Everyone listened with their full abilities. The Imperial Scholar was the most intelligent man in the Empire, and nobody would dare to forget a word he said.
"Most of you are attending or have attended the Imperial School. I could sit up here and teach you for a bit, then send you somewhere with textbooks to read and memorize information, but instead, I want to actually teach you, not just assign you work."
The Imperial Scholar began to walk, moving towards the board in the back.
He pointed at the leaderboard. "The purpose of the leaderboard is to fuel your arrogance in order to help you learn better. I hope all of you are arrogant enough for this to work."
He moved over a bit, standing in the middle of the board. "Up there, across the top, are all of your names. Some of you are nobles, some of you are commoners. It doesn't matter here. Your status, your wealth, and your rights are determined by your intelligence."
He walked to the right and stepped on a movable ladder. This ladder could slide across the board in order to allow all of it to be used, including the parts that no human could reach.
The Imperial Scholar kicked off of a wall, sending himself moving to the left side. For a seventy year old man, he moved with surprising ease and strength.
He began to write at the top left. Skymender understood some of it, but as he went further on, he had no idea what was happening.
Countless symbols and numbers, mixed in with things that Skymender could understand, allowed him to understand one thing. This was a math equation.
Everyone watched in silence, their curiosity and interest turning into awe, and finally, complete and utter astonishment.
When the Imperial Scholar finished writing, half of the board was taken up. He had only written big enough for them to see from afar.
"This is an equation the likes of you have never even seen. That is because I created it. How did I create it? The Imperial Scholar of another Empire challenged me. Annoyed, I created this in one day. You may be wondering what it is for. It is the literal calculation of how much my foot would have to be shoved into his ass, based on his body weight, muscle ratio, and skeletal structure, information that even he didn't know, in order to send his heart out of his throat."
Nobody knew how to respond.
Whether it was the complexity of the math equation, or what it was made for, they couldn't speak.
"This is the first lesson. There is always a higher heaven. What I make in a day, others cannot comprehend in their lives. Some of you came in with arrogance, as you should, but you made one mistake. You came in with arrogance not only towards your fellow students, but also with arrogance towards me. There is one person in here, maybe two if I stretch it, with the talent necessary to match me in the future. And that will only be if one of them lives to a hundred and twenty. Assuming I drop dead now. As for the other, I can't say I'm sure."
"Any questions?" He asked at the end.
Nobody spoke.
"You are dismissed. Nobody will wake you up tomorrow, be here at 8 AM sharp. If you don't, intelligence points will be deducted."
Eventually, everyone left. Skymender included.
He thought about the instructor's words. Intelligence points were not consumable, but semi-permanent. You could not spend them, but you could gain or lose them.
For example, if you wanted to live in a better room, and the cost was 100 intelligence points, as long as you had 100, you could live in it. Your intelligence points would not be affected at all.
Nobody spoke to each other as they all left. Technically, they were all competing with each other. Of course, some took it more seriously than others. However, nobody had spoken to anyone yet.
Skymender returned to his dorm and soon left to eat. It was noon, as the Imperial Scholar's lecture was longer than it had seemed.
He noticed a few more restaurants opened, but he also noticed signs in front of them. They stated intelligence points requirements. The higher the quality, the higher the intelligence points necessary.
Skymender returned to the same steak restaurant as before, and managed to find the same seat.
Surprisingly, this time, two others entered after him, clearly intending to eat here. Actually, it was not surprising since there were only a few restaurants that did not require intelligence points to enter.
Both of them came to the 2nd floor, but they distanced themselves from each other and Skymender.
Everyone ate in silence.
As it was said, most intelligent people were silent. Like everyone had, they stared at Skymender for a bit. After all, the mask on his face was quite obvious.
Even the glove on his hand was unusual.
Skymender ignored it and soon finished eating.
As he left the restaurant, he walked past someone entering. It was the person similar in age to him that he had seen before. As they walked past each other, the other person stopped.
Skymender looked at him.
"Hello. My name is Charles. What is your name?"
"Skymender." Skymender said.
"I see. Skymender of the Sky Barony. I've heard a bit about you."
"I haven't heard of you." Skymender said.
"Of course not, I'm just a commoner. But I do remember you. I remember everything."
He held out his hand, and they shook hands.
"I am eleven years old, though if I recall correctly, you should be ten."
Skymender nodded.
"I haven't heard anything about your mask. Can I ask what happened?"
"Accidentally poisoned." Skymender said.
"I see. No wonder your voice is scratchy and you speak in short sentences. I suppose it must have affected your throat, possibly even your breathing."
Charles seemed to be going on a rant.
"Anyways. It was nice to meet you." He said.
Skymender nodded and left.
Something was weird about Charles.