"Thanks for your concern," Gaode replied after some thought. "I will strive to pass all the course assessments."
He could tell that Yulan merely suffered from an excess of pride. Other than that, the boy held no real malice toward him. So he had no need, nor any desire, to provoke Yulan further.
Besides, before entering the academy, Yulan had always been a Wild Mage. He grew up untamed and unruly. Given his young age, it was completely normal for him to be a bit hot-headed. Once he had undergone formal Mage education under a mentor for a while, looking back at this experience would probably make him cover his face in embarrassment, wishing he could lock it away as a dark Chapter of his past.
Who hadn’t gone through an embarrassing, edgy phase in their youth?
However, Gaode’s calm, measured response was exactly what frustrated Yulan the most at this moment. If he continued to talk tough, it would make him look petty and like he was just looking for trouble. If he just ended things here, it would feel anticlimactic.
"Then just wait and see! First place in freshman credits will definitely be mine this time." Yulan’s flushed face showed no signs of fading. Under the gazes of the other students, he became even more flustered. He could only drop this line before walking away with his head held high.
Gaode shook his head helplessly. Still, it was understandable. For a fourteen-year-old boy to advance to the 1st Ring before even enrolling, and then to be taken in as a student by the head of the Magic Department immediately upon entering the academy—being a bit arrogant was only to be expected.
Since the person blocking his way had left, Gaode naturally had no reason to linger. He turned and left the classroom.
The biggest impact of Yulan’s sudden appearance was that the news of Gaode taking sixteen courses simultaneously—which normally would have taken a while to circulate among the students—spread rapidly throughout the academy, thanks to the nearly thirty students present at the scene.
This allowed Gaode to once again experience the feeling of being stared at by other students while walking down the street. The last time this happened was when he broke the record for the entrance mission.
However, that previous wave of attention had vanished in less than a week because there was no follow-up. It had been like a mildly interesting piece of gossip—people had a quick laugh, and that was it.
This time, however, it wouldn’t end so quickly. Because everyone wanted to know what happened next. They all wanted to know just how many course assessments this arrogant and insufferable freshman—who had enrolled in sixteen classes at once but actually only got into the academy through the back door with a recommendation letter—would ultimately pass.
And who would ultimately claim the top spot for freshman credits. After all, Yulan had already declared war right to his face.
Gaode returned to his residence. He organized the materials for the courses he had been taking over the past few days, including textbooks and some notes, and brought them into the Meditation Room.
After calming his mind and spirit, Gaode silently cast [Divine Guidance Skill+] on himself.
The next moment, a refreshing sensation rushed into his mind, washing over his mind and spirit. In an instant, entering a state of Flow, Gaode felt his thoughts become highly active. Opening the materials, he began to read them word by word.
At this moment, all the obscure and difficult knowledge that had accumulated in his brain during previous classes suddenly became crystal clear. Different concepts began to interconnect—details Gaode had never noticed before. He could even draw inferences from one instance to apply to others, summarizing his own insights.
Gradually, he became engrossed in this deep learning. Before he knew it, he had already gone through the materials for one entire course. Without pausing, Gaode opened the materials for another course.
Time slipped away. Gaode didn’t snap back to reality until an indescribable wave of exhaustion surged into his brain, replacing that refreshing sensation.
The effect of [Divine Guidance Skill+] had worn off. There were still some materials left unread, but Gaode didn’t continue. Maintaining a continuous, non-stop state of Flow for two hours would leave him completely drained.
He stretched and got up to head to the academy’s dining hall. After such intense energy consumption, he urgently needed to replenish his energy.
Since it was right at dinnertime, the dining hall was livelier than usual. Gaode bought a simple set meal for 5 Copper Coins and found an empty seat. Not long after he started eating, someone sat down in the empty seat across from him, carrying a dinner that was noticeably far more exquisite than his.
"Did you spend all the money you earned on taking courses? You can’t even bear to treat yourself to a decent meal."
Gaode looked up to see that it was actually Jelica.
"Not exactly," he replied truthfully, not feeling the least bit embarrassed. "It’s mainly because I have too many classes, so I basically have no time to do academy missions for money. For now, I can only rely on my savings. But I also have to set some money aside for cultivation, so I’m saving wherever I can."
"I heard you’re taking sixteen courses at the same time now?" Jelica asked.
The news had already spread, but Jelica still found it too surreal, so she had to confirm it again.
"Yes." Gaode nodded, forking a piece of potato from his tray and popping it into his mouth.
"Are you competing with Yulan for first place in credits?"
"To be precise, he’s the one competing with me. I just want first place in credits; I’m not specifically trying to compete with anyone.
"If your credits were the highest, then I’d be competing with you for first place, not Yulan," Gaode added.
Jelica sarcastically thought that it was a good thing she didn’t work hard enough to pose a threat to him. She took a vicious bite out of her pan-fried steak and, after a moment, spoke again.
"Yulan went and picked four more courses. He’s now taking seven courses in total."
"Not bad," Gaode praised with genuine sincerity. Before mastering [Divine Guidance Skill+], he had only been taking eight courses himself.
"You should know that you’re famous now, right?" Jelica asked, gritting her teeth when she saw that Gaode’s reaction was nothing like she had expected.
"Yeah," Gaode nodded.
As their conversation in the classroom slowly spread, the entire academy had been buzzing with excitement. Someone actually dared to take sixteen courses at once and compete for first place in credits against a fourteen-year-old 1st Ring Mage freshman?
Everyone’s first reaction upon hearing the news was that Gaode had gone mad. But Gaode hadn’t gone mad. He acted perfectly normal, earnestly attending classes and cultivating every day, taking it completely seriously. This made people pay even more attention to him—since he was acting like it was the real deal, they wanted to see exactly how capable he was.
Most of the people paying attention to this matter shared this mindset.
"No student has ever taken sixteen courses simultaneously, because with a person’s normal amount of energy, it’s simply impossible to manage that many classes...
"Right now, it’s not just the students—even many mentors are waiting to see how many course assessments you can pass in the end.
"Someone even opened a betting pool on who will take first place in freshman credits this year." Jelica revealed a flurry of information in one breath.
These were all things that Gaode, who had almost zero social life within the academy, knew nothing about.
"What are the odds in the betting pool?" Gaode asked suddenly.
Jelica obviously hadn’t expected that after saying so much, this would be the only thing Gaode cared about. Taken aback for a moment, she finally replied, "Yulan is one-to-one, and you are one-to-four."
The bookmaker was still quite rational. Even though they heavily disfavored Gaode, they didn’t adjust his odds to a ridiculously high multiplier.
"Jelica, you could probably be considered the student I have the best relationship with in the academy," Gaode suddenly said with a serious expression.
"Huh?!" This bizarre shift in topic made Jelica’s brain short-circuit for a second.
Gaode, having completely cleaned his tray, stood up. "As the saying goes, keep the wealth within the family.
"So, remember to bet a little more on me." He grinned, flashing Jelica a sunny smile.
Before Jelica could even react, Gaode had already turned and left.
After finishing her dinner, Jelica left the dining hall but stopped at the entrance, hesitating for a moment.
She had to spend her time preparing to advance to a 1st Ring Mage, so she didn’t have much time or energy to devote to studying. Therefore, Jelica had always planned to just coast by with ten credits until she successfully advanced.
Later, because of Gaode’s relentless grinding, she "volunteered" to take four courses. But now... Gaode was doubling down on the grind, taking a staggering sixteen courses, and Yulan had also picked seven courses.
As a fellow freshman, with them working so hard, she honestly felt too embarrassed to keep slacking off. After all, she had entered Cyrus Academy with the highest tier of treatment. She had a reputation to uphold. She couldn’t fall too far behind those two, right?
With this thought in mind, Jelica finally made her decision. She shifted her steps and headed toward the committee building instead.
She was going to add more classes for herself!
At the committee building, in the chairman’s office, Chairman Susang, who had held the position for twenty-three years, opened the documents submitted by her subordinates and reviewed them as usual.
At the beginning of the month, she primarily looked at the attendance rate of each course. For courses that had consistently suffered from low attendance over multiple periods—whether due to an issue with the teaching mentor or the course content itself—she would consider canceling them. As for courses with high attendance rates, she would consider adding one or two more sessions.
At Cyrus Academy, it wasn’t easy for students to coast by, nor was it easy for mentors. Mentors had to ensure their courses were attractive enough to students, otherwise, they would be phased out.
Huh? As Chairman Susang flipped through the pages, she couldn’t help but furrow her brows slightly, as if she had discovered something astonishing.