Chapter 650: New Leaderboard - 650
At fifth was Miria. At third was Skymender. Second was Luke. At first was Charles. They all shared looks between each other. Although someone besides the four had gotten fourth place, it was unknown whether or not they would remain there.
With the leaderboard updated, the Imperial Scholar passed out another section of the test.
It lasted an hour, and the grading process was relatively quick.
The Imperial Scholar soon updated the leaderboard again.
Miria fourth, Skymender third, Luke second, and Charles first.
Luke glared at Charles for a moment before becoming completely serious.
The next test was handed out. It was unknown how many there were, but logically, it wouldn't exceed eight.
This was the third. The questions were definitely harder, with some that Skymender had never even seen and simply had to guess on.
While the Imperial Scholar taught a lot, he also placed importance on self study and self learning.
Therefore, there were questions on the test that Skymender did not know. This was not simply to cause him to lose points for not knowing it, but to give those who self studied it the opportunity to use what they learned.
The third test soon came to a conclusion. Papers were collected up and answers graded. After a bit longer than last time, the Imperial Scholar changed the leaderboard.
Miria, fourth place, Skymender, third place, Charles, second place, Luke, first place.
Luke and Charles shared a look.
It seemed to be a two way battle at the moment.
Skymender took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
After a while, he opened them.
The next sections would be even harder, and what he had self studied were the harder problems. He still had the chance to surpass them in the coming rounds.
After the fourth test, the rankings were the same.
However, as the fifth test started, there was a clear difference in difficulty. Even on the first question, Skymender had to pause and think.
He began to move through the test swiftly, faster than everyone else. It was not necessarily because he knew it all, but because he had practiced what he had already known so much that his speed was increased, and also because he didn't waste time on questions he didn't know.
After about half of the time passed, Skymender finished. He then went back and did everything he hadn't known off the top of his head, the number of which had continuously grown until the end.
The time soon ended and tests were taken up. When the leaderboards were rewritten, Skymender was in second place, while Luke had actually been knocked back to third place and Charles made it to first once again. Miria stayed firm at fourth.
The sixth test was handed out. It was even harder than the last. The rankings did not change at its conclusion. The seventh test was handed out, and after it was graded, the rankings did not change.
Finally, the eighth test came. It was the hardest by far. It felt like a test filled to the brim with nearly impossible bonus questions.
From the first question, Skymender had a headache. It would be a longshot to get a single question right. He couldn't even tell if the questions were getting harder as he went on. Everything was simply too advanced.
As expected, after the tests were collected and graded, the rankings did not change. Skymender sighed. He had lost to Charles once again. A photographic memory was just too powerful.
"The points gained are as follows. 10 points to first, 5 to second, and 3 to third. Let's return."
They all returned to the classroom and the overall leaderboard was quickly updated.
Charles in first with 43 intelligence points. Skymender in second with 40. Luke in third with 31. Miria in fourth with 30.
It was a close game between Skymender and Charles. However, it seemed that neither Luke nor Miria had a high chance of catching up.
It was getting late, and class was quickly dismissed. Skymender walked towards a different restaurant than usual. It was something he had seen many times, a restaurant requiring 40 points to enter.
He walked through an archway and entered an enclosed yard. Two streams of water flowed at the sides. Even though darkness was approaching, lamps at the side kept everything bright.
He saw fish in ponds and numerous decorations.
He soon entered the main dining area, an outside seating with gentle lights and numerous decorations. A woman came up to him holding a menu.
"Welcome, sir. What can I get for you to drink?"
"I'll have water."
She bowed and backed away. Skymender took a look at the menu. He saw rice, sushi, fish, and many other traditional meals.
Just as he decided what he wanted, the woman returned with a refreshing glass of water. After taking a sip, Skymender ordered a variety of sushi and some shrimp fried rice, though he did not believe for a second that a shrimp was actually frying the rice.
The woman took his order and was about to leave when Skymender asked a question.
"Since Master Chef Garb is one of a kind even in a thousand years, why does it take more intelligence points to eat here?"
As if she had already prepared an answer, she responded. "Although Master Chef Garb is without a doubt the greatest cook in the world and it costs a fortune to have him cook here, the intelligence points cost is not decided on that. Instead, it is based on the price of the food itself, the rarity, and the decorations and atmosphere. Master Chef Garb's food is simpler and far more common, while his decorations are relatively few. That is why only one restaurant is above ours in terms of intelligence points."
Skymender looked in the distance, where a tower second in height only to the Education building stood. He had walked past it many times, but he still found it hard to believe the necessary intelligence points to enter.
"The Tower. It costs one hundred intelligence points to enter, the most expensive location in the Imperial Scholar Camp. Nobody has ever entered."
When she said most expensive, she was referring to intelligence points price, not expensive in of itself.
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I pay my respects to Lord Lu as the greatest webnovel of all time, Star Odyssey, concludes.
Chapter 651: The Great Library - 651
"What exactly makes the tower worth 100 intelligence points?" He asked.
"From what I understand, the atmosphere alone qualifies it for such a high price. Sitting above everything, looking down on those below. I imagine the food is rare as well, of course. As for what the menu is, I don't know."
"Alright. Thank you."
The woman bowed and left.
Skymender was soon brought the food he had ordered.
It all tasted good. It could not accurately be compared to Master Chef Garb's cooking simply because it was a different type of cuisine.
Skymender did not know if Master Chef Garb knew how to make sushi, but if he did it would probably taste even better.
Skymender soon left, returning to his room.
The next morning, he returned to the Education building as usual. The Imperial Scholar stood in front of the class and explained the next section.
"We have gone over most of the basic sections that need to be learned as a foundation for everything else, and have also gone deeper into certain studies. Now, as we reach the end of the Imperial Scholar Camp, it is time for everyone to individually choose what they want to learn. The remaining month will go as follows: From now on, there is no more class. Instead, for an hour every other day, each student can come to me under allotted times and receive my full attention and teachings. The great library has opened as of now. The final class is dismissed. Meeting times are posted on billboards around the Imperial Scholar Camp."
With that, he turned around and left.
Skymender had read the introductory booklet, and already knew what the great library was. It was a treasure trove of knowledge and learning. As long as it wasn't classified information, then everything that the Empire knew was within the great library.
Skymender left the Education building, and like almost every other person, made his way to the great library.
Along the way, he stopped and saw a billboard with times and names written on it. Reading it, he found that his first one on one teaching with the Imperial Scholar was scheduled tomorrow at noon.
After memorizing that important piece of information, he walked the rest of the way to the great library.
The building was large and the entrance was wide. Skymender walked through the open doors and found a large map ahead. It had the major sections of study on it. This included science, math, english, and a few more important subsections that could almost be considered major sections of their own.
Skymender naturally headed to the science section. There was another map, and in a corner he saw a section on poison.
He walked through winding bookshelves before eventually finding the poison section. It was small, but there were at least a thousand books.
Like in other sections, he found seats and a few tables, though all of them were small.
Skymender walked around, looking at the books. Most seemed to contain information on various plants, animals, and environments. A few had information on certain combinations and theories. However, it was clear that there were no recipes for poison to be found here.
After all, poison was a very dangerous thing. Information could not be easily spread.
Skymender began to hesitate in his head. He would not be able to make much progress in poison here, simply because it was dangerous. Important information would no doubt be redacted.
After a while, he left the poison section. He even left the science section. He headed to one of the biggest sections, a section that was outside of the major sections and stood alone as an important section.
It was the medical section. He actually saw a few people here. Books lined the walls, stocked up from thousands of authors over hundreds of years.
Although he was not interested in healing or being a doctor, he was interested in poison. It was not impossible to use medicine to create a poison. All it needed was a substance that triggered a reverse response.
He wanted to learn medicine for this reason. It could further his poison arts.
Skymender found another map within the medical section that pinpointed certain information or minor sections within the medical section. He eventually found an area that covered poisons, diseases, and sicknesses. It was a pretty major section within the medical sections, alongside the likes of broken bones and brain injuries.
Skymender went over to the poisons, diseases, and sickness section.
Focusing further, he found books based on poison treatment.
After looking at titles, he chose a rather large book titled, "Snake's Across the World".
It seemed to be a book about different types of snakes and what could be done about their venom.
The book was divided in half, one section being about venomous snakes and the other being about non-venomous snakes.
He skipped past the non-venomous section and made his way to the second half of the book.
The very first snake had dark black scales and an evil look.
"Night-scaled one fang snake." Its name described it quite perfectly.
Its venom could be counteracted by adding a mixture of different liquids, harvested from different plants, and mixing them with the venom in a certain ratio. It was very detailed and Skymender was confident in creating the antidote if he had all of the materials in front of him.
Next was a brown snake that was similarly evil looking.
"Mud Swamp Snapper."
It lived in a non-poisonous swamp and hid under mud, snapping at passing prey. It rarely attacked humans, usually by accident, but when it did, it was deadly. Luckily, an antidote to its poison had been researched, requiring mud that a Mud Swamp Snapper had released its venom into over a period of days.
This was nearly impossible to find naturally, but it could be made by using a captured Mud Swamp Snapper and some collected mud.
Afterwards, the mud would be mixed with healing herbs, liquidized, and ingested.
It caused minor diarrhea afterwards, though it also saved the poisoned individual's life.
The book went deep into detail about every single snake.
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