Although this seed like a good place to end for the day, class had only just begun. After a mont, the Imperial Scholar spoke again.
"One intelligence point to Skynder." He said.
Skynder nodded. With this, he had three. Although it didn't give him access to anything he had not already had access to, it was a starting point. Plus, as of now, he had more intelligence points than everyone else.
"If you want more intelligence points, then you should answer questions when I ask them." The Imperial Scholar said. Everyone nodded their heads.
The Imperial Scholar started with his lecture, continuing to talk about the English language.
This lecture ended earlier than the previous one. Skynder returned to his house, went out to eat, and fell asleep. The next day, the Imperial Scholar ca on ti as usual.
Noticeably, the leaderboard had nas on it. Skynder was at the top, with a three next to his na. It seed that intelligence points would determine the positions of the ranking.
"Over these last few days, I have talked about the English language. Today, I have brought nurous scholars from the Imperial Capital to test your knowledge. I hope that none of you disappoint . Good performances will be rewarded with Intelligence points."
As he finished speaking, sixteen scholars entered the room. They were not like the scholars that had brought them and guided them a bit such as Scholar Ming, but were clearly more refined and more scholarly.
They all bowed to the Imperial Scholar before lining up and looking at the students.
The Imperial Scholar spoke. "Everyone, co and choose soone to test your abilities. Not everyone will test you equally. It is up to your luck, or perhaps your identification skill, whether who you pick is lenient or very strict."
Everyone stood up rather quickly as he finished speaking.
Many people analyzed it, but Skynder didn't. He understood that the Imperial Scholar wouldn't make it easy to guess who was who.
There would be many twists and turns to guess who was who. Skynder did not think that he could win against the Imperial Scholars' intelligence.
He looked across the stage. People would probably put on false fronts to make them seem nicer, though they may be strict, but as he had said, the Imperial Scholar could have designed this. Maybe it was a double false front. Those who looked nice were actually nice, while those who looked an were actually an.
As Skynder had said, it was impossible for him to figure out.
It seed like most of the students would waste their ti and energy thinking about how to pick, but a few, such as Skynder, would save all of their ti and energy for the test.
How did Skynder choose? He simply went up to the first person from the left.
The scholar he chose spoke. "Bold choice, young one."
Skynder nodded. "No point in wasting ti."
"So be it. Don't regret it." The scholar said.
"I never regret my decisions."
Skynder was the first to choose, and he waited for others to do so.
anwhile, the Imperial Scholar wrote another ranking list numbered one through sixteen. The big one was for the overall Imperial Scholar Camp ranking, while the one he was creating was for just this test.
After a few minutes, everyone had selected soone.
"Alright. Disperse."
The various scholars began to walk away, the students that had selected them following.
Skynder's chosen scholar actually stayed in the room with him. This would be their testing location.
Skynder sat in a front row seat while the scholar sat on the stage in front of him, thought not at the Imperial Scholars desk.
He simply began to talk.
"So, what is your na?"
"My na is Skynder."
"Nice to et you Skynder, you can call Scholar Tie."
"Nice to et you too, Scholar Tie."
Skynder's throat was already starting to hurt from all the talking, but this was part of his test. He couldn't simply ignore it. He was just at a disadvantage from the start.
"I can see that you wear a mask as well as a glove. What happened? Or is it just a fashion choice?"
Skynder responded. "I accidentally inhaled so poison. I can never breathe the sa."
Scholar Tie nodded with sympathy. "I see. I can tell that even this is starting to get to you. I apologise in advance. So, why do you wear a glove?"
"I accidentally touched so poison. It is scarred, never to recover."
"I see. What is another word for putting yourself above others?"
"Arrogance."
"What is it called to enjoy others suffering?"
"Schadenfreude."
"That word doesn't conform to typical English. Where did that word co from?"
"It is considered to have co from an eastern dialect mispronouncing words. However, it is just a theory."
"What is...?"
"Scoliosis."
"What is...?"
"nd."
"One who does that is called?"
"nder."
"What is blue and above our heads?"
"Sky."
"What is one who nds the sky, theoretically, called?"
"A Skynder."
"Haha." The Scholar laughed.
Skynder barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
"What is...?"
"Tungsten."
"What about...?"
"Armadillo."
"And...?"
"llifluous."
"What is...?"
"Quintessence."
...
Finally after over an hour, the Scholar asked one last question.
"What is it known as when you experience an unexpected delightful mont?"
"Serendipity?"
Skynder began to violently cough.
"That concludes it. You'll hear your results from the Imperial Scholar. You can wait here."
The Scholar left. As he opened the door, three other students entered. They had been waiting outside.
Two of them seed normal, but one had an unsightly look on his face.
Skynder waited for another hour, and everyone had entered the room.
As the Imperial Scholar entered, Skynder was barely able to hold in his coughs.
He did not say a word, stepping on the movable ladder and starting from the bottom of the board.
Skynder watched, not recognizing most of the nas, until finally, his was written.
Fourth place, Skynder.
Considering how distracted he had been by his throat, it was a miracle he had reached that high.
Reviews
All reviews (0)