That question from before seemed to have put an end to any good mood the teacher had. Her expression made Milles nervous for his safety.
"Since you are so confident, let's see what level you are on. Come with me to the back Do you have your one laptop?" the teacher asked as she exited the classroom.
Milles quickly followed after her.
The teacher was already in a bad mood and he had no intention of making it any worse. Her 5 foot even figure did not seem as threatening but you should never judge anyone by their size.
Especially when they had magic on their side.
"Would I need to answer a quiz to determine my level? Or perform some tasks?" Milles felt nervous about this new arrangement but not for the reasons one would believe him to be.
He knew he could likely pass any practical exam and he would also do decent enough in a written test. No, those were not the reasons he was nervous about.
The real reason he was nervous was that he had no idea what kind of level he was supposed to be at as a first-year. Milles was afraid that he would somehow give himself away by being too advanced at this.
"Don't worry too much about it. I am not expecting you to be good at it" this teacher had no expectations of Milles and it made him even more nervous.
Irene led them to a computer lab. It was not a huge space but it was well cared for. There was not even a foreign spec of dust on the set-up.
"Sit here. I will forward you a list of tasks to do. Leave what you cannot accomplish" Milles moved in front of the system while not breaking contact with his teacher's form. He half-expected her to call it all off as a joke.
But of course, she did not and Milles had a task list on his phone in a matter of minutes.
It was all ridiculously easy to do and Milles found himself down with it in under half an hour. He was not sure if this was supposed to be easy for a first-year student or not.
Milles had tried to hold back but his hands had started to move unconsciously once he had the keypad under his fingers.
He was finished before he knew it and all he could do was look at his teacher who was not even paying attention to him. She seemed to be immersed in her work.
Milles took a look at her screen and recognized the coding sequence his teacher had been coding, a new fire spell.
The perimeters were different but the main framework was the same as he remembered it being. Milles could see a potential for practical application of such a simple spell and he involuntarily felt himself smile.
"What, you already done? Let me check" the teacher noticed his lack of interest as well and Milles felt disappointed as she closed her screen.
His fingers itched to open the screen and have a look at the spell code once more but he had to control himself.
"You were not lying about studying on your own. I can't any fault with your technique, even if this is not the standard one we use. I wonder just how much progress you made on your one and how long did you study it all for" Irene looked shocked at his progress.
But she had not yet dropped everything and proclaimed Milles as a 'genius' so he reckoned that it was alright.
"I have never tested myself before so I don't know what level I am at. I have just liked doing such things ever since I was young" it felt weird to talk about himself like that.
But if the teacher thought anything about it, she did not say so. Instead, her attention had shifted to the computer screen Milles had been working on and he saw the gears in her mind shift.
"Seeing as you have your style of doing things, I don't think the techniques at the academy are a good fit for you. You are far beyond anything you can learn in these 5 years and I have no idea how you achieved this" the teacher looked to be in disbelief and Milles recognized the signs.
He had messed up big times here.
"I had no idea it was that impressive. What should I do now? I am already enrolled in this course and I hoped to learn from you" flattery was good and safe.
Maybe if Milles flattered the teacher enough, she might keep him around.
"Knock off your flattery since I get enough of it from my fiance. However, I do understand your situation as well" the female looked at Milles and her expression changed from relaxed to serious in a second.
"You need to keep your ability with the system a secret. You might not know this but there is a lack of skilled operators in our society. I'm afraid that someone as young as you might get taken advantage of" Irene wanted and Milles felt the sincerity in her words.
Various emotions flashed through the female's eyes before she closed them. The next time she opened them, there was a fire in them that made Milles stand on edge.
"This course might not be of much help to you but I don't want you to leave this department. How about working here as an intern under the guise of a student? I am willing to pay you as well for your work and you will get to learn a lot more" the proposal was not bad.
But Milles felt worried about the suddenness of it.
It did help his situation out a lot but there was also a part of him that could not help but question the female's words. Why did she want to help him out?
"I will think about it" Milles forced out. He was sure the female had realized his doubts as well.
"Please do. You have the talent to make a change. One that could save a lot of people and I don't want the government or the rebellion to get their hands on you before you could bloom. Also, you just remind me of someone dear to me who is no longer there" the female seemed almost sad.
But she regained her composure and looked at Milles with an expecting expression.
Milles needed more time to think over it.
While this offer solved a lot of his money problems, he was not sure he would be able to handle this right now. Too many things were going on around him right now.
Not to mention, he needed more information about his teacher before he could make a decision.
The female knew far more about him than Milles wanted her to and he had to make sure it would not come back to bite him before he decided to trust her.
"You can take today to think over your proposal and get back to me tomorrow. I won't be angry at you no matter what you decide" the female dismissed Milles and he knew it was time to leave.
The female's gaze followed him the whole time he was in front of her and Milles finally himself relax once he exited the building.
"System, find everything you can about that teacher. Also, keep an eye on her and her activities" Milles had to keep an eye on her now.
It did not take a genius to figure out that Milles might have made a mistake while taking that test. He should just have pretended that he did not know the system or anything related to the issue at all.
But the mistake was made and Milles had to live with it.
[Scanning complete. Would Professor Milles like to see it now?]
The system asked and Milles agreed. He was in his room now and this was as safe as this academy was going to get.
[Name: Irene Miwa, 5 feet.
Blood group: AB +ve
Relationships: Fiancé - Gaemo Vallie
Brother: Amer Miwa (deceased - shot at a confrontation between Magic cops and rebellion)
Parents: deceased
Teacher at the Neural Academy first branch. Teaches system study class for all years. Has no criminal record…..]
The more Milles read the record, the more he was sure that Irene did not mean him any harm. Maybe she was genuine in her offer but its mere existence made Milles's life ten times more difficult.
Still, it was by far the best cover Milles was going to get. And he could use it to make time and money for his other activities.
It looked as if Milles already had his answer. He just hoped that it would not come back to bite him in the future. But there was an opportunity in front of him and felt like he should grab it.
And Milles was also curious about the senior student who had opted for the system study class as an elective.