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.
Chapter 644: Arcade - 644
The test had barely lasted an hour, and everybody once again entered the lecture room.
The Imperial Scholar made an announcement. "It will take longer to grade all of these tests due to open-ended answers and only one reviewer, but I will have it done by tomorrow. In the meantime, consider the rest of today a free day."
Without another word, the Imperial Scholar left the room.
Skymender got up and left.
A free day wasn't necessarily a good thing since there wasn't much to do, but after thinking he felt that he might as well do something.
Over the past few days of studying space, Skymender had amassed two more points, for a total of five points.
This really wasn't a significant amount and barely opened up any locations, but there was one that Skymender decided to go to.
It was known as an arcade.
There were games to play there and food to eat. Essentially, it was a lounging area with a lot to do.
Skymender had nothing to study and no meaningful activity to take part in, so he wandered around and once again located the arcade.
As he stepped inside, he noticed multiple stands with people standing at them. When they saw him, they visibly perked up.
"Finally, a new person."
"It's been ages since I've had something to do."
Skymender heard murmurs from multiple vendors.
He looked around as he walked down the middle aisle.
These vendor stands had mini-games, and he assumed that the things around them were prizes.
He looked at a few, and since he had nothing to do, he played some games. Some of the games were throwing rings on bottles, or catching fish with thin paper on a stick.
Some used weapons to test skill. He won a few prizes, and found himself carrying a variety of soft, fake animals.
He walked past the vendors and found a larger area with multiple lanes. According to the sign above, this was a bowling alley.
Someone stood to the side, and upon seeing Skymender, spoke. "Hello, sir. Would you like to learn how to bowl?"
Skymender nodded. He had never heard of this game.
The lady went on to demonstrate the goal, as well as how to keep score.
"If you want, I can keep score for you while you play. Although this is usually a multiple person game, playing solo is possible."
After hearing everything, Skymender grabbed a bowling ball and slid it down the lane. The first throw missed completely, landing in something called the gutter.
The second throw landed better, knocking off a few pins. After that, he got the hang of it. Strikes and spares were a common occurrence, shocking the lady keeping score.
"You are quite talented, sir."
Skymender just nodded. After all, it was hard to talk with his throat injury.
Eventually, he completed a game.
"Very well done sir, I've never seen such high scores on a first game. You should consider being a professional. From what I understand, this game is slowly gaining popularity in the Imperial Capital."
Skymender just shook his head. "Thank you for your assistance."
With that, he began to move on.
Suddenly, he heard clapping.
Looking to the side, he saw a familiar face. It was one of his fellow students, a woman with black hair, red lipstick, and a red dress.
Skymender looked at her once before ignoring her.
However, she spoke, clearly having no intentions of letting him leave peacefully.
"You're good, for a first timer. What do you say we play a game? See who's better."
Skymender looked at her again and spoke. "I'll pass."
He began to walk away when she spoke again, her voice different.
"Please just play a round with me. Nobody else comes here and I'm forced to compete with only myself. Come on. Just one game."
Her tone was completely different, nearly pleading.
Skymender, seeing the distressed look on her face, sighed. He had no interest in playing at all, but he felt that he would be in for more and more talk if he disagreed.
"One game. Don't talk to me anymore regardless of the outcome."
She nodded quickly.
Skymender turned around and stood at the entrance to one of the lanes.
The lady to the side was clearly excited. "Finally, a competition. I thought the day would never come."
Skymender started first, bowling a strike on his very first turn. The girl went after him, similarly bowling a strike.
On Skymender's second turn, he hit eight the first time and two the second time for a spare.
On her second turn, the girl bowled another strike.
They went back and forth, their scores staying quite similar. Finally, the tenth turn came. Skymender was down by 4 points, a tiny amount for his second game, especially since this girl had clearly played a lot.
The tenth turn was different than the others. If he bowled perfectly, he could score three strikes in one round.
He threw one. Strike. Another, Strike. The last, seven pins.
The girl was clearly nervous. She threw one. Strike. Another, five pins. Another, spare.
She stomped her feet. She had lost.
Skymender began to walk away. The girl wanted to say something, but she had reached an agreement with Skymender. She swallowed her loss and started a new game by herself, determined to practice.
Skymender walked deeper into the building. He found multiple games and multiple different sports. He played around for a while before eventually returning to the entrance. He played a few more games at the vendor stands and ate before returning to his room with his hands full of soft, fake animals.
Skymender quickly fell asleep from all the games he had played. He kind of had fun, but most importantly, he had passed time quickly. The next morning, he woke up and silently made his way to the Education building.
Though everyone arrived, the room stayed in complete silence.
Only when the Imperial Scholar came in did everyone begin to focus.
He wrote the names from the bottom up.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
stone 
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