Class Upgrade

Another month passed, and the results of the new monthly exam came out.

Everyone waited anxiously for Mr. Drew to hand out the test papers, staring eagerly at Drew—or rather, at the papers in his hands. It really looked just like a classroom before an exam back in the old days.

Drew felt a little nostalgic, then handed out the papers under everyone's watchful eyes.

The classroom fell silent. Everyone worked diligently on the exam, and the only sounds were quills scratching against paper and dipping into ink.

After the exam, nobody left right away. Instead, everyone stayed behind to discuss the questions.

"Do you think this exam was hard? How many points do you think you'll get?" Student A.

"I don't think it was hard. I figure I'll get around 80. It's just that the last few questions felt familiar, like I'd seen them somewhere before." Student B.

"I thought I was the only one who felt that way. Why did I find this exam so difficult? The questions all seemed to know me, but I didn't know them." Student C.

"I wonder how Master did. Could he get over 90? He said he was going to score 90!" Student D.

"Why don't we go ask him? We'll have to wait for Mr. Drew to tally the scores to know the actual results." Student A.

"Let's go ask Master how he did." Student B.

"Sure, sure!" Students A, B, C, and D.

"Master, how did you do? Do you think you have a chance of getting 90?" Students A, B, C, and D asked Joseph.

"Don't bother me. I'm checking my answers." Joseph kept his head down, carefully examining his book, as if a magnet in its pages had drawn his gaze.

His expression was serious, and his eyes were intensely focused. Joseph had started checking his answers as soon as the exam was over.

"I don't think Master did very well. Look how tightly his brows are furrowed. He looks so serious," Student B whispered to the others.

"You're cursing me now? Have so little faith in your master?"

By then, Joseph had finished checking his answers and raised his head.

"Of course not! We all have complete faith in you, Master. Right, everyone? So, how did you do?" Student B hastily defended himself, then immediately changed the subject.

"Not bad. According to my precise estimate, I scored somewhere between 92 and 96," Joseph said, putting on an indifferent air and showing off.

"Wow, Master, you're amazing!" Student A.

"Master's been working really hard lately. We've all seen it.

"It's only natural that he'd get a score like this.

"But how did you estimate your score so accurately, Master? Is there some trick to it?" Student D.

"Actually, if you make sure you've mastered the material,

"then all you have to do is be careful and avoid making mistakes. Every question you know how to do will be right, and you might even get the ones you don't know. That's how you figure out your score.

"Take me, for example. I can do pretty much all the questions, so that's at least 92 points. I'd lose 4 points for a question I couldn't do, and there's one I'm not sure I got right. That puts me somewhere between 92 and 96," Joseph said, taking the opportunity to show off again.

"Let's not talk about the scores anymore. They are what they are, and discussing them won't change a thing.

"Go home. We'll find out the results tomorrow."

Drew had overheard their conversation. Quietly, he pulled out a book titled Advanced Solid Geometry.

It looked like they'd be using this book very soon.

The next day, the results came out.

As expected, Joseph came in first, scoring 96—the highest in the class.

He'd lived up to his promise and scored over 90 on this exam.

The truth was, he wasn't stupid.

As I said from the start, anyone capable of becoming a mage wasn't lacking in brains.

He just hadn't found his footing at first. Now that he'd been learning geometry step by step, he was gradually getting the hang of it.

It was like breaking through a bottleneck. The road ahead would be smooth sailing for him.

Besides Joseph, there were his dozen or so apprentices.

They'd all done well. With more people in the class, the atmosphere for learning had improved, too.

The students learned from one another, helped each other, spurred one another on, and competed with each other. On top of that, they were all clever.

In just two short months, they'd all mastered the basics of geometry.

Only three unfortunate students had scored below 80. Everyone else had scored above it.

After announcing the scores, Drew decided to upgrade the study group from the beginner class to the advanced class.

Everyone would start learning from the new textbook, Advanced Solid Geometry.

Even those who hadn't scored 80 would move up to the advanced class. After all, there were only three of them, which wasn't enough to run a beginner class.

Besides, they'd already studied the beginner material; they just hadn't mastered it yet.

They could keep up with the lessons for now, while Joseph gave them extra help in his free time. That way, they could improve quickly and catch up with the rest of the class. No student would be left behind.

Joseph promised that he would do a good job as class monitor.

He was willing to give up his free time to tutor his apprentices and make sure they caught up with the class.

Drew was very pleased to hear it. With such an outstanding class monitor taking the lead, the students were sure to study hard and keep improving.

So he gave them one day to prepare. Classes would officially begin the next day.

When classes began on the third day, the students found that the textbook they'd been handed was much more difficult.

They'd gone from planes to space, from two dimensions to three.

Fortunately, learning wasn't just about learning new material. It was also about learning how to learn.

Studying plane geometry had taught the students how to approach new material.

And since this new material was also geometry, they already had some experience. They quickly found their footing.

Sure enough, after only a short while of studying, they'd gotten into the rhythm and started to grasp the basics. But because the material was new, the lively classroom atmosphere and enthusiastic participation from previous lessons were gone.

The students worked hard to listen to Drew and understand what he was explaining.

They approached the new material cautiously, listening with complete concentration.

After Drew finished teaching, everyone, almost as if on cue, turned to the first page of their books and began studying it carefully. Their movements were perfectly in sync, making for a pleasing sight.

Even when class ended, nobody moved. They were all still quietly reading.

Only after some of them had grasped the basic concepts and felt they'd learned enough to go home and consolidate their understanding did they begin leaving one after another. Others still had questions they couldn't figure out. Even after everyone else had left, they were still stumped.

They had no choice but to ask Drew for help. It wasn't until dusk that the last person finally left.

Drew looked around the empty classroom, feeling very satisfied. He decided to finish teaching the course as soon as possible so the students could study on their own.

That would free up his time.

Should he introduce evening study sessions to this world? Drew thought it sounded like a good idea.

He'd remind Joseph tomorrow, then let the students organize their own evening study sessions. Drew himself wouldn't waste time supervising them.

Once he'd made up his mind, Drew went home to rest and meditate. He'd been so busy teaching lately that he'd neglected both alchemy and meditation.