Larven's "Big Three" Meet for the First Time

Faced with this sudden kneeling, Jia Xiu's tiny eyes filled with enormous confusion.

What was this supposed to be?

A scam?

Didn't look like one.

"Ms. Oak?" Jia Xiu blurted out.

"How did you know my surname was Oak?" Not only did the druid kneel, she directly hugged Jia Xiu's thigh.

She looked ready to never let go unless he agreed.

"No, let go first."

Jia Xiu hurriedly tried to pry the druid off him while nervously watching the surroundings. If anyone saw this, it would be hard to explain.

"Explain yourself properly. Who are you, and what do you want?"

With Jia Xiu prying at her from above and Bubu pulling at her legs, they finally got the druid off him.

The druid stood in the corner, looking aggrieved and pitiful. She was so short that it looked as though Jia Xiu had brought an undead creature along to bully her.

"My name is Mia Oak. I'm a druid from the Spore Society."

"Your surname is Oak. Are you a wood elf?"

"Yes."

Jia Xiu looked at Mia's ears. This was the first elf he had ever seen. "They aren't even pointed?"

Mia explained, "My great-grandmother's great-grandmother was a wood elf."

"With one sixty-fourth elven blood, don't call yourself an elf, okay?!"

"Wow, you're amazing. You could tell it was one sixty-fourth right away. No wonder you finished the exam early."

"If you don't know how to flatter someone, you don't have to. That was way too stiff. Now tell me what you want my help with."

Jia Xiu dragged over a chair and sat down. He had plenty of questions to ask.

Mia said bashfully, "I want you to help me with the practical exam later. As long as I pass, once we enroll, I'll write all your coursework, lab reports, and final papers. I guarantee they'll be neat, polished, and excellent. The professors won't be able to find a single flaw."

Hearing those terms, Jia Xiu had to admit he was tempted.

As a research workhorse himself, having his own little workhorse would be incredibly convenient.

"Why do you think I can help you?"

"Because you finished that paper in an hour. You must be insanely good. It took me three hours, and I still couldn't solve the last two parts of the final question."

"You only had two parts left?"

"Yeah. Don't think I'm stupid. Grandma always said I was the smartest person in the village."

Jia Xiu rubbed his chin. This girl was no ordinary person.

If what she said was true, and she had completed the entire paper except for the final two parts, then she had taught herself from the extremely concise definition of derivatives on the paper, without a single example, and almost finished answering it in such a short time.

She was something else.

He had been able to hand in early because he had learned it before. Even then, it had been difficult, and he'd had a teacher.

"What's 3,528 times 1,568?" Jia Xiu suddenly asked.

"5,531,904." Mia answered immediately.

"What about 37,468 divided by 116?"

"323." Again, immediately.

"The square root of 47!"

"6.855... 6546... after that, um..."

"Alright, no need to keep going."

Jia Xiu was deeply shaken.

Bubu was already dizzy from listening. His worldview, built on an Intelligence of 4, had taken a severe blow.

"Boss, was she right?"

"Ahem, y-yeah... she was."

How would Jia Xiu know the correct answers? He had made the numbers up on the spot. Still, judging by her expression, she was probably right.

He decided to test Mia's abilities again.

"What's special about the number 1729?"

Mia scratched her head. "Um... 1729 seems to be the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two positive cubes in two different ways. It should be... 1^3 + 12^3 and 9^3 + 10^3, right?"

Jia Xiu was dumbfounded. If he brought this druid into a lab, she could serve as a calculator before calculators were invented—at the level of a scientific calculator.

"Are you even human?"

"Not entirely. I have one sixty-fourth wood elf blood."

Jia Xiu now looked at Mia as if she were a monster.

What kind of brain was this? He used Insight.

[Name: Mia Oak]

[Race: Human (1/64 wood elf blood)]

[Level: 4, Druid (Spore Society)]

[Relationship: Newly acquainted]

[Attributes: Strength 1 / Agility 2 / Constitution 2 / Intelligence 12 / Wisdom 17 / Charisma 5]

[Traits: Numerical Sensitivity / Poison Immunity / Calculation Mastery]

What a frail, sickly brain monster.

Still, to be honest, seeing those attributes moved Jia Xiu a little. He himself was a low-Charisma warlock, Bubu was a high-Charisma paladin, and two days ago he had met a cleric with barely any Wisdom.

Finally, finally, he had met someone whose attributes actually matched their class, at least a little.

But looking closely, something was off. Could Intelligence 12 really be this absurd?

His own Intelligence was 9. Did a difference of three points make that much difference?

"How do you do those calculations?" Jia Xiu asked curiously.

"I don't calculate. I just... kind of feel it. Sometimes when a problem is too hard and I can't figure it out, I even dream of the answer."

"That's awesome."

"What does 'that's awesome' mean?"

"It means you're impressive."

Jia Xiu understood now. This girl relied on Wisdom for math.

Other people used Wisdom to sense gods, nature, or their surroundings. She used it to sense truth.

"Have you agreed to my request?" Mia asked.

"Can you write papers?"

"I've been making a living writing papers for students in the city since three years ago."

"With your abilities, you can't pass the later exams?"

At Jia Xiu's question, Mia became a little embarrassed. Her small face flushed red as she answered, "I've never fought in my life. I don't have any practical combat experience. My dream is to become a pure scholar and study nature properly. Saint Delro Academy has the great druid I admire most, but admission requires a practical exam."

After hearing her explanation, Jia Xiu decided to help this humanoid calculator.

Paired with Ram, one could provide luck while the other handled calculations.

There had to be science, and there had to be mysticism.

They would be unstoppable.

Besides, he wouldn't have to do his own homework for the next few years. It was a good deal.

"I can't guarantee I'll get you through. Let's wait until tomorrow, when they announce the next exam's content, and discuss it then."

"Thank you!"

The next day, at Saint Delro Academy.

All candidates who had passed the written exam gathered together, waiting for the academy to announce the rules for the next round.

Jia Xiu, Ram, and Mia formed a strange-looking little team in one corner of the plaza.

"Let's talk first. What can you two do, mainly things that can help in combat?" Jia Xiu asked.

"I... hehe." Mia smiled.

"Don't just giggle. Tell me what you can do."

"I can control fungi."

"Be specific. What can you do with them? Can you make people sick or something?"

"I can control fungi to grow mushrooms! I can also control spore clouds to poison people."

"Not bad. That might be useful. If things get desperate, can you turn into a wild shape and fight in melee? What about you, Ram?"

"Me?" Ram thought for a moment. "I can use a hammer. A very big hammer."

"Wonderful. What about spells? You're a cleric."

"I... I can enchant my hammer, and also... Animal Friendship, Animal Messenger..."

Ram counted on his fingers.

"Perfect. That fills the gap left by our druid being unable to handle animals."

Though Jia Xiu said that, he felt their future was bleak. How was he supposed to carry these two?

Just then, a mage flashed into view at the front of the plaza.

"Silence!"

The amplified voice spread across the entire plaza.

"We will now announce the content of the next round. Candidates, you must complete a Sun Ruins dungeon exploration commission in an illusory world created by our academy's senior mages..."