Chapter 642: Three Branches - 642
In the places above him were some of the oldest people attending the Imperial Scholar Camp.
One was almost elderly, at least 40 years old. Another was most likely in her twenties. The last seemed like he had just become an adult, but was still rather old compared to others.
Nobody had ever claimed that the Imperial Scholar Camp was fair. It did not care about the gaps in age and the differences that would bring, just the abilities of those in it.
Most of the students were indeed not adults, but the three at the top of the list were.
The Imperial Scholar spoke.
"Number one gets three intelligence points. Number two gets two intelligence points. Number three gets one intelligence point. There are no rewards for those below that."
Skymender sighed, but it was not completely unexpected.
"That is the end of today's session. Same time tomorrow."
This marked the end of their day, as well as the end of the first test. Skymender returned to his house, eventually ate, fell asleep, and woke up the next day.
Class began as usual, but the subject was different.
"Since the Imperial Scholar Camp will only last around three months, we will not spend too much time on anything. That goes especially for English, the language everybody already knows. Next, we will begin to understand the fundamentals of science."
Skymender perked up. This was his specialty.
"Science is one of the most important things to possibly learn about, for it is not simply a category of knowledge, but encompasses the entire idea of human advancement. Every breakthrough, be it in technology, medicine, or war, are all based on science. In a way, everything else such as Math, English, and Reading, all build up to science."
The class paid great attention. His words were incredibly attention drawing.
"There are many studies of science. You can study space, earth, technology, medicine, and even poison."
As he said poison, he looked at Skymender. It was only for a moment before he turned back.
"We naturally cannot focus on so many categories, and those five are just a few of the many. Instead, I will teach you the basics of most of them, and as a class, you will pick three to focus on. Let's start with the study of space, one of the less known categories."
Everyone listened with their full attention as the Imperial Scholar spoke. It slowly got late, but he had no intention to stop, still going on as if he had infinite energy.
Windows stopped showing brightness, and only darkness remained. The room was lit by a bunch of candles, which a few people came in and set up.
On the Imperial Scholars desk was a lamp that gave off the most light in the room.
Finally, he stopped.
"That covers four common branches of science. We will continue tomorrow. Make sure you study your notes."
Skymender looked down at his notebook, which had tens of completely full pages. He sighed and prepared to stay up late. It was already dark outside.
He didn't even return to his room first, instead stopping by a restaurant.
As he ate, he went over his notes, doing his best to commit it all to memory.
He noticed other people in the same restaurant doing the same thing. In fact, among everyone inside, only one person was not eating while studying. Instead, he was fully focused on his meal.
It was the person only a year older than Skymender who had spoken to him before. If he recalled correctly, his name was Charles.
Skymender wasn't sure why he wasn't looking over his notes, but he also didn't care enough to think about it.
On the previous leaderboard, Charles had gotten sixth place. It was good, especially for his age, but it was still below Skymender.
Skymender soon finished eating and returned to his room, where he continuously looked over his notes. After a while, he went to bed. The next morning, he returned.
When the Imperial Scholar entered, he did not waste even a second before getting straight into it.
Everybody knew they were in for a long lecture, but none dared to slack. That was except for Charles, who Skymender noticed was not even taking notes.
He had garnered others' attention yesterday as well as today. Skymender only happened to notice his actions today.
It was odd, but Skymender had an idea pop in his head based on everything he had seen from Charles.
"Perhaps he has a perfect memory."
It was something he had heard about while studying in the Imperial Capital, but it was truly one in a million, if not rarer. The simple idea that someone could have it was hard to believe.
However, it would explain why he was in the Imperial Scholar Camp at such a young age. As for Skymender, he had placed first in the intelligence exam during the Noble Gathering.
It was not surprising that he was here.
The class continued just as long as the last, and they had covered a total of eight branches of science.
The next day, and the day after that, it was the same.
Finally, one more day passed. More than a week had gone by since the start of the Imperial Scholar Camp.
"Alright. Yesterday, we finished the twentieth branch of science. Although there are more, these are the most well known and researched."
Behind the Imperial Scholar, on the board, were the names of twenty branches of science.
"Everyone can come up here and put a mark on three different branches. In the end, the top three will be studied."
With his words, everyone got up and walked towards the board.
Skymender, along with everyone else, had already decided the three they wanted to study. His first mark went on the space branch. It was the most interesting and the branch with the most potential.
His second mark went on the physics branch. This studied matter, energy, and motion. A lot of science was deeply rooted into physics. Finally, his last mark went on medicine. He had heard a saying once. A master of medicine is also a master of poison.
He felt it was about time to expand on that.
Chapter 643: Space Branch - 643
Skymender barely had time to reach his seat and sit down before the last mark was added to the board. Although it had yet to be announced, the winners were clear to anyone with eyes.
The Space branch, the Biology branch, and the Medicine Branch.
Two out of Skymenders three choices won, which meant he would at least be able to study a bit of what he wanted to.
"Alright. The first place winner is space. The Second place winner is Biology. The Third place winner is medicine. Medicine and Biology somewhat go together, so we may get through the science segment quicker than expected."
As if prepared, the Imperial Scholar began to talk about space. Giving a background of the world's understanding and further theories.
"There are many theories about aliens and other life in the Universe, but despite observing the surrounding celestial bodies, we have yet to see anything that proves such a theory. Of course, we cannot see very clearly or far, but I am 90% confident that there is no life on our moon. Other than that, I have no clue."
With that sentence, he finished the brief overview of the Space branch. He had already talked about most of it, but he went into more focused detail.
"In connection with that is Biology. Although many people are curious as to what lies beyond our planet, we don't even truly understand what is on our planet. Be it the land, the ocean, or the skies, we have yet to fully explore them. Whether we talk about animals, plants, or perhaps even entire environments, we have yet to see everything."
This was his concluding sentence before sending everyone out. He had spoken solely about the space branch for nearly 5 hours.
The next day, he went into deeper detail. As he spoke about space, days passed. Eventually, two weeks had passed since the start of the Imperial Scholar Camp.
Only then was the section about space finally finished up. Skymender had learned a lot. In fact, a lot felt like an underestimation. His understanding of space had completely undergone a transformation. Everyday he came to the Education building, he spent at least five hours learning from the Imperial Scholar, often more, and then went home and studied more.
The Imperial Scholar began to make an announcement. "Since we have finished the space section, we will now have a mini-test. This one will be worth more intelligence points than the last. It will start tomorrow. Study up."
With this, learning about the space branch of science was finished. Honestly, even within the entire world, there was not much more to learn about the space branch. It was still relatively new and undeveloped, much of it simply being speculation.
What they hadn't learned involved math so complex that not a single person in the room would be able to understand it. If he wanted to teach them that stuff, they would have to learn years of math first.
Skymender left the room, and for every moment possible, he studied. There wasn't much else to do here after all.
The next morning, he came in prepared.
The Imperial Scholar began to speak. "The last test was tested through speaking, as that is the core component of language. This test is about space, and since we can't take it in space, we might as well have a star map."
The Imperial Scholar got off of the stage and walked over to the door. "Everyone follow me."
Without hesitation, everyone got up and began to follow him, Skymender included.
He led them down a long hallway and through double doors. As the doors closed, Skymender saw a large dome above him. On that dome were stars, though fake.
"This is the best that money can get you in the current age. Though it is just a small trick, the stars do really glow."
Skymender could tell that most of the blue space was just wallpaper, but the stars did create a glow that lightened the dark room.
"Sit around the edge of the dome while you take your test. Take a paper and a pencil with you."
The Imperial Scholar had both papers and pencils ready. Skymender took one of each and sat at the edge of the dome.
Looking at the paper, it was numbered one through one hundred with blank sections beside the number.
The Imperial Scholar walked to the middle of the room, where another small dome was. He walked on that dome and stood on top of it, looking around. That dome was designed to look like Earth.
The Imperial Scholar spoke again after everyone got settled.
"What is that star known as?" He pointed his finger towards a random star.
Since this was an accurate star map, and Skymender had both learned and studied a lot, he was able to answer the first question with confidence.
The first twenty-five questions were about random stars and their names. Afterward, the Imperial Scholar changed the category.
He began to ask questions about the math of certain things relating to space.
"How fast does Agnarions comet usually move?"
After another twenty-five questions, the type of question changed once again. This time, he asked open ended questions without a specifically correct answer.
"If you had to pick a star to die on, which one would you choose and why?" He gave more time for such questions.
Like the first of the category, some questions were weird, but all had better and worse answers, though Skymender wasn't sure if he was making the best decisions.
Finally, the last 25 questions were once again about stars, as well as groups of stars and their names.
The final question seemed to be a free point.
"What is the largest known body of space called?"
The answer was naturally the Universe.
As they all left the room and he turned in his answers, Skymender felt more confident than last time.
That was because he had a bit of background knowledge on space. It was not intentionally studied, but acquired through reading fantasy books.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment