I increased my pace as I hurried to class, I was late. 'I spent too much time playing around, I shouldn't let this happen often' I thought to myself.
The large lecture hall was filled to the brim with other students attending the cram school and buzzed with anticipation, one could easily notice the conversations between students and shuffling of papers all coming together to create the sense of harmony that was university life.
Each step I took, my heart felt heavy as I realized that classes had already started, meaning I would basically have to avoid the stares of every single student and face the unnecessary attention given to me by the lecturer who felt like she had this obligation to look after me as I opened and walked through the large doors of the lecture hall.
I honestly couldn't care less at that point and as I walked into the lecture hall, the large doors creaking loudly as I pushed them open, an uneasy silence fell across the classroom as everyone stopped their conversing and class work to identify where the sound had come from, which was precisely where I stood.
A young woman in her early thirties with a stern look on her face paused her teaching as she wasted no time to chastise me for my tardiness.
"Damon! I would expect this kind of behavior from any other student in the class, but from you?, I must say I am highly disappointed. Need I remind you again that this is your only option, you already fumbled your chance to get in through the normal methods, therefore I would advise that you took class more seriously so as to avoid bringing more shame to your family name. What do you have to say for yourself?" She said, raising her voice with a harsh tone.
Her words were sharp and authoritative and they cut through the silence of the classroom like knives.
The whole class burst into laughter as everyone began pointing fingers at me, mumbling words to each other and laughing at my situation. A look of fulfillment washed over the lecturer's face, like she had just achieved something she wanted and, I saw her raise her shoulders in confidence like she'd just won an argument. 'They must think I'm just someone they can push around however they want, I'll let my emotions take over this time' I thought to myself as I tightened my fists and gritted my teeth.
Little did these people know that the world I faced outside this hall was pulsating with far more consequential matters – and that I couldn't care less about the activities of the classroom.
As I stood there seething with rage and pondering my next course of action, I was taken aback when the system popped up with another quest, but perfectly hid my surprise with a poker face.
~Ding!~
*New quest unlocked*
Reward: 20 SP
'Just my luck' I thought, I already planned on defending myself and I could gain some SP from doing so at the same time. The situation was perfect.
I sighed heavily as I spoke with a stern voice, "With all due respect Mrs. Clinton, I do not appreciate you making a laughing stock of me just to feed your overgrown ego. I have a perfectly finite reason for being late, which I would keep to myself. Although you could have done your job properly and asked what went wrong and why I was tardy, you decided to gain some face and assert your dominance on the students by ultimately humiliating me. You speak as though you know my father, well I do and I could very much inform him of your unprofessional conduct in your teaching. I'm very sure he would love to have a word with the head of the cram school about your conduct. I am perfectly aware that this is my last chance at entering university and once again, I would appreciate it if you didn't speak of that anymore. If that is all, I'll take my seat."
The whole class fell silent and everyone stared at me dumbfounded. It was like they couldn't believe that anyone could talk back to the teacher, let alone me, who they saw as a pushover. As I walked to my seat the mumbling continued and I could fairly grasp the context of some of their conversations.
*Isn't that Damon Darhk, first son of the Darhk family?…..I thought he was a dork or something….. was he always this hot?…..he just roasted the teacher and she isn't even fighting back, he's OP!*. These were just a few of the mumblings that I could grasp and to be honest I enjoyed it. Whenever I approached anyone they would stop speaking so as to avoid my disapproval, this gave me a sense of power as I finally reached my seat at the extreme end of the class…I sat, alone.
A large amount of tension lingered in the atmosphere, the mere suggestion of my father's disapproval of the teaching methods shook the foundations of the tutor's composure. To my surprise as I went to take my seat, she didn't try to stop me or hold me back. My words must have stung.
~Ding!~
*Quest complete*
<20 SP has been received and added to status.>
*Would you like to see your status window?*
[Yes] [No]
'Yes' I thought. I had already realized that I was the only one who could see my system panels so I felt no sense of unease when I was occasionally stared at.
[Status Window]
Name: Damon Darhk
Age: 18 years
Occupation: Student
Current Status: Healthy/Unemployed
Hp: 100/100 (Fully recovered)
Sp: 25
{Additional Information}
You have discovered a newfound courage causing you to stand up for yourself in unfavorable situations and always defend yourself.
[End Of Information]
The students, whose families were one way or the other affiliated with the Darhk family, either working under them or as business partners, dared not to speak so as not to ruin their parents' relationship with them.
The Darhk family's influence cast a large shadow over my life and the life of everyone who was affiliated with me, and the students were well aware of the potential implications their immature behavior might have on their parents' dealings with us.
The unknown hierarchy that existed in the classroom began to crumble and all of a sudden the power balance shifted in my favour.
Feeling cornered, the lecturer, in a flustered manner, reluctantly resumed her teaching. The lecture went on but I barely paid any attention, as I merely stared into the distance lost in my thoughts once again planning for the future and trying to discover new probable investment opportunities, looking for new possibilities.
The topic being taught I paid no heed to, as I'd already had enough knowledge of it from my past life, also joined with the fact that I was basically an adult in the body of a child, had more experience and had learnt all this before, it would only take a fraction of my intelligence to process what was being taught on my own.
Soon enough the class went back to normal with students conserving loudly and goofing off in class, and it seemed like my whole episode with the tutor had come to a close.
As the teacher struggled to regain control, furtive glances continued to be stolen in my direction and I still paid them no heed.
Class went on like this for a while without any changes until all of a sudden I was awoken from my apparent trance as the teacher called my name. "Damon, stand up and state the third law of thermodynamics" the teacher said in a stern voice. This must have been her petty yet valid method of getting revenge on me for the previous episod, she must have noticed I wasn't paying attention and saw it as a prime opportunity.
Undeterred, I answered the question flawlessly, providing a detailed elaboration that effortlessly surpassed the lecturer's cursory explanation.
"The third law of thermodynamics, also known as the law of absolute zero, states that as the temperature of a system approaches absolute zero, the entropy of the system approaches a minimum or constant value. The entropy of a perfect crystal is exactly zero at absolute zero.
In simpler terms, this law suggests that as a system gets colder, its entropy, or the measure of disorder or randomness within the system, decreases and approaches a minimum value. Absolute zero, which is the lowest possible temperature where nothing could be colder and no heat energy remains in a substance, is associated with the minimum entropy state.
Mathematically, the third law of thermodynamics is often expressed as:
limT→0S=0
lim
T→0
S=0
where
S
S is the entropy of the system, and
T
T is the temperature.
I could give a more detailed explanation but I believe this is enough, right Mrs Clinton?", I said once again in a confident manner yet carrying a cold demeanor.
"Uhm, yes Damon, you're absolutely correct, uhh, you may take your seat. A round of applause for Damon class," said the teacher whose face turned bright red as she was dejected and flustered, she had lost to me twice already and her pride had been deeply hurt.
The class stared in disbelief; I sighed, recognizing how pointless attending this cram school was for me, but it was just something I would have to do.
Attaining academic excellence would definitely come in handy in the future, and it would definitely aid me in my pursuits for financial success.
The rest of the day went on without a hassle and class finally drew to a close, but the repercussions remained evident. I packed my bags and on my way out of the class I was stopped in my tracks by the lecturer.
"Damon, I need to have a word with you in my office, it can't wait, follow me," she said coldly and I simply complied, following closely behind her.
As we both walked into the office she sat across from me at her desk as I remained standing."Take a seat", she said and I complied.
"Now Damon, first of all I would sincerely like to apologize for my unprofessional conduct in class today, you were right I was deliberately trying to humiliate you to fuel my ego, and I'm sorry" her voice changed from that of a serious strict vibe to more of a sympathetic and apologetic tone.
"As I'm sure you know your dad is one of the major sponsors of Columbia university which controls this cram school and as such, I was informed by my superiors to personally monitor your progress. I'm sure you're mature enough to understand what I'm driving at, all you have to do is come out with good grades and your admission into Columbia university is practically guaranteed, and we both won't have any problems. I'm very sure you understand me and once again I apologize for my attitude in class today." She said
'So now she plays the victim card… I'm not buying it.' I thought to myself.
"Mrs Clinton, with all due respect, once again I am perfectly capable of handling my life myself and I do not need pity from you or from anyone else, especially my father who has practically been absent in every area of my life. I can understand you're merely trying to save your job and I can assure you that you won't have any problems from me from now on, as long as you mind your business. If that's all I'll be taking my leave". I said standing up and leaving the room as she simply watched me leave.
Leaving her office, I felt so alive as the power balance had clearly been in my favor, and I savored the sense of control I had.
As I walked through the hallways, my mind wandered towards our conversation and towards the underlying factor that kept bothering me…my father.
I had few words to say about him, except for the fact that my hatred for him grew on a daily basis.
The fact that he was interested in my admission was laughable,and simply meant he had something to benefit from it, as he would never involve himself in something if he didn't expect to profit from it.
Only four weeks to my final exam, things were starting to get very interesting and I couldn't help but smile as I watched the events unfold.
'It might be time to visit home soon, what a reunion that would be' I thought, a sinister looking smile creeping up the side of my cheeks.