Brilliance - Part 2

The Professor, though, seemed unconvinced. "I cannot teach you conventionally," the Professor had concluded. "There are more theorems I could have you study, more past games I could run you through, more ideas for you to memorize – but we have seen that those things do not move the boulder that you are currently fighting to push uphill. And I do not understand why. Your intention at poking fun at Lady Felder, for reasons we do not understand, provoked better strategy from you than we have seen in hundreds of hours of relentless effort. It is my job as your teacher to find out why."

Nila had left after their first game, far more excited than Oliver was at his victory. "This'll mean you can finally cheer up, right? This is something that has been bothering you for the longest time, isn't it? Now you've finally broken free of it."

"I wouldn't go that far, Nila…" Oliver said. "Rarely are things so simple. But at the very least, it was fun."