Zane paid little attention to Sanjay after closing his bedroom door. Instead, he focused on the task at hand: using the inheritance book. Just like the one the tower offered him, the pages contained a complex spell diagram that made Zane dizzy after looking at it for too long. By now, he understood that mages had many ways to prevent others from learning their spells, and the tower was very strict about students who tried to use their good memory to steal knowledge they didn't pay for. There are countless posts about students who were suddenly summoned by their professor and had their memories wiped clean.
The Elven language was beautiful, almost sounding like song or poetry. As a result, it heavily utilizes the throat and diaphragm, which gave Zane a bit of trouble at first. Page after page, information about vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation entered Zane's mind. Unlike the first time he used an inheritance book, his soul and mental energy were much higher, so he could absorb even more information without suffering any injuries. Still, out of caution, he stopped after two hours; he decided to divide the inheritance's usage into two-hour sections with breaks in between.
Sunday, Day 30, Zane woke up at 8 AM, and after taking care of his hygiene, he took the elevator to room F123. He knocked on the door a few times, and two minutes later, he sensed someone staring at him.
"Who is it?"
"I'm Zane — Ziyad's cousin."
"Oh."
The door opened, and a tall black man in shorts with no shirt welcomed him. "You can wait for him here," the tall man said before walking back to his room. Zane wanted to ask where Ziyad was, but seeing how the man was probably just woken up, he decided not to bother him.
"His mana is green. Is this natural energy?" Zane thought as he watched the tall man's back. Knowing his stare might be detected, he broke eye contact and focused on his surroundings. The room had the same design as his, down to the red wall color scheme. So, he sat at the dining table and waited.
Three minutes later, the door opened, and a handsome man holding a tray of food walked into the room. Unlike Zane, who was starting to grow his hair, Ziyad had short hair, crisp and lined up with a fade, and a well-trimmed goatee. His most prominent feature was the sharp jaw that made him look very serious and authoritative — that is, until he smiled. His smile was warm and refreshing, and it could easily spark trust. The sharp contrast between his usual serious face and his smile was a bit jarring, but Zane was used to it.
Ziyad put the plate on the table and immediately went for a hug. "Z, how have you been?"
"I've been good," Zane said while returning the affection. "What about you, Commander? You look way bigger than I remember."
"I've indeed put on a couple of pounds of muscle," Ziyad said, nodding. " Sit. I thought you might not have a chance to eat breakfast, so I brought you some."
"Thanks," Zane nodded while thinking that Ziyad was still as accommodating as always. Removing the lid, Zane saw that it was waakye, a high-protein breakfast of red beans and rice, accompanied by salad, boiled egg, plantain, spaghetti, meat, and a side serving of shito. Zane didn't hesitate to dig in, and Ziyad joined him.
"I was looking forward to seeing you at last year's ceremony."
"To be honest, I wasn't in the mood for a large gathering," Zane said. He did not want to see all those pitying eyes at the ceremony, so he skipped it.
"Understandable," Ziyad said, nodding. He knew how prideful his cousin was, so his decision made some sense. The two spent the next hour talking and catching up; they hadn't met for more than six years. Although Ziyad wanted to visit Zane in prison, the latter adamantly refused, so this was their first meeting since that incident. Their conversation was wide-ranging: from what Ziyad had been up to in the past half-decade, to the tower, and finally, the Shaman Order.
"Commander, can I ask you a somewhat personal question?"
"Why are you being so distant? Come on."
"What's your mental energy level?"
"0.87."
Zane took a deep breath. However, he calmed down after remembering Ziyad's case was unique: "What did you start with?"
"0.5."
"You had your [Initiation Ceremony] at 16, right? So, that means it took you 10 years to reach 0.5. Is this the typical speed of Earth Shamans?"
"The elders said I was gifted, so this speed is probably not the standard," Ziyad explained.
"Really? No wonder magic is considered a dying art on Earth," Zane uttered.
"You have no idea," Ziyad sighed.
"What's your mana? I mean, nature energy. Wait, do you use nature energy or spiritual energy?"
"Nature energy, and it's 0.48."
"Damn. At this rate, you'll probably reach the 1-pulse stage before the end of the year."
"Probably not. My teacher advised me only to try until both my mental and nature energy reach 0.9. And while I'm confident about the former, the same can't be said about the latter."
"It's good that you have the forewarning to wait, but the same can't be said for other Shamans," Zane added. The ascension requirements for Shamans are the reverse of mages: they need 0.9 mental energy and 0.7 nature energy. Zane doesn't doubt there are other Shamans with a similar situation and talent to Ziyad, so it's hard to say whether one of them would hesitate to condense their first pulse.
"True."
The two talked about the possible ramifications of a 1-ring transcendent appearing so soon in the training for half an hour before it was time for Zane to leave for his guild missions. So, they exchanged soul crests and promised to keep in contact before separating. After a grueling day of horrible missions, Zane returned to his dorm and immediately began using the two Astral Guide Potions.
Teacher Lucy showed up again and had deep conversations with him in Elvish while correcting his pronunciation and grammar. Zane had waited until he had absorbed all the knowledge from the inheritance to ensure he took full advantage of the Astral Guide Potion; he wanted to master everything with one potion and leave the other for personal use. Unfortunately, he ended up needing both ot them, which made him suspect Professor Burbank had predicted this.
Monday arrived, and the recruits began learning about common magical herbs and ores found across the Astral Cosmos. Although most dimensions are unique, when mana interacts with earth veins, the minerals and flora created share an odd similarity across all dimensions. Even Earth, which almost ran out of mana before the tower appeared, used to contain those fundamental minerals and herbs.
In the afternoon, Zane visited the [Haircare Club] to buy a potion to help him grow his hair. He didn't choose the type that could instantly grow his hair; instead, he selected the nurturing kind, the one that provided his hair with all the nutrients to aid his hair in growing strong and healthy. As a semi-shaman, he understood that some things were better off being natural.
The afternoon was time for the analytic club, and as Professor Malida had previously warned, she began to speak a lot of Elvish as she delved deeper into the concept of Poly Circle Matrix; she also talked about Elven Runes, which Zane had learned about the previous day after Professor Burbank recommended a book on the topic. Less than 10 minutes after class started, the two Germans left, leaving Zane and Kofo, the Nigerian. Zane sighed to himself, thinking how close he was to choosing that path.
"Mr. Skylar, stay. I want to speak with you," Professor Malida said after the lecture. The students glanced at Zane while muttering to themselves. Many didn't hide their disdain or lower their voice when voicing their opinion that he was about to be expelled. Zane calmly waited until everybody left before walking in front of the professor's desk.
"What is your objective in staying in this program?" Professor Malida asked.
"Huh?" Zane uttered. "I —"
"The others have already left. Mr. Kofo came to make connections, and now that he has succeeded, he probably won't show up again. But what about you? Are you staying out of pure defiance?"
"Professor, I'm here to learn."
Professor Malida glanced at him without saying a word. Zane understood what she was insinuating, so he swiftly explained: "Truly, I am."
Professor Malida frowned. "You speak Elvish? How?"
"Professor Burbank sponsored me," Zane replied, still using Elvish.
"I see." The professor nodded. "And you're sure you want to invest all these resources in this club?"
"I do. Anyway, it doesn't matter if I fail this time — I can try next time, and I'll have an advantage then. Wait, I can still try if I fail the entrance exam, right?"
"You are allowed three attempts," Professor Malida said, nodding. "However, after the first one, our club activity is no longer provided for free."
"That's a relief," Zane exhaled. As for the price required to continue club activity? He was not surprised. By now, he understood these mages' greed for money and resources was no different from that of any capitalists.
"Are you not mad you're wasting one of your attempts?"
"I don't think it will be a waste."
"You realized you are skipping a lot of steps, right?" Professor Malida asked. "August's courses are general courses to teach the recruits the basics. In September, after the third shift, you can take specialized classes, which include magic theory. And only after mastering that subject will you barely qualify to try the Analytic Association."
"I had a feeling this might be the case."
"Do you still insist on continuing this course?"
"Why not?"
"Are you a fool?" the professor asked directly.
"Not at all."
"Then, why? I found your behavior puzzling. Wouldn't it be better to do things the normal way?"
"I just found it interesting to learn an advanced concept first, then go back to simple ones and learn by comparison. It's a great method to accelerate the learning process — well, at least for people who can suffer through the mental torture of questioning your intelligence and maybe even your sanity."
"What an odd human you are."
"Really? I don't think so. I'm sure many others also enjoy a challenge."
Professor Malida paused. "That's true." She knew a few Earthlings had indeed joined the most challenging clubs, such as the Saint Healer Institute or the [Messengers of Light], and also refused to give up, just like Zane. Some people just enjoy a challenge; they want to defy the odds. Of course, some people also do it out of desperation.
"Very well, Mr. Skylar," Professor Malida said. "I don't know if you'll regret your choice, nor is it my place to comment on your decision. Now that I know your intention, I won't say anything else. I hope the Arcane Truth can bless you so I can continue to be your professor after the three-month deadline."
"Thank you, professor."