A Brief Chat With Paul

Drai had actually forgotten about the fact that Paul had called him for no apparent reason, but he just nodded in agreement.

"I don't know if you've learned about it already, but most of us professors are already familiar with you. You're Drai Varz of Pontia, Professor Ravi's recommendation student," Paul said with a smile.

"I've actually heard about it from my friend, Professor. She said that I've become famous among the professors," Drai admitted.

"Hahaha! That's one way to put it, but your friend's right. So, don't be surprised if other professors approached you like I did, Drai. After all, Professor Ravi is very respected by many professors, including me. Despite his slight eccentricity and preference of solitude, Professor Ravi has helped most of us in the past with matters related to our classes. I'm sure you'll also be grateful to him after he's successful with his research."

"You know about his research, Professor?" Drai asked.

"I think everyone knows about it but only at a surface level. It's been years since he started his research, and he often had to turn to us professors due to facing a certain difficulty. I'm glad he finally found someone worthy of his research," Paul sincerely said as he looked at Drai in appreciation.

Hearing this, Drai scratched his head and remarked, "I thought Professor Ravi's research was a secret. I didn't realize everyone here knows that I'm participating in it."

"Why would it be a secret? In fact, what he's doing can be considered a huge boon to mankind if it's replicable on a larger scale," Paul remarked, which reminded Drai of Christo's word regarding his peculiar level up.

"As you may have realized, I'm not really smart, Professor. I thought it was some kind of dangerous secret research and that's why it was so hard for Professor Ravi to find a suitable candidate."

"I don't really know why nobody had qualified for the research even after all those years—except for you, of course—but I don't think anyone in Soluna Academy are conducting any secret research, especially one that is detrimental to mankind. This is of course the courtesy of Professor Zar."

Seeing Drai's confused face, Paul elaborated, "Well, with Professor Zar's proficiency in spatial magic, nobody can hide anything from him on the academy grounds. He also has good ears, so he knows most, if not all, of the notable events occurring here. But the main deterrent is something else entirely. Do you know that our rector was rather famous in the past?"

Drai shook his head. He didn't even know who Zar was until he entered the academy. Such was the life of a training freak.

"Well, not many students know about it, since it was from quite a long time ago. Of course Professor Zar is still famous due to his position, but his past fame was for an entirely different reason. Guess what our rector's past moniker was?" Paul asked Drai.

Drai thought about it for a moment before answering, "Small but Wields Spatial Magic Zar"?

"Hahaha!" Paul burst into loud laughter, shocking the whole class. Natalia watched Drai with her mouth agape, wondering what was happening at the professor's desk that resulted in such a scene.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Please don't mind me, hehehe," Paul apologized to the staring crowd. It became apparent to Drai that his professor's earlier statement about having no social barriers was true because Paul didn't even show an ounce of embarrassment for his unseemly act.

"I didn't take you for a joker, Drai," Paul said appreciatively, still amused of the sudden joke. If only he knew that Drai wasn't joking but speaking out his sincere thoughts of Zar's past moniker.

Drai didn't know how to respond, so he just scratched his head, smiling embarrassedly.

"Back to the topic, the reason that no one dares to scheme here is related to Professor Zar's past. Before becoming a professor, our rector was known throughout the continent as 'Zar the Punisher'."

"Zar the Punisher… Who did he punish?" Drai curiously asked.

"Many people. Bad people. Zar the Punisher was a vigilante. He didn't seem to represent any government or organization, but he spent his years unraveling evil schemes in various countries. In the process, many people were punished. A few of them were handed over to their respective governments to undergo trial, but for most of them…"

Paul didn't finish his sentence, but Drai understood what he implied. Drai immediately realized how powerful his rector was. With such a reputation, the evil organizations must have already taken extra precaution against him. But Zar Augra was still alive and joking whereas the evildoers were probably buried without graves.

Drai suddenly shivered as he felt that his previous view regarding magic was absolutely biased and mistaken. What could Drai do if Zar decided to open up a portal inside his head? Drai even doubted that the great Alancho would be able to resist such an attack.

'Or maybe spatial magic is just too overpowered,' Drai thought to himself in attempt to regain his confidence.

'And even Professor Zar won't be able to smash Gaia into pieces. I'm currently still weak, but one day nothing in Gaia will be able to hurt me.'

Recalling the titan's might, Drai managed to calm down. The description of Titan's Fortitude was proven to be true, as Drai who had seen an individual might capable of causing destruction on a planetary scale wouldn't be shaken for too long against anything far below that level.

Meanwhile, Paul was wondering what was happening to Drai. He saw the changes in Drai from being stunned, then shivering, to regaining his calm and currently smiling.

'Maybe he became inspired by the Punisher,' Paul thought to himself, unaware that he had greatly shook his student's mind.

"And that's why there's no secret research or anything similar in the academy, Drai," Paul continued. "Anyway, how's your task going? Have you finished listing your activities?"

Drai didn't expect the abrupt change of topic. He hesitatingly answered, "Uhm, not yet, Professor."

"Do you have any difficulties or questions? Since you're already here, just tell me if you're having problems with the task," Paul insisted upon seeing Drai's slightly troubled face.

"Well, I already have some ideas about training my strength and constitution which are the two main stats of my class. But there are other aspects that I don't really know how to go about," Drai said admittedly.

"Please elaborate," Paul responded.

Drai then proceeded to tell the professor about being fearless, merry, and free. Drai didn't reveal "creed", the poem, or anything that indicated the inherited aspect of his class. He also only mentioned "merry" and "free" in passing, hoping that the professor would relate them to Drai's skill akin to "fearless".

Paul seemed to be thinking of what Drai had just said. After a brief pondering, he looked at Drai and asked, "Are you sure these aspects are closely related to your class?"

"Yes, Professor. In fact, I'm already at level two even without any training in strength and constitution. There must be other reasons why I've been able to gain so much EXP. Maybe it's related to these other aspects," Drai said, uncharacteristically insightful. Perhaps these couple of days with Christo had truly affected Drai's analytical skills, albeit slightly.

"You're level two already!?" Paul exclaimed in shock, once again surprising the students. Furthermore, his words were clearly heard by them, so murmurs soon filled the classroom.

'Drai is level two?' Natalia thought in amazement as she looked at Drai from her seat. She felt that she had trained hard these couple weeks, but apparently someone was even more diligent than her. Instead of being jealous, Natalia was beginning to admire the young man who she had just met.

'It's good to have a rival,' Natalia thought to herself, her spirit ignited as she smiled and resumed her writing.

"Cough, cough! Please don't mind us and get back to doing your task," Paul told the class with a helpless expression. Being caught off-guard by a joke was something Paul enjoyed, but being caught off-guard by a first-year's progress despite being an experienced professor had left him feeling slightly inadequate.

Returning to Drai, Paul asked, "Are you seriously saying that you managed to level up without training your main attributes?"

"Not only my main attributes, I didn't even train at all," Drai admitted and proceeded to tell his professor about the seemingly mundane things he had done after evolving. Drai felt a sense of déjà vu as he was experiencing something similar to the scene with his friends after his level up.

"Hm, how peculiar… Maybe it's just like you said, Drai. There's something else to your class beside the obvious stats. Okay, how about this? You don't have to think about these other elusive aspects for your task. Just focus on strength and constitution," Paul suggested.

"I can do that," Drai replied.

"Good. In the meantime, I'll try to think about your circumstances more. If I come up with a semblance of answer, I'll make sure to let you know."

"Thank you so much, Professor," Drai said as he expressed his gratitude.

"Don't mention it. It's part of my responsibility as the professor in charge anyway. Now, if there's nothing else, you can resume working on your task, Drai."

Drai nodded and returned back to his seat under the intrigued stares of his classmates. Sitting down, he saw Natalia look at him smilingly to which he just smiled back before returning to the task, following Paul's instructions.

Unbeknownst to Drai, a pair of eyes was watching him closely, seemingly concerned. It was only after a while that they retracted their gaze.

'Nothing must go wrong, or else…'

Thinking about the implications of failure, the owner of the watchful eyes could only sigh.

***