68 Preliminaries [1]
"Today is July 24. All of you know what that means right?"
Vanessa walked around the podium, staring at each of her students' bewildered faces.
The fact that they had no idea made her sigh in disbelief.
"Haa… Do none of you read the Academy's curriculum?"
All of a sudden, a certain student raised their hand.
"Raven?"
It was Raven.
Standing up, all eyes fell on Raven. Even Brandon wasn't an exception.
"This week is the preparation for the preliminary exams for next week."
Raven nodded to himself with a smile after uttering those words.
What a teacher's pet.
The bewildered gazes of the students contoured into a fearful expression.
And then…
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…"
"Shit, I haven't prepared."
"Does anyone have the past test questionnaires from the second years?"
Chaos ensued. A sudden wave of panic swept through the lecture room like wildfire.
Urgent whispers filled the lecture room. Widened eyes darted around searching desperately for an exit.
As the students continued to panic, Vanessa's hushed voice rang.
"Quiet."
As soon as those words left her mouth, all of the students abruptly settled down.
"Good."
Nodding, Vanessa extended her hand forward towards the white circular device in front of her.
Click—
As soon as she did, a familiar hologram materialized from behind her.
Pursing her lips, she then went on to explain.
"The written exam will be split into four parts. [Mana Theory], [Magic Application], [History], and [Wraiths]."
Listening to Vanesa, Brandon let out a sigh.
Truth be told, he was already aware of the upcoming exam.
But in the first place, he didn't need to study that much.
Compared to the start of the semester, Brandon now had an ability to aid him.
His trump card.
[Accelerated Cognition]
Which is why he had let Vanessa's voice out the other ear as he stifled a yawn.
"Huaam…"
Noticing it, Raven turned towards him and opened his mouth.
"You seem confident."
"I am."
Raven widened his eyes and scoffed lightly at Brandon's reply.
"Lucky… I've been preparing for the past five weeks. I don't even think it's enough yet."
'Is this guy serious?'
He knew Raven was quite the diligent student.
But seeing it up close and personal made him secretly knit his brow.
He had seen his fair share of diligent students back in his old world.
'But this…'
It basically meant that Raven had been preparing for the exams, a week after the semester started.
'Yet this guy still isn't confident?'
How absurd.
***
After the lectures ended, Rachel immediately went back home to study.
Just like Raven, she was quite the diligent student as well.
But unlike Raven, she had only prepared for two weeks.
For her it still wasn't enough.
Behind her was Brandon, seated on the couch.
The two would often visit each other whenever they were free.
After all, their units were directly facing each other.
Rachel didn't live with anyone. And though Brandon lived with his sister, Belle would often come home late due to her duties as the Student Council President.
As such, they would take turns visiting each others' unit.
For today, it was Rachel's turn to be visited.
Glancing behind her, Brandon seemed to be reading a book about music.
But why music when it wasn't related to academics at all?
She wasn't sure just how smart Brandon actually was.
But from what she remembered, Brandon was ranked pretty low at the start of the semester.
Since Brandon was competent in magic, then there was only one reason as to why that happened.
He must've scored ridiculously low on the first test.
Yet for some reason, Brandon seemed like he didn't care.
Was he actually that negligent with his studies?
Shrugging, Rachel continued to fill the answer sheets.
Whatever Brandon was doing was out of her business.
If he fails, then it would help her shoot to the top of the rankings.
But…
Admittedly, she was curious.
Why does he seem so confident?
Does he want to get expelled or something?
Which is why she glanced back at him.
"Aren't you going to study?"
Brandon lowered his book and locked his gaze with her.
"Already did."
"Hm? Prove it."
"Do I have to?"
"Not really."
There was no need for it. Rachel just wanted her curiosity to be resolved.
But it seemed like Brandon had already prepared.
Just in the nick of time, Rachel was actually struggling with the current question on her sheet paper.
'Ah.'
Turning towards him again, she pursed her lips.
"Since you've already finished studying, could you help me out?"
Lowering his book, Brandon frowned.
"No I'm serious, I've hit a wall. I can't get past this question."
This was good.
If Brandon had really prepared, then he would be able to prove it if he actually resolved Rachel's question.
It was a win-win situation for Rachel.
Sighing, Brandon put down his book and sat beside her.
Grabbing the answer sheet, Brandon thoroughly scanned it.
"Hm…"
"So?"
"Hold on."
Currently, Rachel was having trouble with the [Wraiths] category.
Though the book provided vivid descriptions about Wraiths, how to fight them and such. It was quite difficult for Rachel–who had never seen a Wraith or a Wraithbound in the first place.
All of a sudden, Brandon grabbed a book–specifically—about Wraiths.
"Hey, no chea—"
Before she could finish, Brandon placed a finger on her mouth, silencing her.
Flip–
Flipping the book, Brandon's eyes thoroughly scanned its contents.
But for some reason, he was continuously flipping the pages.
Flip– Flip– Flip–
Rachel's eyes widened in confusion.
It was just like back in the bookstore, where Brandon was skimming everything.
No, he was skimming way too fast. His eyes were darting way too fast as well.
'What sort of….?'
Clamp–!
Closing the book, Brandon turned his attention back towards the answer sheet.
Rachel was quite taken aback. It took Brandon a total of eight seconds to finish the thick textbook.
Did he even read all that?
All of a sudden, Brandon started filling down the answer sheet.
"What are you—"
Rachel's eyes widened once again.
Tak. Tak. Tak.
And before she knew it....
"Done."
"..."
Rachel immediately grabbed the answer sheet.
Scanning, the entire sheet really was filled in.
But were they correct?
She had to check.
As if her mind was read, Brandon's voice reached her ears.
"They're all correct. You can confirm it with the book."
At that, Rachel grabbed the book and flipped it open to confirm his statement.
And to her surprise, he was right.
Each and every question was filled in correctly.
Abruptly turning towards him, Rachel pursed her lips.
"How did you—"
"Secret."
Brandon flashed her a smirk, motioning his finger in front of his mouth.
All of a sudden, Brandon walked towards the piano on the corner and sat down on the seat.
Rachel was proficient with the piano. Which is why she had joined the Musical Magic and Harmony elective.
But…
'Does he even know how to play…?'
Brandon then pointed towards the music book he had left on the table.
"I've been trying to learn with that book over there."
"That's not enough though?"
"I know."
Brandon tapped on the first key, then glanced back towards her.
"Which is why I'll try to put it to the test."
"..."
Tum~
He tapped on another key.
Tum~ Num~
And another…
Tum~
Then another…
Num~
Until the music started playing.
Rachel's eyes shot wide open.
The musical piece that Brandon was currently playing was a piece that Rachel found difficult to master.
No, she wasn't even confident that she could actually play it without making any mistakes.
Though Brandon was making a few mistakes here and there.
But for some reason...
'He's not using any music sheets....'
As if he had already memorized the entire piece.
The silence that once filled the room was now drowned out with Brandon's piano playing.
Tum~
At that, Brandon tapped the final key, signaling the end of the piece.
Turning around, Brandon glanced at her once again.
"How was it? My fingers were quite stiff—"
"How did you—Ukh!"
Before Brandon could finish, Rachel immediately rushed towards him.
Thud—!
Rachel tripped on her own foot and fell over Brandon, causing him to fall off the seat with her landing on top of him.
Their faces inched close.
"Hoo...."
Too close, to the point where Rachel could feel his warm breath.
The two's eyes widened in shock.
Ba… Thump!
Her heartbeat quickened, and she could feel her face starting to get hot.
Silence filled the room, as neither could utter any words.
But that was until….
Knock–! Knock—!
Someone suddenly knocked on the door.
The two immediately snapped out of it and abruptly stood up.
A muffled voice then reached their ears from behind the door.
—Rachel? Is Brandon here?
It was Belle.
Rachel was unable to speak due to the shock.
Brandon answered for her, stuttering.
"A-ah, yeah, Sis. I'm here."
—Okay, just letting you know I'm home. I'll be sleeping immediately, so please try to be quiet when you enter the room.
"Sure."
Turning towards Rachel, Brandon spoke up.
"I should get going now."
Not meeting his gaze, Rachel pursed her lips.
"Y-yeah."
Nodding, Brandon headed towards the door and left the room.