I'll be doing some formatting changes to this chapter and all previous and future chapter later on, hope it'll be more fun to read! ^_^ Please do write down any thoughts or suggestions if you have any, and as always, have a nice read. :D

~ Artemis University, Dormitory Room 420

*Yawn*

Ahh- the suns are out so high already. Is it already so late? I still want to sleep~

*Knock knock*

I could hear Ed nagging from outside the door already. “Hylia come on, we’re going to be late at this rate!”

“Just a minute, I’m almost done!”, I hastily came up with an excuse. It’s always the same every morning. I wonder how Ed manages to wake up so early. Hunter really has it easy, coiled up and sleeping all day without any repercussions. Must be great to be a magical beast isn’t it?

I quickly got to the bathroom and did a quick wash, quickly changed into my uniform, then grabbed all of my notes and files and stuffed them into my bag. I opened my bag up beside Hunter to let him into the bag to sleep even more before I go out and meet Ed who was waiting on the hallway.

“Hylia, what do you think of Earth’s companion? I thought it was pretty strange for a ring to respond to the horn, and the records have never shown anything of that happening before.”, Ed asked me on the way to our classroom.

“Well, it’s not just a ring. There is actually somebody inside, he said that it talks to him telepathically, and that it was a magical beast that got trapped in the ring for some reason. However, if it responded to his horn, that means it’s their fate that bonded them together, there is nothing to question about that… I think.”, I replied honestly to his question.

“Haha, my thoughts exactly!”

But it is really interesting to have something inside a ring to respond so strongly. Maybe it could serve as great material for our research? I’ll ask him about that later when I see him in the lab.

After a short walk from the dormitory, we reached the crowded corridor of the main school building at the centre of the campus.

Swiftly dodging our way through the chaos, we managed to get to our classroom just in time before the class begins. The classroom is quite spacious, the rows of seats curved to face where the teacher and board is, each row higher than the previous, with the fourth row being the highest.

I went to my ideal seat on the second row in the middle section, where Ed followed and sat to my left.

Everyone else quickly strolled in and finally the languages teacher also arrived, along with a new student following behind him.

The bald and muscular teacher was going to slam his thick textbook on the table, but there was no need since everybody’s eyes are already on Earth, who is standing beside the teacher.

“Ahem! We will be having a new student joining us from today onwards.”

“Ahh- Is this where I give my introduction? Kyaa~ I’ve been waiting for this moment for such a long time ever since I saw them in mangas and anime! O-oops, the introduction.

Hello fellow classmates~ I’m Earth, and I’m very inexperienced about this world, so please do take care of me!", Earth ended off with a little head tilt and a smile.

A look around, and it seems like almost everyone has already been captivated by him. Well, I guess he does have a pretty face and beautiful long black hair, but to attract both genders from every race… that’s something.

"Go and find an empty seat, the class is going to start.”, the teacher told Earth.

Earth took a look around the class, where people are already asking him to sit beside them, and some even tried to push away their neighbours to give a seat for him.

Upon the sight, Ed gave a comment, “Haha, Earth is quite popular isn’t he?”

However, despite all the offers, he just took an empty seat in front of me and Ed, at the front row. One could hear sighs coming from all over the place when he chose that particular seat, which the entire section was empty.

I decided to help this new student adapt to this new environment as fast as possible, so I kept watch on him to see whether he had needed any help. For the duration of the languages lesson, he was very attentive and serious, but the only time he had flipped through his textbook was at the start of the lesson, and it was only a quick flip through all the pages.

The only other thing he did was copy all the words that the teacher wrote on the board, and out of curiosity, I took a quick glance. His handwriting was extremely ugly at first and I asked him if he needed help with that, but he declined and showed me his notes.

The handwriting of the first line was horrible as I saw it previously, but with every line his handwriting improved incredibly by leaps and bounds until at the fifth line where it was basically calligraphy…

Ed didn’t think much about it and complimented him for his beautiful handwriting, but I wonder if he is just trying to show off his handwriting skills.

…

The languages class ended without any problems, and now it’s the calculations class. Not to show off or anything, but I am one of the top-scorers in this course, and I do consider myself to be quite good at it. I even coached Ed and Pion in this course and their scores also improved greatly, but that’s no surprise with my level of skill.

I kept on observing him to see what he would do.

At the start of the lesson, he was also very excited and attentive, as I expected him to be.

Things changed on the second part of the lesson though. He got bored by the second, and he actually started to doze off, until the point where he was basically in deep sleep in the middle of class. I admit calculations class is a little boring sometimes, but to be falling asleep in the middle of it like this?

And not to mention, our seemingly kind and beautiful teacher, is the infamous “Tiger-evil of the Numbers” that many new students have fallen prey to! Furthermore, he’s sitting at the front row, I can’t imagine what would happen to him if he gets spotted by the teacher! I still don’t really like him, but leaving him alone like this would be the same as watching somebody awaiting their death!

Just as I was going to reach out and wake him up, a piece of chalk shot over and punctured into my table… it’s too late now. The signature devilish grin has already appeared on her face and the dark aura is overflowing out of her, more than ready to rip Earth to shreds and beyond with her difficult questions…

The class got silent, all that could be heard is Earth’s peaceful breathing in his deep sleep, completely unaware of the certain death ahead. Everyone watched in horror as the devil took each step, getting closer and closer to the poor victim. Some were holding their breaths, and some were almost tearing up for empathy for the victim.

Ed and I could only sit and watch the horror unravel right in front of us. I dare not to move a single finger, nor do I want to. It is only up to Earth to save himself now.

“Excuuse me, my smart little student~ may I know what is your answer to the question on the board?”

The question on the board is in relation to the new topics of algebraic manipulation, and for Earth who didn’t listen in class at all, it would probably be very hard for him! Well, of course it was nothing for me anyway…

“Mmm… you mean me?”, Earth finally woke up.

The devil’s grin grew ever wider. “Who else can it be, other than you, my beloved student~ If you don’t answer the question on the board in three sec-”

“x is fifty-thousand, two hundred and ninety-six. Guess it’s the same thing here huh?”, replied Earth immediately.

The devil looks a little annoyed, but she can’t say anything because he is correct. He must be quite good at this, to have answered the question without any workings and at that speed… was he awake the whole time?

“That was a good trick… but since you think you’re so smart, you surely can answer this next question in three seconds too right?”

The devil went back to the board and started to write an even harder question.

“x² + 16x + 96 = 33”

“x is 7 or 9. This is too simple. I have a suggestion - for every lesson from now on, you can issue me any calculations question you want, and I will solve it in under five minutes, workings included. If I fail to do so, I will follow your every order for the rest of my life; if I solve it, I can leave early from class for the day. The class is here to witness, and I, as a gentleman, will never go back on my words.”

Earth answered the question almost instantly and even issued a challenge to the devil herself. The class was shocked by the declaration, but was left speechless by his confident and daring statement. It’s almost interesting, even.

“Well… well then. I shall accept your challenge. Do not regret on your decision.”

The devilish grin on her face now instead turned flat in anger. The dark, menacing aura changed to a crimson flaming aura, but she controlled herself and started writing down a long equation, one that I had seen before in a book in the library but was said to be almost impossible to solve, and no one, not even great masters, have been able to solve it for centuries.

Earth, without any hesitation, got up and walked to the board, and immediately started scribbling down workings one after another, some even using strange techniques I have never seen before, but it was all logical and understandable. The only things that could be heard was the constant scribbling of the chalk on the board, and the ticking sound of the clock, which seems to get louder every second.

I knew there were geniuses in the world and I have seen a few in competitions before, but this is a whole another level even compared to them. Every line made sense and was logical, yet the techniques used were so different and strange. When I first saw the equation, I was only able understand the equation partially, yet strangely his working made it so much easier to understand, and even taught me what the equation is and what is the meaning behind it. He simply cannot be compared to a genius anymore…

*scribble scribble scribble*

*tak*

Earth put down the chalk, which was now half the length it was before. Without even looking back at the board, he just took his bag and as he left, he said, “Just tell the principal if you have any problems.”

The teacher stood rooted to the ground, mouth agape, staring at the work well done. The classroom, which had been as quiet as a mouse, was now discussing about what the feat had just seen.

As for me, I want to know more about him. I knew that he was something else, but he was more than what I thought him to be.

“Ed, I’m going to follow him. If anybody asks, say that I’m in the toilet or something.”

“Wait Hylia, I’m also coming, I’m also curious about Earth. That was a really impressive display!”, Ed replied, though I think that ‘really impressive’ is truly an understatement to what he did…

“Fine, let’s go before we lose him. I have a feeling something big is going to happen…”

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