The Lecture ended on a happy note, and just as Neron was about to leave the hall, I heard his voice.
“Jared Leonard… a word?”
My ears prickled the moment he said this and I faced him nearly instantly. Cocking my head to the side a little, my face showed puzzlement, genuine puzzlement. Still, what kind of student would ignore the call of his lecturer?
I stood from my seat and left the Lecture Hall with Neron Kaelid while the others remained glued to their seats. I could see them all curiously staring at me though, all drawing conclusions in their mind.
There were two major possibilities;
One would be that I was out of line when I spoke. My tone could have been rude, or I may have generally overstepped the Lecturer’s intentions by going further than what was fitting for the class at that exact moment.
The second would be that Neron Kaelid was actually impressed with my answer and wanted to further discuss it.
I hoped it was the latter since my opinion of him would drop if it was the former. There was no way he could reprimand me if he intended for the class to be Interactive, in the first instance. I merely spoke my mind, same as the others.
That was fair enough.
We moved out of the lecture hall, and Neron took me past the yard, in the direction of the staff office, basically a two-minute walk from the Lecture Hall.
I followed him, trailing a step behind him patiently, while still making sure I was by his side, and not directly facing his back.
“That was quite the impressive theory you gave there, Jared. I was impressed.” Neron finally broke the silence.
It was as though he read my mind and decided to give me a straight answer concerning which of the possibilities would play out when he called me. This put me more at ease and I smiled softly.
“Thank you, Professor Neron Kaelid.” I formally replied.
“Please, call me Neron. Professor Neron at most.” He chuckled slightly.
“Aright, Neron. I’ll take you at your offer.”
The Lecturer stopped dead in his tracks the moment I said this and turned to me, displaying an entirely different expression from what I imagined. I also froze for a moment, daunted by his sudden reaction.
Was it surprise? Shock? Maybe. But his awfully cold and pitch-black eyes sent chills down my spine.
“Wow, I’m surprised. I only meant that as a joke, but to think you would seriously address me like that… even going for the most casual option.” Neron burst out laughing, finally breaking apart the tension that was forming in me.
I was already beginning to wonder if I made the wrong call by taking him up on his offer. How was I to know he was just joking.
“You’re really an amusing kid, aren’t you? I mean, I already knew you were strange since I first met you, but now, I know for sure.”
Calling a young person like me strange… how awfully rude of this man. Wasn’t he supposed to cushion his words a little more? Well, of course, I wasn’t really feeling that way.
“You’re also very amusing yourself, Professor. For such a young person to receive such a title… you must be really amazing. You’re plenty strange yourself.” I replied with my own snarky statement.
Surely, he too wouldn’t take offense. After all, I even mixed compliments with it.
“Hahahaha!” He burst out in uncontrollable laughter.
“Haa, as I expected. You’re very amusing. Well, I’m not as amazing as you think, though.” He grinned.
The usually cold and stoic man, who finally displayed good teaching ethics today, and was now showing me an overly bright side I hadn’t seen before… how very weird. The sharp turn in his personality was puzzling, but I wasn’t going to delve into it at the moment.
Looking at him closely as he laughed, I once again took account of Neron’s outfit. It was a simple white shirt, loosened by the wrist, tucked out, and a little too large to be his size. His black trousers went well with the casual black sandals he wore.
Apparently, there was no one around to reprimand him, so he got away with dressing like this to class. His other colleagues were most likely wearing suits and specially woven cloaks. Well, it didn’t bother me in the slightest. Considering the fact that no other lecturer had to teach so many departments consecutively, my respect for Neron was currently above all of them.
“I’d say you’re plenty impressive, though.” I grinned, looking at the man who would be in his late twenties at most.
His youthful exuberance was now clearly on display with his smile. Such a man, full of mystery and intellect. I wondered what his story was.
“Oh? You seem pretty convinced.” Neron replied with a sharp gaze fixated on me.
A part of me wondered if this was really the right move to make, but I shook off my unease. After seeing the state of things, this was the best thing to do.
‘From the moment I realized how messed up our Lower Class system is and what needs to be done, I told myself not to whine any longer!’
My current situation was disadvantageous for me, that much was painfully obvious. Even while waiting for my chance to strike back at the system, I needed to put some things in order.
That was another reason I had stayed in all Neron’s lectures and also made sure to bombard him with my complex theory. It was all to draw his attention toward me. And why would I need to do that?
“Oh, Professor… of course I am.” My smile broadened as I stared straight into his eyes.
In this world, connection was everything! Power was good. Intellect was outstanding! Results were ultimate. However, connection was just as brutal a tool.
“After all, I know you must be very special.”
Neron looked puzzled again, not really understanding what I was referring to. I needed to break it down, didn’t I?
“You have a White Mana Core Grade, don’t you, Professor Neron?”