Azeroth Study Group

Three days flashed by in the blink of an eye.

Early in the morning, Joseph arrived at Drew's doorstep.

He dared not disturb Drew's rest, so he waited in the dew.

The dew soaked his robes, and the pre-dawn air was biting, leaving Joseph shivering.

Yet he dared not knock, fearing that if he woke Drew and angered him, the method would be withheld.

He truly regretted wearing robes; he should have changed into something thicker.

Finally, Drew finished his meditation and began to stretch. Hearing movement, Joseph knew Drew was up, but he waited a while longer before stepping forward to knock.

Drew knew it was Joseph without having to guess.

Drew opened the door to see Joseph's ingratiating face and asked with a look of disdain, "Have you decided what to trade?"

"I have. If I successfully promote, I am willing to follow you and become your follower." Drew knew Joseph still doubted the method's efficacy; this was normal, as even Drew was merely experimenting.

Joseph had calculated well: following Drew required no upfront payment.

If the method failed, he wouldn't have to follow Drew at all.

And if it succeeded, he would have gained the benefits, so following Drew wouldn't be a loss.

Drew looked at Joseph deeply. He's quite clever, so why can't he crack the code on magic runes?

In truth, Drew didn't care about having a follower; they were just errand runners. Once Karen's soul fusion was complete, with Karen's status as a High Elf prince, he would have as many followers as he wanted.

Joseph was essentially just a test subject; the follower status was merely an add-on. Drew needed him to pay something, and he didn't value anything else Joseph had to offer. This arrangement was perfect.

"Fine. But you must begin following me the moment you accept this method."

"I won't have you do anything dangerous; you'll just be running errands. Once you promote, you must fulfill your duties as a proper follower."

"No problem. Thank you."

"Here. Take it back and study it carefully. Ask me if there is anything you don't understand." Drew tossed the book he had prepared to Joseph.

Joseph stared at the title, Plane Geometry: Learning from Scratch, with a blank expression.

"Go back and study it thoroughly. I will test you once you've finished. If you pass, there is an advanced version. If you can complete the assessment for the advanced version, your grasp of magic runes should be sufficient. Advancing to an intermediate mage will be a certainty."

"Think carefully about whether you want to learn this."

Drew could see that the title had only deepened Joseph's suspicions.

He had to add a little more bait. If Joseph backed out now, all his previous work would be for nothing.

"Is it really possible?" Joseph still had doubts, and that wouldn't do.

"Forget it if you don't want it. You lose nothing by learning it. Give it back to me; the deal is off." Drew turned the tables on him.

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant. I'll learn it, I'll learn it!" Joseph grew anxious instantly. With the chance for promotion right before his eyes, how could he give up?

Besides, Drew was right; he had nothing to lose by learning it.

Joseph realized this, clutched the book tightly to his chest, and feared Drew might take it back.

Backing away while bowing, Joseph said, "Lord Drew, I shall return to study this carefully. Goodbye, Lord Drew."

Without waiting for a reply, Joseph turned and ran, leaving Drew standing in the cold wind, stunned and bewildered.

As the days passed, Drew was constantly pestered by Joseph.

From the initial questions about why a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, he had now moved on to studying the Pythagorean theorem.

Drew could feel Joseph's progress day by day.

Finally, one day, Joseph declared he had mastered the material and asked Drew to test him, eager to enter the next stage of learning.

Drew was satisfied with his progress and gave Joseph a test, but Joseph only scored 68 points. Drew expressed his dissatisfaction with this result.

Although 60 was a passing grade, it was far from enough to claim a proficient mastery of this stage.

Drew stopped Joseph's impulsive thoughts and told him to continue working hard on the current material, pointing out the knowledge he had yet to grasp.

However, to keep his spirits up, Drew also gave Joseph high praise for his recent progress.

He told him to keep at it, as he was only a hair's breadth away from passing.

Joseph stated that he was not discouraged; his hard work had not been in vain, and he could feel his own improvement.

He had even tried studying magic runes a few days ago and had made some small breakthroughs.

Therefore, he expressed his full agreement with Drew's method and his intense desire to continue learning.

He acknowledged that his failure to meet the standard was due to a weak foundation, and to ensure a smooth promotion in the future, Joseph expressed his willingness to continue consolidating his current studies.

At the same time, Joseph also asked if he could introduce this method to his students, hoping that they could also learn this knowledge.

Drew was perfectly fine with having more experimenters involved.

Thus, the first Analytic Geometry Study Group in Azeroth was officially established. The teacher was Drew, the class monitor was Joseph, the study commissioner was also Joseph, and all of his students became members of this study group.

A month passed in study; it is said that those who can become mages are all intelligent people, and in another world, they would all be talents with the potential to become top students.

In just one month, the students had grasped the current stage of learning quite well; at the very least, in the most recent test, everyone reached the passing mark of 60 points.

Joseph's score in this exam was 78 points, just 2 points shy of the 80-point standard set by Drew.

However, Joseph did not hope for Drew to make an exception for him so he could learn the next stage of knowledge.

He stated that he had not learned enough and needed to work harder, declaring that he must reach 90 points before moving on to the next stage of knowledge.

Having such a studious student, Drew was also very moved and expressed his support for his decision.

In this test, among Joseph's apprentices, there were three who were quite outstanding, scoring higher than their teacher—that is, all exceeding the 80-point standard.

These three people were all junior mages; it seems that students with higher professional ranks clearly have higher intelligence levels, and their grades when learning knowledge are also the highest.

They could proceed to learn the next stage of knowledge.

But all three of them stated that they wanted to advance and retreat together with their teacher, waiting for their teacher to enter the next stage of learning together.

For now, they would continue to study with their teacher and other classmates, and they could also help other classmates answer questions and assist them in their studies.

Suddenly, the classroom was filled with harmony, and Joseph was so moved that he shed tears, determined to reach 90 points in the next monthly test to enter the next stage of learning, so as not to delay his disciples' learning progress.

Seeing this, Drew was truly moved by how studious the students in this other world were; if they were in another technological civilization, such smart and studious good students would be the treasures in every teacher's heart.

Yet here, there was a whole group of them.

Drew felt that being a teacher on the continent of Azeroth was truly great, and being a researcher was even better, having a group of obedient and suitable experimenters.

The progress of this experiment would surely be excellent, and the experiment would soon yield results.

However, judging from the current progress, Joseph reflected on his own feelings.

He felt that through this period of learning plane geometry, his understanding of magic runes had deepened, and he had even made a few small breakthroughs. It is expected that this learning method is helpful for the comprehension of magic runes.

It is expected that the results of this experiment will be a success.