Chapter 601 - Professor Elian

At least my office is awesome. It isn’t that big, but it’s in one of the academy’s towers and with nice view. This tower is entirely reserved for professors or something. That also raises the question: how the hell do you teach people who might not even have the same skill you do?

I pause.

Oh, could it be? Maybe professors have a high level in some skill, and students come here to acquire that skill and learn how to level up. Maybe professors are of a higher level, or maybe they only have a higher level in that skill, while young students have no skill at all. Combine that with knowledge about the skill, someone willing to teach and share that knowledge, and you can plan out your growth quite nicely.

You spend years learning that skill, then spend a few years with personal tutors to learn different skills that could lead you to certain classes, after which you level up.

If there is a sufficient amount of knowledge, you could optimize your growth. Since there are only ten spots for skills, you could avoid picking useless ones. You could aim for a certain class whose requirements are known, just to get a particular active skill or passive one.

The same idea could apply to traits, going to the academy to learn about them, and so on.

Of course, something like that is probably extremely expensive, since information like this is highly valuable. Students here must be well off, or from powerful families, maybe descendants of someone from the first generation, clans, or with a Champion or other powerful relative.

Hmm, wouldn’t a Champion have better resources than this? But as I think of it, even if your father is a champion, wouldn’t it still be worth sending you to such an academy to create contacts with rich kids of important people? Stronger people often live hundreds of years, and Absolutes go into the thousands, so a few years here isn’t much. Plus, maybe there's a bored professor who has an especially fancy skill you might want to try to get.

I cut these thoughts and look around once more.

There is a huge window nearby that offers a view of the academy buildings: the pearl‑white ornamented towers, cathedral‑like structures nearby, a lake and a huge bridge across it, a lot of gardens, and some forest in the distance.

Everything is vibrant and beautiful, with things jutting out that shouldn’t be possible. A tower that defies physical laws, trees shaped in ways that don’t make sense, massive windows that should make buildings collapse, and more.

Surprisingly, I don’t see anyone flying around, nor do I sense many powerful mana signatures washing over the area. I suspect it might not be allowed to fly around, or it is considered rude, together with large‑scale scans.

It is hard, but I restrain my instincts and instead rely on detecting vibrations sent through the air by kinetic movement.

Again, I cut off my thoughts and examine my office once more.

There is a main table, then another one with inscriptions. In the corner are a few cabinets and shelves with various items, all in that same grand style that is just a step away from looking over the top, yet nicely balanced. It looks expensive but also somewhat cozy and of high quality. The colors are nice, the materials as well.

I have already taken apart a few items from the shelves and, unable to put them back together, have hidden the broken pieces behind one of the cabinets.

Absently, I lean back in the chair and put my legs up on the boxes with the thermonuclear warheads.

I finally choose my rewards. “I'll take three active skills combination token and two 30 day Beyond stay tokens.”

As I open my status I can only say that damn, my tokens and number of shards look nice right now:

Tokens:

Beyond 3‑day stay token

Beyond 1‑day stay token

Passive skill combination token (Upper Arcane)

Communication with your disciple for 10 minutes

Send a single item to your disciple (up to epic rarity)

Three active skills combination token

Beyond 30‑day stay token

Beyond 30‑day stay token

Shards: 1,039,631

Given where I am, it might be a bit irresponsible to combine my skills right away, not that I’m exactly the responsible type. But maybe I could gather some useful information first. It’s not like I’m in any rush to use it.

There is also interesting information on the active skills combination token.

This token allows to combine three active skills into one. One skill is designated as the main skill, and the other two function as supportive skills. These are then combined into a new active skill.

Just that short explanation. It is almost unusual, and even though it’s brief, it’s better than nothing. But I guess when you have something that rare, the system gives out a bit more info.

As for the skills available for combinations, [Focus], [Redistribution], [Eclipse], and [Empyrean Lance] are missing. As annoying as it might be, it clearly shows these skills are above the rest. Even though I wouldn’t say that about Focus, it is missing as well. Mr. Focus has served me well ever since the first floor, and I’m sure the two of us will pull through until the end of the tutorial.

As for the rest, [Perception], [Mana Domain], [Mana Crown], [Mana Manipulation], [Ley Line], and [Knitting] remain. With that interesting setting of one skill being the main one, I’m currently thinking of either picking [Ley Line] and combining it with [Mana Manipulation] and [Knitting], or, and this is spicier, [Mana Manipulation] as the main one with [Mana Domain] and [Knitting] as support.

Well, there is also the option of [Mana Crown] or [Mana Domain] as the main skill with [Mana Manipulation] and something else as supportive. Hell, even [Perception] could fit nicely as a supportive skill with certain combinations, maybe with [Mana Domain] as the main one.

Way too many options. It’s just like going into a store with shelves and shelves of snacks and standing there looking for the perfect one you are in the mood for, until you notice the saleswoman watching you, likely thinking you want to steal something.

Then there is the dilemma of the passive skill combination token being upper arcane. I mean, I’m not complaining. I’m quite rich, and that thing is very good. Maybe too good.

The problem is that the cheapest upper‑arcane passives start at around 2,000,000 shards, with better ones even higher. So I bet that thing is going to sit there for quite a while if I even get an opportunity to use it before the end of the tutorial.

It’s insane to give that to an attendee, and once again, I wonder. This is all with Lissandra doing stuff - killing an Absolute, record numbers of waves, and all. Just how much would I get if I were the one somehow killing the Absolute? 10,000,000 shards instead of one million? 100,000,000 shards? Damn, who knows.

Anyway, good stuff, I like it. Gimme more.

I then spend a few hours going through the pile of documents on the table. Most of them seem like lesson materials, all written in that pretentious mana scientific bullshit talk I dislike so much. Still, as many times before, I force myself to go through this kind of information, picking up things useful to me and even taking some notes.

Then, remembering Professor Elian, I store some of the information in the back of my mind and practice a bit. The entire time, I wonder why the hell I ended up as an assistant professor.

Lastly, there's another big change. The current number of Beyonders from the 5th round of Earth's tutorial now shows 8/10, instead of the 10/10 it was showing not that long ago.

I’ve been keeping an eye on it, and the number changed about 15 minutes after Lissandra and Myrra went to Beyond.

This can mean a few things. They might have succeeded and left the tutorial, or they both could have died. There's also the chance something else happened, but I don't have enough information to build a theory around that.

Still, one of these options is the one I’m hoping for above the others.

***

Following behind the blonde professor, I head toward the class where he has a lesson. Part of me is curious about how it might look. I'm also curious about the man himself. There must be a reason I was assigned as his assistant and not to anyone else. Plus, we share the same eye trait, so maybe there's something to learn from that.

The hallways are empty and our steps echo through them as we reach the class. Professor Elian enters without hesitation and the noise inside stops immediately.

I follow behind him to the small podium with a huge blackboard behind it. There are some unknown inscriptions on it.

As for the students, there are around three dozen seated at sloping tables. All of them wear the same white uniforms with golden ornaments and black shirts or sweaters. None are carrying weapons, and the students are mostly humans, thylarin, and that pink race. Occasionally, there is someone from another race.

Some of the students sit to the side with guards standing near them, wearing the same clothes Tess and Maya wore. These guards stand there, eyes scanning around. But to me, more than actual guardians, it seems to be a way to flaunt status and maybe have an attendant with you to annoy others. Who knows what rich people like to do?

There are also a few familiar faces in the class. The twins are sitting with three other students, all of them forming a band and joking around just before we came in. I’m not surprised. Aaron and Dennis are cheerful, easygoing, and easy to like, so it makes sense that they would quickly find people to team up with.

As Professor Elian starts his lesson, he activates the blackboard. Thin strands of pale-blue mana crawl across it, forming clear diagrams with annotations.

“Today we’ll continue with theory, focusing this time on layered feedback control in active states,” he begins, speaking without looking at the students. “If you submitted your last assignment correctly, you should have already identified the stability breakpoints in the triple-loop model.”

He pauses for a second, then draws three intersecting circles on the board. “For those of you who substituted direct feedback with modulated resistance, I hope you enjoyed your oscillation failures. If you are still experiencing overcorrection at phase shift two, consider recalibrating your buffer delay.”

Has there ever been a man as confused as I am currently?

Some of the students shift in their seats. A few pretend to nod like they understand. One guy near the back lets out a quiet sigh and flips to a blank page in his notebook.

“The purpose of this structure,” Elian continues, tapping the diagram, “is to allow simultaneous manipulation of flow density and shape modulation. Without them interfering. If your mana pool cannot segment cleanly under artificial compression, you are not ready for this.”

He must be bullshitting, right?

The professor begins to demonstrate. His hand rises and a ribbon of mana appears midair, flat and pulsing evenly. He twists his fingers slightly and the ribbon splits, one part folding into a helix while the other flattens.

“If you cannot isolate three active commands in less than two seconds, stop wasting time and return to dynamic shaping.”

Everyone stays quiet.

Understandable.

Some students glance at each other. One girl starts shaping mana on her own, gets halfway through, and then lets it fall apart. No one comments on it. Elian doesn’t even look at her.

I stand quietly off to the side, just observing. That’s my only task for today. He doesn’t call on me. Doesn’t ask me to help.

Still these brave little souls pretend to understand all this bullshit. Notes are taken. Heads nod.

The twins are smart enough to hold back instead of trying to show off and stand out. We've talked about it, and right now everyone in Group 4 is trying not to show much, at least in the beginning.

The lesson continues and Elian teaches like a man who assumes you already know most of the things he mentions. He also really seems to like using all these fancy words.

I still don’t think I like this guy, but at least he doesn’t pull some villain-rate stunt just to punish me or something. Making me do the lesson instead of him or such stuff. To be honest, I even expected something like that to happen.

When the lesson nears the end, he introduces me very briefly to the students, and then we leave. Something about the students’ reaction to me and that introduction feels off, and as we walk the hallway, the professor turns to me.

“I hope you’ve learned your lesson. I don’t want you causing trouble again, like showing up late, or I’ll have to take away your chance to assist in class again,” he says, as if it’s the worst thing that could happen.

As he leaves, acting like he just punished me and taught me a lesson, I can’t help but wonder.

What the fuck is this setting?

***

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