Chapter 647: Combining Efforts - 647
"You think so?" Skymender asked.
"Indeed. Charles has a photographic memory, meaning he can remember everything. Before, he had slacked and relied only on his memory to get this far, but it seems that he has realized the difference between comprehension and memorization."
Skymender nodded. He had come to the same conclusion.
"But I am confident of winning against Charles alone. Why would I work with you, a stranger?"
The woman sighed. "I did not come expecting you to easily agree. So I've brought information, and as our alliance progresses, I can give you more and more."
"What information?" Skymender asked.
"This will be my initial payment. This is not the first Imperial Scholar Camp to ever be held."
Skymender looked at her with surprise.
"Neither is it my first time attending." She said.
"How is this useful information?" Skymender asked.
"Because although there was a first place winner last time, he did not technically win. In addition, with my experience last time, I can provide valuable information. Of course, just about everything has been different so far, but the information I can give you is not limited to this. Work with me, and more information is yours."
Skymender could tell her thoughts. Whether or not she was confident in winning against Charles, being first place was not the only condition to winning. In that case, maybe she was trying a different method. Regardless, this alliance seemed as if it would benefit him.
He was about to speak, when a plate landed in front of him.
"We can finish speaking after I'm done." Skymender said.
He took off his mask and began to eat.
In front of him was a burger with some red sauce on it. He picked it up and took a bite.
As soon as his mouth touched the sauce, he could feel the raw spice coming from it. He paused instantaneously, sitting the burger down on the plate. Just as he finished doing so, he began to violently cough. He could barely handle spice even when he did not have breathing problems much less now.
The chef looked surprised, as well as the woman.
"Did you make it even spicier, Master Chef Garb?"
"No. I guess he really can't handle spice, huh."
Skymender did his best to stop himself from coughing, but his throat had been agitated. He got up and walked off to the side, where he took a vial of poison and broke it open. The gas traveled up entering his nose.
He suddenly felt as if his throat was cleared and the spice was gone.
This was something he had accidentally discovered. After becoming immune to the poison, it began to benefit him whenever his throat was acting up.
With a deep breath, all the trouble was gone.
He continued to breathe in the gas until it was gone.
He returned to the table. "I should probably eat something else."
The chef nodded and threw out another patty.
The woman looked at him with curiosity. "What exactly was that?"
"Old injury, don't worry about it."
She looked at him for a moment before ignoring it.
With his mask on, Skymender's breathing eventually reached a completely normal level.
"How exactly do you want to cooperate?" Skymender asked.
"It is simple. Study together and combine our knowledge, or simply sabotage Charles. Perhaps we can do both."
"Will the Imperial scholar allow such actions?"
"In the last Imperial Scholar Camp, I watched two people fight to near death, and the Imperial Scholar never said a word about it."
"When exactly was the last Imperial Scholar Camp?"
"Ten years ago. The last one should have been the first since the Imperial Scholar had just turned sixty. Before that, he wouldn't have been old enough to think about a successor."
Skymender nodded. "What is the rate at which you will give me information?"
"Whenever we successfully beat Charles."
"Are you really that worried about him?"
The woman looked at him seriously. "A photographic memory is the same as cheating. He can do what we do with just a fraction of the effort. Since he has also begun to comprehend what he memorizes, the odds of one of us coming out on top, even together, is small."
At this time, her food came.
She stopped talking and began to eat. Skymender watched as his food was prepared, eventually eating a delicious burger.
Before leaving, the woman set up a time to meet here again.
"Tomorrow at eight. If you show up, I'll take that as acceptance. By the way, my name is Miria. It was nice to meet you, Skymender."
Skymender nodded as he left.
When he returned to his housing building, he did not enter his room. Instead, he spoke to a lady at the front desk.
"Hello. I have twenty points. I'd like to move my room."
She nodded. "Go ahead. You can move a floor up, Skymender."
Skymender nodded and returned to his old room, packing everything up and taking it with him as he walked up the stairs.
He found a room with a nice view and made it his. Upon entering, he saw a vast difference. There was much more open space, natural light, and even more appliances.
He sat everything down and found his bed. It was bigger, softer, and overall nicer.
Skymender studied before falling asleep. The next day, as usual, he went to class. He learned a lot. Afterwards, he met Miria at the same restaurant.
They arrived around the same time, and both took out their notes. Going over them as the show went on, they found that it was actually quite useful. They were not perfect, and it was natural to miss something every now and then.
In addition to that, the way one interprets things can be different from others. By comparing notes and studying together, they essentially had two perspectives instead of one.
Whether it would be enough to compare to Charles' photographic memory or not was yet to be determined.
A week passed, and the last day of the medical section was upon them.
"This section went faster due to our previous study of biology. The test will be tomorrow. Good luck."
Chapter 648: Three Way Race - 648
After class was dismissed, at the same time as usual, Skymender and Miria met up at the restaurant.
They studied intensely while Chef Master Garb made their food in the background, as enthusiastic as ever.
They eventually ate and went their separate ways.
The next day, Skymender went to the Education building.
He entered the room and sat down, waiting for the Imperial Scholar to arrive. The Imperial Scholar arrived at the same time as always.
"Alright. Everyone follow me."
Skymender stood up and the class was led through the doors.
They walked through the hallway for a while before entering a room they had never entered before. Inside were a bunch of people laying on beds, medical equipment, and doctors.
"For today's test, I moved a hospital here. You all will take a piece of paper and examine people's conditions. You will get points based on whether or not you correctly identified what was wrong with the patient. You can also get bonus points for providing methods to cure or help a patient."
He handed them all a piece of paper and a writing utensil, sending them off. Skymender went around as fast as he could, identifying conditions and the remedies for those conditions.
After two hours passed, Skymender heard the Imperial Scholars voice. The test was over, and they all returned.
"You will get your scores tomorrow. Go on."
Skymender left.
He did not meet up with Miria as there was nothing to study at the moment. Instead, he simply walked around the Imperial Scholar Camp, looking around.
As he did so, he ran into a familiar face.
It was Charles.
They walked towards each other on a narrow street. It was more than big enough for two people to walk side by side, but it forced the both of them to notice each other.
Charles spoke. "Skymender. I hope you did well on this test."
"Likewise." Skymender responded.
"I sure hope that you don't begin to lose already. Otherwise, the Imperial Scholar Camp would no longer be as interesting."
"I'll hold on, don't worry." Skymender said.
Though some of their words were said nicely, they looked at each other coldly.
"I heard you've been hanging out with Miria. Do you have a crush?" Charles said.
"She's twice my age. I'll pass. Besides, she came to me. I guess she's worried about you. If she didn't offer me information, I wouldn't have agreed. After all, I don't need help to win against you."
Charles laughed. "Don't speak too much. Your throat might act up."
Skymender smiled below his mask and took out a vial. "Would you like a throat like mine? I can give it to you."
Charles looked at the liquid surprised. He naturally did not dare to agree.
Skymender stepped forward, beginning to walk past him.
Charles' leg moved, nearly tripping Skymender. "Oops."
Skymender let a double sided vial out of his clutch. "Oops."
The vial smashed on the ground, corroding it immediately. Charles backed up in surprise and fear.
"Be careful. Next time, who's to say it won't drop on you."
Charles did not say a word as Skymender left. His impression of Skymender had completely changed.
When they first met, he had tried getting to know him. Later, he viewed Skymender as a threat, someone nearly equal to him.
Finally, he viewed Skymender as a dangerous enemy.
Unknowingly, he had put Skymender and him at equal levels in his mind.
The same could not be said for Skymender, who viewed Charles as an arrogant brat relying on his talent to succeed.
Skymender continued to look around, but didn't find any really interesting places. The only one worth noting that he could actually enter was something called a trampoline park. He had a bit of fun there.
Eventually, he returned to his room and relaxed. With its increased size and the gentle light of the setting sun that came through the window, Skymender felt at peace.
He took a book and read it while there was still light. This did not last long, and the sun soon fell. Skymender went to sleep early, getting more sleep than usual.
He arrived at the Education building on time, and the Imperial Scholar entered at 8 AM sharp.
He did not waste a moment, writing names from the bottom up.
Third was Miria. Only Skymender and Charles remained.
However, the Imperial Scholar did not write a name. Instead, he erased the 2 and wrote a one. He then wrote Skymender and Charles. It did not matter the order.
"Somehow, two managed to tie with each other this time. The system wasn't designed for ties, and the odds of it are very low, but whatever, it happened. First place gets five points, third place gets one."
Skymender's points reached 29, while Charles' points went higher as well. How high exactly, Skymender was unaware.
He did not remain unaware for long as the Imperial Scholar, still on the ladder, moved over to the side of the board, where the leaderboard rankings were.
He started from the bottom up, changing either names or points. The changes being made were for the entirety of the medical section.
Skymender was in first place with 29. Charles was just behind with 27.
Miria, though in third, was further behind with 25 points.
It felt like a three way race, with only two possible winners. Of course, those behind were not very far behind and should not be completely counted out, but the odds of another contender emerging was very small.
The Imperial Scholar began to talk. "English and Science. We are done with both for now. Around a month and a week has passed since the start of the Imperial Scholar Camp, and I have seen great improvement from everyone. Next, we will begin the Math section. Beware, things will get complicated here. Math is the foundation of everything, the language of the Universe so to speak. When we are done, you will have completely transformed. Let's begin."
The Imperial Scholar started from the beginning, with addition and subtraction.
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