“What’s wrong?” The mistress anxiously paced around.

Brian Walker hadn’t expected the growing pains to be so intense—she’d almost lost her breath just now. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the mistress’s hand. “Mistress, I’m fine. It’s just growing pains.”

After about ten more minutes of pain, Brian Walker finally recovered.

“I’ll chop up some bones tonight and make you soup.” The mistress wiped the sweat from Brian Walker’s forehead with concern. She and Peter Thompson had no children and no experience with this sort of thing, nor had she ever seen anyone have such severe growing pains—the sheets were soaked with sweat. “Does it hurt like this often?”

“No.” Brian Walker got up. “Mistress, I have to go to school.”

...

Brian Walker grew so fast that she had to change clothes almost every month. Peter Thompson was very pleased, thinking her physical fitness was improving.

“Last training session, you did well. Keep it up, and you’ll definitely make it at the end of the term.” Peter Thompson patted Brian Walker on the shoulder. “If you can get an A in perception on the graduation test, you can go to one of the five major military academies. That’s a whole different world.”

“Your teacher’s dream back then was to go to one of the five major military academies,” the mistress said with a smile.

Brian Walker looked up at Peter Thompson. “Teacher, how high was your perception?”

“B-level.” Peter Thompson was a bit proud but also a little regretful. “I first got into the military academy, then was selected for the Eleventh Military District... but I got injured and couldn’t go in the end.”

This was the first time Brian Walker had heard her teacher mention the military district. She asked instinctively, “Injured?”

“Ran into a small beast tide halfway through. I ruined my hand saving someone.” Peter Thompson let out a long breath, then said proudly, “I joined the military district to protect the people, and that day, I did it.”

Brian Walker was still feeling sad for her teacher when, in the next second, Peter Thompson smacked her. “You have to train hard every day and aim to get into one of the five major military academies, you hear me!”

“I think I’m only B-level material.” Deep down, Brian Walker didn’t think she was the fighting type.

The mistress covered her mouth and laughed. “That’s not what it looked like when Xiao Wei pinned the top student from the next class to the ground and beat him up.”

That student from the next class had gone to the big star last year to have his perception tested, and it was confirmed to be A-level.

Only an A-level can beat an A-level.

Author’s note: Brian Walker: Weak, helpless, and small, but can fight :)

ps: It’s not that you have to be sixteen to test perception—it’s just that 3212 is too poor, so there’s only one chance to test perception at graduation. The resources available to students on the big star and the small star are worlds apart.

Chapter 6

“This end-of-term test will be harder than before, but... it’s not the hardest.” Peter Thompson looked at the students standing across from him. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he’d watched these kids grow up—from age seven to fifteen, only a few dozen remained out of hundreds. “The real challenge is the perception test before graduation. Do your best on this end-of-term test. I’ll be waiting for all of you here at the start of the new term. I hope you all graduate smoothly and get your own admission qualifications.”

During the end-of-term test, the school would take the students to the edge forest of Star 3212. The creatures here weren’t insect beasts, nor did they have even a tenth of the attack power of insect beasts, but they were perfect for testing students. After discussion at the end of each term, the teachers would designate a certain range for the students to hunt in. Each student had only a dagger in hand—whether they lived or died depended entirely on their own abilities.

With each grade level, the area of the forest they entered would increase, and the danger level would rise sharply.