1.1.04-Even good eyes do not always recognize Mount Tai

1.1.04-Even good eyes do not always recognize Mount Tai

3/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut - Early Afternoon

Scholar Atwut led the group of remaining children back to the auditorium as the ringing of seventh bell started resonating in the building. Doro counted as they walked in and only nine other children had stayed behind, Sarima included.

Doro wasn't surprised to see that all the children from the central district were in attendance. That there were only three from the industrial district wasn't too strange as the Empire did not force, but merely encouraged people to have at least the first-tier mercantile certification by the time they reached adulthood. Passing the certification at the age of nine helped to find early apprenticeships in the industrial district so it was still worth giving it a try if one thought themselves ready.

To the children of the central district, not passing the first-tier mercantile district now could result in negative consequences for their future. Younger siblings might be more heavily invested in or even replace them in the line of succession of their noble houses. Rich merchants and crafters might think twice about giving out responsibilities or eventually handing their companies, to a child unable to do at least this much. Due to this, the group from the central district had their battle faces on, brimming with determination. The knight's son appeared to be psyching himself up as if he was about to face a great Spirit Beast instead of a sheet of paper.

The children from the industrial district appeared to be a mix of nervous and hopeful. If they could achieve this, they would get a leg up on the competition and be more likely to be picked for better apprenticeships. Were they to fail, however, they would get another chance for free when they turned twelve, fifteen, and finally eighteen.

I'm surprised one of the kids from the Agricultural District stayed behind, he kind of sticks out by himself.

Doro approached the boy and gave him a pat on the back.

"Hey, good on you for giving it a try. Trying to qualify for an apprenticeship outside of the agricultural district?"

The boy smiled back at him and nodded. He might have gone on to introduce himself but it seemed not to be fated as Scholar Atwut chose this moment to begin.

"I assume you are all here for the merchant certification exam. Please step forward and pick up a piece of paper, an inkpot, and a quill from the table before taking a seat. Leave at least one seat open in every direction surrounding you. That means behind you, in front of you, and the diagonals. You wouldn't want your eyes to wander and for your certification to be denied due to accusations of cheating, accurate or not."

Scholar Atwut then waited by the table for the children to come up and gather their materials. Doro was going to walk forward and discreetly request to take the scholar certification exam but before he could go ahead with his plan, Sarima spoke up.

"Scholar Atwut? Doro wants to take the scholar certification as well. Isn't that right Doro?"

Is she trying to mess with me or is she just trying to be helpful? I can't tell...Well, if I'd been bluffing, I'd be in a bit of a pinch right about now.

Scholar Atwut turned to face Doro directly and the other children followed suit. The children looked at him, probably expecting him to deny Sarima's word and say it was a joke. Their expressions turned to either pity or admiration as each made their own assumptions as to whether he had a chance. The fact that he was dressed like a rich kid from the central district probably helped. Had everyone known he was in fact from the industrial district and had not had a professional tutor, the few that gave him looks of admiration would probably be displaying expressions of pity or derision as well. Scholar Atwut, on the other hand, looked like a child in a candy shop.

"Ah Doro, I see you are a smart child. You obviously feel bad for nearly putting an end to my long life and wished to give me an opportunity for payback to settle the balance. Is your plan to suffer through an examination you are unprepared for, just so that I can fail you and quench any ill will that may remain from the earlier mishap? I appreciate the sentiment, but how about we just say you failed the test to save time and resources?"

Midway through his rant, his joyous expression turned into a patronizing sneer. Doro had tried to play nice, but enough was enough.

"Apologies, Scholar Atwut, but I am quite confident in attaining the certification, so if you could please get the exam set up, it would be greatly appreciated. If the journey to retrieve the needed materials proves too arduous due to your advanced age, I am more than willing to go fetch them for you. My mother has always taught me how important it was to be mindful of the elderly."

Ha! Considering he brought up his "long life" first, it could be argued that I'm just trying to be polite and helpful. At least most of the children here would buy that. I'm fairly sure Scholar Atwut caught on to the thinly veiled insult though, judging from the grimace he is making.

Indeed, Scholar Atwut's face was pinched in what was probably an attempt to stop his anger from showing. The effectiveness of that ploy was however lessened by the large vein bulging on the right side of his forehead, which was visibly pulsating steadily faster and faster.

"Don't make an invalid of me yet child, I am still healthy as an ox as long as someone doesn't succeed in poisoning me due to my kind and trusting nature."

Scholar Atwut appeared not to enjoy being challenged in front of the other children and his reply came out louder and harsher than Doro had expected from him. The scholar had appeared a bit self-important but had managed to remain calm thus far, at least outwardly.

It would seem that if feeding him the spicy bun wasn't enough to truly anger him, questioning his abilities has done the job. Maybe a bit too well.

"I apologize. My mouth moved faster than my thoughts. I don't react very well to people making erroneous assumptions about me and it would appear I have made some about you myself."

Doro tried to backtrack and apologize after realizing that making an enemy out of the person who would score his exam might not be the smartest move. He even tried to get Scholar Atwut to relate to him by coming up with the excuse of "erroneous assumptions" to act as a mirror to what he thought he had done to set the scholar off. The plan had appeared sound to Doro, but it backfired immediately.

"Erroneous assumptions? That I made? So you apologize for putting my physical fitness into question by saying that it was in reaction to my failing to evaluate you properly? When that is literally my job as an Imperial Enumerator? You haven't broken the law and I am not petty enough to let my emotions affect my grading, but if you are so sure that the scholar certification is that easy and that I am such a failure in my position, why don't we make it interesting? How about this, If you pass, I will let bygones be bygones and accept that you are indeed competent enough. If you fail, you will come here every Seventh-day at seventh bell for a season and be tasked with scrubbing all the toilets in the Imperial Complex clean until you are done, or eleventh bell rings, whichever comes first."

That doesn't seem right. If I pass the exam then I automatically get the certification, and that proves my competence already. The only upside to winning the bet would be the forgiveness he claims to be the prize. At one day per decan and three decans per month, that means I would be risking a total of nine afternoons.

Doro's eyes met with the piercing stare Scholar Atwut was directing at him, but he kept eye contact, unwilling to accept the current terms.

"The prize and punishment don't seem to be quite equal. You could always claim to forgive me but still hold resentment for me. How about a small modification to the prize? If I were to fail, I will do as you stated. Were I to succeed, I request that you accord me the same amount of time you would have me spend cleaning toilets either acting as my tutor or allowing me to use the Imperial Complex library. I think we can both agree that the terms still favor you, but at least I get a potential reward to go with the risk that I am taking."

Scholar Atwut's anger appeared to lessen somewhat after Doro made his counteroffer. The vein on his forehead was visibly deflating and the beat it displayed started slowing down.

What happened? How did that make him less angry? I apologize and he gets mad, I argue over the conditions of the challenge and somehow that makes him less mad. I'm missing something but hell if I know what it is.

"I accept your terms. I will go fetch the exam materials for the scholar certification. You will sit the exam while I oversee the merchant examination for the others. I will judge whether you qualify for the merchant certification from the knowledge you display in your Scholar exam, pass or fail."

Scholar Atwut left to fetch the missing materials, leaving the children alone in the auditorium. Doro noticed that all of the other children were giving him a wide berth and avoiding eye contact, except for Sarima who was giving him a worried look.

They probably want to avoid getting involved so as to not sink with my ship if I fail.

Scholar Atwut returned to the room with a stack of paper in his hands and a halfway-eaten biscuit secured between his teeth. He plopped the stack in front of Doro and made his way to the slate board.

"Quiet down children. I will ask you questions and you will do your best to answer them on your sheet. You will be judged on your ability to write down common words, your grasp of basic arithmetic, and your ability to fill in a simplified ledger. Do your best to avoid spelling mistakes and double check your numbers. You are allowed one mistake on the final ledger, any more and you will fail this sitting. "

He paused then turned in Doro's direction.

"In your case Doro, it is expected of a first-tier scholar to be able to do basic research, more complex mathematics than the merchant equivalent, and to have a solid grasp of language and sentence structure. Therefore, your examination includes being able to understand the written questions. Since you appeared so confident, I am sure that will not be a problem. Too late to back down now. Every four questions you answer correctly will gain you 1 point and every one you fail will lose you 1 point. You will fail this sitting if you can not manage a positive score."

Without waiting for Doro to respond, the scholar turned back to the other children and started asking them questions. Doro listened to the first merchant exam question out of curiosity. Scholar Atwut started listing common goods and their cost followed by the price at which said goods would be sold. He then asked the children to draw a simple leger and work out how much profit each item was making. He then asked them to calculate how many units they would need to sell for the profits to add up to the cost of one unit of said item.

I see... With this, he tests them on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by changing the formulation of the questions here and there. He probably has an example ledger already made up and will be able to easily compare them. Pretty efficient. He might be an old crank but it seems he is good at his job.

Having satisfied his curiosity, Doro put the cover page of his exam to the side and began to read the first question.

Reading comprehension huh?

In front of Doro was an excerpt from a history book, covering a conflict between two noble houses of Baisheng, written by an imperial scholar. At the bottom of the test was a series of questions asking for various details found in the text.

Alright! That was easy. I probably could have passed it even before my memories came back.

The second page proved a bit more difficult than the first, but Doro made it through without having to rely on his previous life's knowledge. The questions covered slightly more advanced mathematics than those Scholar Atwut was testing the rest of the children with. Doro had struggled a bit with fractions in the past but the questions were of a level that he felt he would probably have gotten right before. The questions also covered percentages and decimal places as well as some very simple geometry.

Well, this is going pretty well. Next question is... Ah! I see, this part is probably what trips up a lot of the kids.

The next set of questions were practical application word problems.

At least since they don't have trains here I won't fall on another variant of that uninspired question.

Doro read the first problem carefully.

An unladen Manzat swallow flies from point A to point B in twenty-four hours of uninterrupted flight, covering two hundred and forty miles. The same Manzat swallow, carrying a coconut, in the same weather conditions, flies twenty percent more slowly and has to rest for ten minutes every sixty miles. How Long would it take the Coconut laden Manzat swallow to make the trip from point A to point B?

"Pfft!"

Doro could not hold his laughter in completely and let out a chuckle at the question. Ben had been a self-professed nerd and as he read this question, Doro could not help but imagine it was a medieval Frenchman asking him from atop the battlements of a fort.

"Doro you are free to crack under the pressure if you realize you are out of your depths, but please stay quiet and do not get in the way of the merchant examination."

He's got a point, but I bet he smells of elderberries!

After getting slightly side-tracked, Doro completed the page of word problems. As he turned to the next page, Doro was getting slightly confused by the topic. It appeared to be reading comprehension again, however, this time there were three texts covering another battle of the conflict mentioned earlier. As Doro read on, he noticed that the three texts contained conflicting statements. At the bottom of the page, the questions no longer asked for readily available information in succinct words but instead asked for opinions and elaboration. The final question on the page asked Doro to identify which of the texts were written as propaganda by the opposing noble houses, and which was written by an unbiased imperial scholar.

Well, the level just went up. Not sure I would've been able to do this without the memories I just regained.

The following page was another repeat subject.

Back to maths again? Ooh damn, there are even some solve for X algebra questions. Yep, ok, I get why people seemed to think this was too much. Back on Earth, most 9-year-olds would not be able to answer these, even with compulsory elementary schooling.

The questions involved linear equations, more complex geometry involving calculating angles, and some exercises on simple probabilities. Doro had to start heavily relying on his old memories to progress through this page. The memories from all the way back in his years of middle school that is.

A normal kid might get tripped up by those, but I have a bachelor's in materials science and engineering, so middle school or high school math isn't gonna trip me up.

Doro breezed through the questions with renewed vigor now that he had begun relying on his previous life's knowledge and made it to the next and last page.

As I guessed, the word problems are back. Sadly, no more coconut-laden swallows.

The questions on this page were more complex and involved mathematic principles that had been tested on the previous page. None of the questions were laugh-worthy this time around and Doro finished them with moderate ease. He then returned his quill to his holder and started checking through his answers thoroughly with the time he had left. A handful of minutes went by and just as Doro finished going through his answers for the third time, eighth bell started ringing.

"Alright, that was the last question, and just in time. Come line up in front of me and I will check your ledgers. If you fail, you are free to leave and make your way out on your own if you would rather not stay. Those of you who pass will follow me after and we will get your certification marks added to your sigils. Doro, you have thirty minutes left, so keep going until I come back. I haven't seen your quill move for a few minutes so if you've already given up, just spend that time preparing yourself mentally for more toilet scrubbing than you've ever imagined."

Doro, having already finished his exam, decided to observe the results of the other group. Sarima had passed and her expression was shifting between a smile over her achievement and a worried look as she glanced over at Doro. He gave her a thumbs up to reassure her, but she must have misunderstood it as a congratulation, as Doro could make out her mouth forming the words "Thank you" silently. Only one boy from the industrial district had failed, but Scholar Atwut gave him a pat on the back and told him it had been a close call, and that should the boy not let up on his efforts, he should be able to pass it the next time he tried. The group then headed out of the room, leaving Doro alone.

Citizens of the Empire could technically pay to take the examination at any time, but most people outside of the central district didn't have the leeway to try too often. The Empire gave four free chances before adulthood so many did not feel the need to rush. It was expected of citizens to reach at least the first merchant certification by the age of eighteen, whatever field they may work in. There was no law you would break by failing, but not many people were willing to employ or trade with someone who could not read simple words or do basic arithmetics.

Doro was not having much fun waiting and even considered twirling his quill around his hand as he used to do with ballpoint pens. He decided that he had already annoyed the scholar enough and that splattering ink all around his table, if things didn't work well, would not be in his best interest. Thus, Doro spent a good ten minutes twiddling his thumbs in silence before realizing that he could have been checking out his new Abilities. That thought happened to coincide nearly exactly with the moment the doors swung open and Scholar Atwut trotted back in.

"So, Are you ready for your judgment boy?"

Doro stood up and brought his answer sheets with him to the lectern.

"First, don't be too hard on yourself. I played a little trick on you. I thought you seemed a bit too sure of yourself and I decided to teach you a small lesson in humility. The second half of the exam I gave you was actually the second-tier scholar exam. Don't worry, our little bet will only cover the first half as I am a man of my word. I just wanted to give you a chance to reevaluate the depths of academia since you appeared to have underestimated them. Alright, let's get to marking, good luck."

Scholar Atwut chortled and tried to take the answer sheets. Doro held on, his hands gripping the pages tightly.

Uh crap! I'm fairly sure I passed both...If I come back home as a second-tier scholar, my parents will have a lot of questions. I am not sure that I am ready to answer them. Some of the questions were indeed a bit more advanced than what Dad taught me but I thought I was expected to make the points up with the other questions since he appeared confident I might be able to make it.

Scholar Atwut took advantage of Doro's panicked thoughts to give a sharp tug on the papers, managing to pull them out of his grip.

"Where did all your bravado go? Too late to back out now! Just to prove that I am not dealing in bad faith, I will use one of my abilities to grade your paper. Here, read my palm."

He put his hand forwards and the name of an ability showed up.

[Impartial Scholar's Focus]

"It lets me put aside all emotion in exchange for speeding up my thought process and reading skills. It puts me into a sort of trance, so don't speak to me until I am done."

Before Doro could figure out a way to get his answer sheet back, the scholar's demeanor changed in the blink of an eye. His eyes narrowed and his pupils moved from side to side at a rapid pace as he muttered words like "correct" and nodded as he read some of the answers. Fewer than five minutes went by before the scholar looked up, still suffering from the tail end of his ability's effect.

"Congratulations. Full marks. You qualify as a second-tier scholar and have won the bet."

The look of intense focus left Scholar's Atwut eyes as it was slowly replaced by a look of utter shock and horror.

"Full marks? Second tier...? This nine-year-old from the industrial district?"

His own verdict was leaving him flabbergasted.

"I mean, in 85 years in this position I've only seen one person pass this certification at age nine, and that was the duke's eldest son. Not only was he considered gifted, but he also had multiple professional tutors from infancy. You though? How?"

Dad, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to fib and hope you'll play along if it comes up.

"Well, my father has his third-tier scholar certification and when I was young, he noticed I was rather quick at understanding things, and so he has been giving me private lessons while he worked ever since I was old enough. Whether he is a great teacher, or I am naturally gifted, I couldn't say."

Some of the shock disappeared from the scholar's face at this explanation and his expression started morphing once again.

"Well, it would seem that I have lost the bet. I will accept that I have underestimated you. Well, you know about your reward...there is something a little...."

The Scholar trailed off while squirming a little.

"What? Don't tell me you are not going to follow your end of the deal! You promised to either give me private tutoring or give me access to the library!"

Doro was getting annoyed again but upon looking up at Scholar Atwut's face, he noticed the old man acting suddenly shy.

"Well, you know, I am a bit embarrassed to say this after all of what happened today but..."

Scholar Atwut suddenly put both hands together and bent forward at a 90° angle.

"...Please become my formal apprentice!"

Become your what!?