Arrogance; Was it worth it?

A week has passed since Kerren enrolled. Not much happened. He didn't go to any of the classes unlike the others, which made the teachers question his behavior. However, they couldn't do anything due to the policy of the place. He was trying to think of a way to earn some crystals, god, he even thought about simply stealing them or scamming some rich guy!

Sadly, he couldn't even scam someone. He had no trust-factor whatsoever! Of course, he could unravel the mystery behind coins to some big guilds to earn a fortune and awaked, but that wasn't worth it. The matter of those coins was too important. Those allowed people to improve themself to a certain extent without even doing anything!

Of course, there's always a limit to something. Coins, for example, couldn't improve you past a certain point. If one was strong and tried using a low ranking coin - it wont do anything at all, simply dissapearing. Thus, using them was only useful when one was weak. Rich people could simply buy a lot of high ranking coins to be as strong as a somewhat weak A rank Protector, but an A class nonetheless!

More than that, coins couldn't add you knowledge out of nowhere and if people wished for it they got the same thing, just more of it sometimes, as if they just had a book adressed to each thing there is, simply sharing it with those who wanted. But, still, they could answer some important questions! At first, when the mystery was unraveled people used them to understand magic and mana better, it helped the humanity a lot! In fact, most of Kerren's knowledge about mana and magic came from those coins!

Did he have a lot? Nope. People just recorded and sold that knowledge for cheap, profiting greatly from it. Why bother hiding it if one could access it with a coin?

Some, however, knew a lot more about coins and were able to access even higher levels of knowledge, whatever it was it wasn't shared with others, but was still of use to the humanity. At least those people cared about the well-being of their race, otherwise, who would they reign over? Rocks?

Thus, revealing that was impossible, the best course of actions would be simply buying as much as he could of those, using them all on himself, allowing him to get stronger really fast. That plan was perfect, who would care about those coins? Nobody even knew how to use them properly! Obviously, there were people who stockpiled them nonetheless, gambling on wether or not they're useful, but those were rare.

As of now, the best thing Kerren came up with was waiting for an opportunity to show himself to the world. While it was hard doing so in reality, in his mind he already had a plan. Fights between talented people happened frequently, and if he meddled in those and showed everybody that he was better than both... yeah, dream on.

Whatever he thought about wasn't of any use, even if he did that - what's next? Would he continue boasting until somebody overcame him? What's the point?

He became bored quickly. Of course, thinking wasn't the thing that bored him, the lack of progress was. What's the point of coming here if he continued doing the same thing? He needed a thing to do, maybe some training? Or simply licking boots of the teachers to get some crystals? Whatever it was he was ready to do it.

...

Kerren was now in the class. Why? He decided to boast his knowledge to gain some attention, maybe he could get some crystals by doing that. His plan wasn't perfect, more than that, he didn't even have one. He simply asked some random guy from the same class when is the next one going to be and arrived there in time. It wasn't something big, but the teacher was surprised that he saw a new face, he started probing him out.

- Hey, isn't that a new face -- the teacher said with a smile -- Mind introducing yourself? -- he added.

- Kerren. -- He answered not even looking at the teacher.

- Kerren... Oh, you're the guy who's skipping all the classes, right? Glad to see you here! I knew that my class was the most useful one, that even you would come! -- he boasted, thinking that he was right, which was logical, but not true.

- What class is that? -- Kerren suddenly asked.

Other students around him started chuckling because of that.

- Uh... Kerren, this is Theory of Magic... -- he said with a wry smile.

- Oh. -- he only made a sound instead of answering.

- Kerren... If u're not interested you can leave, you can skip as much classes as you want, you only need to pass the tests -- he kindly explained.

- I dont mind it, start the class. -- he stated blankly.

After that, students started laughing out loud, it was funny how a "new guy" dared to talk like that to a teacher, not even showing a bit of respect! Not only he was a teacher, a person they're supposed to learn from, he was an A awakened!

In Kerren's eyes, however, this wasn't much. The standarts went up by a bit in the future, this teacher was C class at best. What could he teach him about? Some basic magic theory that he already knew? If so - why respect him?

- Kerren... If you came here to joke around just leave... -- the teacher could barely keep himself calm for some reason, wasn't he supposed to be calm?

- Joke around? No. I came here to get some mana crystals. Want to make a bet with me? -- he suddenly proposed.

Students started laughing even harder after hearing all that "crap" that came out of Kerren's mouth. To be honest it was only natural, who in their right mind would do something like that?

- A bet?.. Listen, i am your teacher, i am not... -- as he was about to continue

- Pussy. -- Kerren said. Everyone suddenly went quiet as they could be, not daring to make a sound.

When the teacher heard that, his expression changed significantly. He no longer could keep himself calm.

- Okay. A bet, was it? Fine -- he took out a C mana crystal of questionable purity from his inventory -- What do you bet and what is the bet? -- he added after placing it on the table.

Wait... should i change how i call those crystals? After all, the crystals he took out was considered an A rank crystal now, it's just that in the future the standard went up... Eh... whatever, you'll understand what i mean anyway.

- I dont have anything i can bet, but i will apologize on my knees in front of you if you win. We'll be talking about magic theory u're so proud about. -- he was trying to play big. Of course, if the teacher didn't agree it would be a problem, he could even get punished for disrespecting him that much, but if it worked out? He would be closer to awakening, not by a lot, but still. Also, he would get some recognition as a bonus.

- Huh, okay. -- the teacher was clearly dissatisfied -- As a teacher i accept your bet. Who's going to start? -- he was clearly angry because of Kerren, thus he didn' waste any time, wanting to "crush" him as soon as possible.

- I will, so we wont waste any time. -- his arrogance was through the roof -- How do you create spells? -- he stared at the teacher.

The question made made people around him, and even the teacher, look at each other with strange looks on their faces. What does he mean "How do you create spells?" you cant create them! You can only learn them from a book!

-* What question is that!? -- half of them thought, while the other half cursed at him for being such a moron.

- Kerren, i'm not sure you understand the basic principle of... -- as he was about to start his little roasting spree...

- So you're saying that you cant create spells? If so, why do they exist? You're saying that they appeared out of thin air? -- he asked even more questions.

- Well... of course not, but people like us cannot... -- he wont be able to talk today...

- No, people like you wont be able to make spells, i am different. Dont think that we're the same. -- Kerren stated -- You've lost on the first question and you proclaim yourself as my teacher? What are you even thinking? -- he was saying all those words with arrogance, seemingly rising himself above the teacher -- "People cant create spells" blah blah blah, then what about goblins that use spells? Did they also learn them from the books that fell from the sky? What bullcrap! -- after he stopped talking, the whole class was quiet.

The teacher couldn't bring himself to say anything, seemingly agreeing that his understanding is wrong. Kerren himself couldn't understand why, at first, people thought that spells couldn't be created manually, he didn't know where it all came from. Also, revealing that fact wasn't that big of a problem, when he awakened in his past life people already knew about that because of a certain woman that exceeded in magic.

Kerren stood up in the midst of silence, walking towards the table the crystal was on. He then took it and placed in to his pocket, not looking at the teacher or saying a word more. He didn't need to, he already won.

Soon, news of him beating the teacher in a debate spread across he university. At this point, most of the students knew about that. It was a big deal! A student from an unknown family beat a teacher!? What bullcrap was that!? Was he some sort of a genius that decided to have fun?

Kerren used that opportunity to do get even more crystals, he came to different teachers and asked them to debate, many agreed at first, but when it became clear that he was simply using them to get more crystals they started refusing him. Why did that even become that apparent? Because he hadn't lost even a single time! He even won with just one question most of the time!

Of course, him doing that didn't go unnoticed and he soon got invited to the principals office.

- Kerren, right? -- the bulky lady said -- What happened with you? Why are you walking around, embarassing our teachers? -- she curiously asked.

- I need crystals to awaken faster -- Kerren didn't hide this fact.

- Oh? Why not earn them the proper way then, by working hard? -- she asked, as she took out a mana crystal.

- It's not efficient. My way is faster and gives me more benefits -- he was right, it was much faster, he already had more crytsals than he would if he had perfected every single test of this year.

- But the teachers wont feel good about it, some of them even came to me, asking to expel you... -- she pretended that it bothered her a lot.

- So what? Their opinion of me doesn't matter. My talent is high enough for me to remain here even if i continue doing that. -- he proclaimed arrogantly.

- Hahaha! -- the principle started laughing -- Yes! You are right! I have a contract from one of the guilds sponsoring us, if you sign it - you will get a lot of crytsals immediately, look at it -- she then handed him the contract. It had around 40 pages of small letters, Kerren didn't even bother reading all of it. He immediately took a pen and signed it, which surprised the principle.

- Why didn't you even read it? -- she asked with a strange expression.

- Why would i? It says that they will give me as much crystals as i need until i awakened, and they i will have to join their guild on some stupid terms, isn't that right? -- he explained.

- Well... pretty much... But, are you alright with that?.. -- her curiousity piqued. To her, Kerren's behavior was truly strange. Why did he want to awaken so much? Yes, it was fine for him to be like that, but it felt like he needed it greatly.

- That shouldn't concern you. -- his answer was rude, but it was the truth. Why would she? She was only a principle here, even if she had some connection due to that - it wasn't much, why would he care about her?

- Rude... But that's okay, you can afford to be rude. -- she was dissatisfied, of course, but there's nothing she can do.

They "talked" a bit more and Kerren left, not looking back or thinking about anything that happened, he only thought about the crystals he was promised. He was supposed to contact a representative of a guild he supposedly entered and ask for an amount he needed. Thus, he was going to look for him.

At this time, in principals office.

- So? -- the principal asked.

- He's not from the circle, that i'm sure about -- something answered.

- Other than that? -- she asked again.

- Nothing, he's as clear as could be. Came from a simple family with some connections, had a lot of problems in school and frequently skipped classes. He didn't show his knowledge until now. -- it looks like they made a background check on him... that's to be expected.

- Interesting... Why does he know the classified information then? -- she was curious, those debates that he used as an excuse to rise his fame were normal for those who didn't know as much as she did, but for her...

Those questions that he used to beat others were classified knowledge of the highest degree. Of course, it could be that he was a genius and understood it on his own, but if he wasn't? It could only mean that he had connections to something great. Her suspicion only rose when he signed the contract without even reading it properly, he seemed to be interested only in his own awakening.

That, again, wasn't all that strange, but why rush it so much? He would naturally awaken in a few years without making a fuss, or was it his goal all along?..