`Just what was it about that girl?` I was still baffled, confused, and concerned over why I felt so drawn to her long after the ceremony was over. It was basically everything I could think about until the next day.
I was so out of ideas why I had been so drawn to the mystery girl that I started entertaining absurd ideas at this point. `It's not anything like love. I'm not the type to just like someone based on appearance.`
`Was it a charm spell or something?` It wasn't impossible. But if she had used some kind of magic to attract others, I'm sure people would have noticed. `I don't think they'd let this shit happen.`
If it were that easy to sneak a spell past the security of the Academy, everyone would be using spells like that to catch others attention. `But considering how I didn't feel like that towards anyone else, it's pretty clear that was not the case.`
Even my interest in Selvan was only passing. He was only interesting to me because his behavior was so starkly different from most others in the prestige class.
It still is. He is sitting at the front right of the classroom. Near the door. Surrounded on all sides by noble ladies vying for his attention through one means or another. Yet his sole focus is on the door. As if he were waiting for the professor to finally arrive. So everyone around him shuts up.
`Man. I need to stop thinking about this and focus. Class is about to start and I didn't study shit yesterday.` I huff as I run my hand through my hair. Ruffling it up in hopes that it would dispel my confused thoughts.
Luckily for me, it was then that the professor finally entered for our first class of the year. "Good morning, adepts." The Old Man began as he took the stage in the middle of the room.
He could best be described as wizardly. He fit the word to a tee. Long white hair. A deep green robe that goes just past his ankles, embroidered with silver threads that seem to shimmer faintly with every movement he makes.
Carrying an ornate staff tipped with an icy blue crystal. But he was a professor at an academy for nobles. So appropriately, he was well-kempt. And he carried himself with an almost regal posture. Projecting a quiet sort of strength that was still not easily dismissed.
"My name is Calveth Drosain. And from today on forward, I'll be in charge of your education. At least until you pass the first year." His introduction caused a few respectful murmurs. Cluing me into the fact that he was someone important and well-respected.
Even among the snobby students here. `Though it's not exactly fair to group them all together like that.` I thought the prestige class was going to be full of a certain kind of person. Snobby and narcissistic.
`As it turns out, I was wrong about that.` This class was more varied and diverse than I initially anticipated. Of course, there were people in here who not only looked but also acted like that. But there were actually more people who didn't act like that than did.
Two rows in front of me, for example, sat a girl with rather vibrant blue hair. Who hadn't said a thing since I first saw her. She hasn't interacted with anyone. She just kept her nose buried in her books whenever given the chance.
Not only that, but she had even read a book during the entrance ceremony, too. `She must be a scholarship student or something, right?` Or maybe she was just passionate about studying. I had no time to wonder about that at the moment.
Since Calveth was already jumping right in. "Today, we will go over the written entrance exam you all took part in. Discuss the questions and solutions to each problem and work through them."
Taking a more ordinary approach to teaching than I had expected. `Huh? Well. I guess not every day can be exciting and full of grand spectacle.` This doesn't mean I wasn't interested in the topic.
I was actually quite curious. Mostly about the first five questions, and if I got them right. So I lean forward in my chair. Paying attention.
Only. It was strange. The questions were the same. Of course. But the solutions the professor came up with are entirely too complex.
The first of the five questions was the most complicated of the lot. However. Nowhere did it warrant doing math. I mean, yes. The math could explain it in more detail. But that's not what the question is asking for.
"Do you have something to say, Adept Blackwell?" My confusion must have been evident on my face. I'm called out by Calveth with a stern look that could freeze another student in place.
Not me, though. One of my bad habits rears its ugly head as I shoot back without much thought. "Yeah. Why are you making this so complicated?" I reply before I can catch myself.
The hate in the room for me instantly doubled. Or at least that's what it felt like. "Oh, really? Are you saying someone like you has an easier answer?" "Please. An oaf like that couldn't possibly know how to solve this." "If you know better than the esteemed professor, why not explain it then?" And other such lines thrown my way from a few upset students.
But it's the last comment I latch onto. Because I'm an idiot and can't help myself. "Sure. That's fine by me." I turn to Calveth as I rise from my lonely seat at the left back of the class. "Do you mind if I answer the questions, Prof?"
Luckily for me, Calveth seems to be good at rolling with the punches. Smoothly brushing down his robes before nodding his head. "Go ahead, Adept Blackwell." Gracefully handing the stage over to me.
The other students snicker in delight as I walk down the steps to the blackboard. Probably delighted that they managed to bait me into embarrassing myself on the first day. And even though there was a fifty/fifty chance, I will. I was not nervous.
No. I've always been this way. If I even have so much as a smidgen of knowledge about a topic or a hint of an answer to a question, I become incredibly self-assured. Like I'm an expert in the topic. After all, I know I'm smart.
Fortunately, this time Calveth had already given me the answer to the question. It was just incredibly long-winded and complicated. But the principle of the solution was the same as my own answer.
So I knew I was right. At least about this question. "Alright. So let's take a look at the question again." I begin. Switching smoothly into teacher mode. Which I was really good at. Explaining difficult concepts to others, I mean. It always helped me to learn. So in the past, I did it a lot.
I was used to explaining things. Even in front of people. "Let's analyze what it's actually asking of us?"
I reread the question out loud to the class. "A mage casts a spell and increases the weight of a cube of earth by twice its previous weight. However. Neither the size, density, nor the material of the cube changes. And he did not use Gravitas magic. How is this possible?"
I pause for a moment before I turn and point at a random student. Some stocky boy with black hair and an unflattering bob cut. "So? What is this question asking us to do?" My posture and speech are so confident that they leave him and some of the other students stunned.
He only manages to sputter out some incomprehensible words before I take back over. "It's simple. It's just asking us how he did it. There is no need to make the answer long-winded or involve mathematics. The answer is already in the problem."
I turn around to the blackboard where Calveth had written the question and the beginning of his answer before. And pointed at one word specifically. "There. It says it right there. He used a spell. That's all. That's literally the answer." I explain as I turn back around with a casual flourish.
It doesn't take long for someone to speak up in protest to my simple answer. Some pale-blonde-haired girl. "The answer cannot be that simple. Right?" Her confused question was not directed at me. But Calveth instead.
However. Much to her and everyone else's surprise, he nodded. "That is indeed an acceptable answer. These questions didn't allow just one correct answer. And even something as simple as this answer would have been enough to pass." His reveal of the truth caused a ripple of disbelief to go through the class.
And he wasn't done just yet. "However. I believe Adept Blackwell also has another, more in-depth answer. Correct?" *Talking me up because he obviously knew what I had written down on the actual exam.
Even though my answer on the actual exam wasn't all that much more complex than what I already said. "Well. Yes. But all I did was shortly explain the phenomenon the question is talking about. And that had nothing to do with the actual answer." I add with a shrug.
Calveth, however, was not deterred by my attempts to avoid going into more detail. "Indulge us." He wanted to hear my answer. So I explain the phenomenon in the problem. "Well. To explain that, we would have to first look at what the weight of an object actually is. Since that is what has been doubled in this case." I begin while walking over to the teacher's desk.
Completely lost in the sauce at this point. Since science and physics are things I love talking about. I'm not even looking at everyone's reaction anymore. I'm just rambling now.
"The weight of an object isn't just its mass. Or what is commonly referred to as weight." I pick up a quill pen from the teacher's desk and lift it slightly. Before dropping it again to demonstrate what I'm talking about. The quill bounced off the wooden desk harmlessly.
"Doesn't do much like this. Right?" I ask rhetorically as I retrieve the quill again. "But if we lift it higher." I drop the quill from a higher height this time. And while it doesn't do any real damage to the table, it sticks straight up in the air this time because the tip of the quill pen ever so slightly dug into the wood.
"The reason the quill remained upright this time, unlike before, is that it dug into the wood. Almost like its weight suddenly increased." I pull the quill out of the table and turn to the class again.
"Of course it didn't. But then how can we explain this phenomenon?" This time, I don't point at anyone. I answer my own question before anyone else can. "It's simple. The quill had more energy because it was dropped from a greater height. Which in turn gave it more speed. More mass. More weight."
I don't even care how many people I've lost at this point in my explanation. I had to just get it all out. "And knowing this principle, explaining what happened in the question is easy." I take a breath before finally rattling off my original answer.
"The mage casts a spell at the block of dirt. But it's not a spell from any specific school. What he does is simply transfer mana into the dirt. Through whatever means he chooses. Mana is energy. And increased energy means increased weight even without any motion."
I finish my explanation with a flourish of my hand. Like what I just talked about was the basics of the basics. And it was. At least in our world. After all, almost everyone knew E=mc².
Here, however. That did not seem to be the case. When I finally turn around and pay attention again, everyone seems stunned. A few wide eyes. A few open mouths. And a few sputters make it pretty clear that what I just did was not expected or normal.
I feel a hint of relief when I turn to Calveth, and he nods at me respectfully. As if he had expected this answer. So this knowledge, at least, wasn't completely new or unknown.
`Puuu. That was almost a disaster.` I think to myself with a wry grin. As it sinks in that if I had said this, I could have potentially exposed myself as someone not from this world.
`Wait. Hold on. I don't care if others know.` Then I remind myself that I don't exactly care if others know.
`Besides. I've already tried being honest with people who trusted me way more. And they didn't believe me. So even if I say something completely wild that exposes me. If I just stick to my previous story, everyone will just think that I'm insane or something.`
Which wouldn't be ideal. But if I keep doing things like this, I think some people will end up thinking that way regardless. `I should sit back down and just s-`
"Would you like to answer the other four questions on the first exam sheet as well?. Adept Blackwell?" Of course, someone here already knew how smart I am. Or rather, what knowledge I possessed. The academy already knew how I answered the first five questions.
So there was no point in hiding. Not from them. So with a deep sigh, I turn to Calveth and collect some chalk from him. "Sure. Hand me some chalk so I can write down the other questions."
My guardian angel or whatever, though, seems to be working overtime once again. We are interrupted by the bell signaling the first break of the day. Calveth looked at the instrument ringing on the wall with a hint of displeasure.
But I couldn't do anything besides dismiss the class for now. "Hmm. Let's take a short break before we continue this. I'm sure everyone else is excited to hear the rest of the answers to the first five questions from Adept Blackwell."
"Tss." I click my tongue and place my hands on my hips. Nevertheless, I don't protest. I know it's pointless anyway. Everybody already saw what I can do. So I just roll my eyes and walk past Calveth. To go outside and get some fresh air.