Inquiry

Everyone else's expressions were similar to Xiao Lin's; they looked at Gu Xiaoyue as if they were looking at a monster. They had just gone through a three-hour Basic Meditation course and already had some inkling as to how complex meditation was compared to what they imagined.

The young teacher had her mouth open so wide that she could practically swallow an entire egg. As a lecturer, she could track the progress of these students, thus making it impossible for Gu Xiaoyue to lie on that particular point. The young teacher took a long time to come back to her senses and was already unsure how to better express herself. Finally, she nodded. "Okay, that's very good! You're Gu Xiaoyue, right? I'll keep you in mind!"

The first lesson on Basic Meditation ended in dramatic fashion. Students left the meditation room in twos and threes, walking together. The afterglow of the setting sun poured on the rows of towering training halls and lent them a touch of magnificence.

Dawn Academy's schedule did not have any night courses, but they also restricted the freshmen from leaving the dormitory. The forum issued a clearly written statement saying that the dormitory would be closed at 7 p.m. every night. Every freshman had to return, as students from the student union would conduct checks everywhere in the school. Anyone who was found loitering around instead of being back in their dorm would be punished through the deduction of redemption points or credits.

Harsh and rigid rules of that sort led everyone to feel like they had returned to their trapped lives in high school. During the previous night, many freshmen expressed dissatisfaction with that issue on the forum once the opening ceremony ended. The academy, whose aim was colonizing an alien world, remained very mysterious to everyone. With their courses filling up practically the entire day, many initially had plans to go around exploring at night, but the rule had shot down all possibility of that happening.

It was only after the first day of lessons was over that many began to understand why the academy made such a rule. Even if they were given free time, the thought of exploring might not even cross their minds after being spent of all their energy.

Having experienced an entire day's worth of courses, the general feeling most the freshmen felt could be summarized in two words: dead tired.

The compulsory courses during the day were still reasonable; many showed great interest in the history of Planet Norma, the place where they stood a chance of going to in the future. They paid attention during those lectures.

However, the afternoon classes were completely different from what everyone imagined them to be. During the opening ceremony, they were motivated by the dean's new world colonization speech and wanted to step into that whole new world as soon as possible.

Everyone rubbed their hands, eager to learn about sword-fighting and magic spells seen only in novels and television, but their tutors doused their excitement with cold water!

Learn sword-fighting? Use magic spells? Sorry to burst their bubble, but they were far from qualified!

To sum up the afternoon's lessons, it was all repetition, repetition, and more repetition with swinging swords, sabers, hammers, and so on. Exercises with that level of monotony drained them of all their physical strength.

Those who took courses like meditation did not fare much better either. Anyone who could enter a meditative state would then become extremely fatigued after three hours of meditation. For those who failed to enter a meditative state, their foremost concern was whether they were suitable for the course.

Dinner on the top floor of the dormitory was as sumptuous as ever, but everyone came back tired and did not have any appetite. Most just ate to fill their stomachs and went straight back to their rooms to rest.

Xiao Lin wasted an entire afternoon in vain and was still full of energy. However, he was equally as disinterested as the others to see the delicious food before him.

After some thinking, he decided to ask Gu Xiaoyue. As the girl who achieved Level 1 Basic Meditation in just three hours, he felt that she might have a way to dispel his doubts.

The academy equipped each freshman with a magic phone that used energy stones as a power source. As class monitor, Xiao Lin had the authority to check all the phone numbers of his classmates. After returning to the room, he immediately dialed Gu Xiaoyue's phone number. Barely moments before he was about to put the phone to his ear, a beam of multicolored particles suddenly burst from the phone screen.

Startled, Xiao Lin practically threw the phone to the ground. The fine particles morphed rapidly in the air and quickly condensed into Gu Xiaoyue's appearance. He could see even the subtlest of expressions between her eyebrows with clarity.

It was a magical image that reminded Xiao Lin of the spells that Professor Dai used earlier. He breathed out a sigh and remembered that there was nothing surprising about such magical properties since the device was given by the academy. He thus calmed down and set the cellphone on the table. Gu Xiaoyue looked confused for a while and soon understood what was going on.

"Gu Xiaoyue, how did you enter your meditative state?" Knowing the personality of the girl in front of him, Xiao Lin spared her the nonsense and chose to get straight to the point.

"I felt the four elements and entered meditation."

"How did you feel the four elements?"

"Meditation."

Xiao Lin waited for a while and realized that the girl had already closed her mouth shut. He had no choice but to say, "Could you be more specific?"

Gu Xiaoyue frowned for a moment and felt that there was nothing else to add. "I just meditated and I felt it."

Xiao Lin was speechless. He looked at Gu Xiaoyue incredulously. He felt as though he had asked a very silly question, like he just asked, 'How do I talk?'. How would one answer that question?

'Just open your mouth and speak.'

That was it. For Gu Xiaoyue, awareness of the four elements and entering a meditative state was probably as natural to her as talking and walking, hence her difficulty in explaining it in detail.

Meanwhile, Xiao Lin was still in the rudimentary stages of meditation and was neither able to talk or walk. He therefore found it a bit depressing that Gu Xiaoyue might not be able to help him with his problem.

After hanging up, Xiao Lin continued to think about it and began wondering whether he should forgo learning spell courses. After all, the effect of the SS-level talent was still noticeably effective in the physical courses. On second thought, however, he felt a little unwilling to just drop the magic courses.

The main difference between himself and Gu Xiaoyue was that of intelligence.

Xiao Lin suddenly came to a realization that the shortcoming was due to his naturally low intelligence. He felt that his previous understanding of the intelligence attributes might have been a bit skewed. In Dawn Academy, the intelligence value did not represent the level of IQ. Rather, a more appropriate definition of it would be an attribute related to the magical elements.

Of course, Xiao Lin was not completely clear about what it meant. He still has no clue and thought that it might be better to look for someone else. Asking a freshman was out of the question, as they may not know any more than he did. Instructor Qin Chuan came to mind, but Xiao Lin recalled the guy's attitude toward him and decided against it.

Sophomore year leader Chen Yu was a very good choice. Xiao Lin could contact him through the forum and, after some hesitation, decided to send him a message. At that juncture, it was probably the best choice for Xiao Lin.