Damian's Thought

Selene's expression didn't go unnoticed by Nathan but he figured the former needed time to sort out any of the thoughts so he changed his attention to Professor Damian.

"As I said, this is a bonus question meaning whether you take this doesn't affect the result you had earlier. Think of this as a mere trick question of mine," Professor Damian said as he handed Nathan a paper.

As Nathan looked at the paper that the professor had given, it left him puzzled. Why did the professor give him this kind of problem, he knows because of the knowledge he got that this type of problem is far ahead of the past problems. They are only first-year students, does the professor really need to handle these types of questions?

This bewildered Nathan for a while before realizing the thought of Damian. What he needs now is fame, so there's no harm in doing what the professor is doing.

The thoughts of Damian had been seen through by Nathan; the latter deduced correctly.

Damian wondered early on what brought upon the change of Nathan, when Selene decided to abolish the voting method, he thought that he could use this to test if the rumor is true that Nathan is deliberately controlling his grades.

The first test was just a joke, to lower the two's defenses. If they were affected by it, then it means the probability that they would be able to answer the following questions will drop.

The second test was the start of the real questions. It was a straightforward question on derivatives but since it's a hard subject for others and the students aren't mathematics majors, it would prove to be quite a challenge for the freshmen.

Damian's first thought was that either Nathan wouldn't be able to answer it or he would have a hard time answering it. The result didn't end up as he would've expected though.

It was Selene who had a hard time answering, while Nathan didn't seem to bother and answered quickly.

He noticed that Nathan had already finished and was waiting for Selene to finish. This intrigued Damian, the worst of the rankings was able to beat one of the tops. It wasn't a total shock since the rankings are for the biology department. Damian thought that Nathan should Major in Mathematics, that way he would be able to do his best.

The third test is difficult considering that they are just freshmen that major in biology, but he added it to test how extensive the knowledge of the winner in mathematics is.

Seeing the results of the second test, it was obvious that Nathan would be the only one to solve this, but Damian figured that Nathan would still have a hard time.

The third test ended, the result shocked Damian, he could only think "How far does Nathan's mathematical knowledge go?"

With that question in mind, he picked the bonus question suitable to answer his questions. It was a problem a world-renowned professor gave Damian when he attended some gathering.

He has been racking his mind for weeks, but couldn't get to the final answer. At most he was able to answer 70% of it. Damian wanted to give this question as a joke.

Back to the present.

The students stayed silent and so did the professors as Nathan proceeded to answer. Professor Damian felt proud that Nathan had the courage to answer the problem, but as times passed by, shock crept to his face.

He went behind Nathan's back and checked his answers, it left his eyes wide open. A few more steps and Nathan will finish solving it, it was just too unbelievable that a freshman was able to do this type of calculation.

All of a sudden Nathan stopped and said that he didn't know how to continue and gave up. Damian was puzzled, seeing the progress of Nathan, the latter should be able to finish solving it completely, does Nathan really don't know how to finish it.

Damian still had doubts but considering that even he was unable to answer it completely then it is probable that Nathan really wasn't able to answer the question.

"Amazing! To be honest I, myself, wasn't able to answer it fully myself. I can see within your answer that it is valid and backed up by proof. Though you weren't able to answer it completely, you were able to get the answer closer to me, with that I applaud you." Professor Damian said.

The words of Damian shocked the audience both the students and other professors alike.

Professor Aisha and the other professor were stunned, Nathan was better than Damian in mathematics? The best mathematician in the university?

If a student being better than the best professor is not news, what more if the student is the worst?

The student's shock was no less than that of the professors, they can't believe that the same Nathan who is always in danger of being expelled is now even at the level of the professor. How is such a thing possible, this is reality and not a world from books.

"Don't get too complacent now Nathan, this is just a single question, this doesn't determine your grades, so if you don't want to be dragged to the mud, I suggest that you also lift up your grades in the university."

Nathan nodded silently.

To be honest, he was capable of solving it but seeing the expression of Professor Damian he thought there might be something up with the question. As soon as he dropped his pen, his guess was correct, it was a question that even Professor Damian couldn't solve.

He figured it was a good decision on his part.

It was true that he wanted fame but if he showed that he was able to solve it completely then the professor would take him away from his current course much more fiercely than when he would just answer it subpar.

Considering it was a question that even the professor couldn't solve, it would be a high-class mathematics question, probably at a world-level or for an advanced-professor level mathematician.