How Could Anyone Be This Smart?

Looking into Alhaitham's deep eyes, Xingsu kept feeling as though he had been seen through, though the details of his origins still seemed somewhat unclear.

Faced with someone who looked this intelligent, lying might not have been a good choice.

"Uh... if I said I somehow appeared inside Irminsul, then the God of Wisdom-that is, Lesser Lord Kusanali-rescued me, and afterward she brought me to study at the Akademiya... would you... uh... believe me?"

"..."

Bro Alhaitham took all of one second to accept this bombshell of an explanation.

"As expected. Just as Tighnari said, you really are special."

He actually believed that just like that!?

"You seem surprised. This conclusion wasn't hard to deduce. There aren't many means of deceiving everyone, and the Akasha Terminal is one of them. For someone important enough to access its core, getting a person into the Akademiya would hardly be difficult. So, bypassing every procedure and directly modifying the Akasha Terminal most likely involved that god. Unfortunately, I've never needed an Akasha Terminal."

How could anyone be this smart!

"Second question: what insights have you gained from these books you've been reading on the desk?"

"You mean these works by Professor Tighnari? Hmm... there are a lot of things I don't understand, but I can tell he put a lot of care into them, and he's very knowledgeable. And toward Collei, too..."

"I heard you only learned Teyvat's common tongue yesterday. Is that correct?" Alhaitham suddenly interrupted Xingsu.

"Yes... uh, is something wrong?"

"You mean you spent one day-no, one night-systematically learning an entire language from scratch, and could then begin reading the Akademiya's research papers without difficulty?"

"Uh... well..."

As he spoke, Alhaitham casually picked up one of Tighnari's books from the desk, flipped to a random page, and asked:

"What are the symptoms of the second stage of Eleazar?"

"Extensive spreading of black scales across the body's surface, persistent burning pain in the skin alternating with chills; intermittent loss of awareness, fatigue, drowsiness, and a sharp decline in muscle strength."

Alhaitham flipped a few more pages at random.

"What effects does Tighnari's medicine, using Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's Sacred Body Mushrooms and Padisarah stamens as its main ingredients, have on Eleazar?"

"It alleviates burning pain and hardening of the black scales, suppresses emotions, calms the mind and palpitations, improves insomnia and drowsiness, and reduces the frequency of acute episodes.

"Oh, right, Tighnari rarely used this formula later on, because Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's Sacred Body Mushrooms are not only precious but also really hard to gather... he wrote that in his notes."

Snap! Alhaitham shut the book.

"How long have you spent reading this material?"

"Ummm, about an hour?"

"..."

How could anyone be this smart!

If Alhaitham's gaze toward Xingsu had previously held a cold, appraising edge, the way he stared at him now could only be called burning.

"Um... i-is something wrong?" Looking at Alhaitham's burning gaze, Xingsu inexplicably felt a chill run down his back.

"Xingsu, do you know how absurd your ability to learn is?" Seeming to realize he had lost his composure a little, Alhaitham returned to his initial cool demeanor and folded his arms as he questioned Xingsu.

"Uh, is it?" Xingsu scratched his head.

"A student at the Akademiya would need one to two months at the very least to master a new language. And an hour would only be enough for an ordinary person to skim through the material in these books. But you, Xingsu, can see for yourself how much time you spent in total. I doubt I need to say any more about how strong your learning ability is."

"Uh... I just read it once and remembered it."

The curse of knowledge-the more one knew, the harder it became to understand "not knowing."

Xingsu had never seen how other people studied, so he had taken it for granted that his own learning speed was normal.

Now he finally understood what Lin had meant back then when saying that he had received the blessing of memory and that his learning ability far surpassed other people's.

Hiss, could I really be a genius?

"If I was still testing you a little before, I can now say with certainty that you possess every quality and accomplishment a qualified scholar should have."

"First, exceptionally strong learning and deductive abilities. You've already demonstrated those just now."

"Second, a commitment to rigor in scholarship. You don't rely on the Akasha Terminal, are willing to spend time reasoning and verifying things yourself, and don't blindly accept ready-made answers. That is a scholar's most precious self-discipline."

"Third, kindness and principles beyond your research. You are willing to help a complete stranger, willingly bear another's suffering, and show compassion. That is a spirit of dedication rarely found in scholars."

His green eyes met Xingsu's openly, their earlier intensity turning into sincere recognition:

"Perspective, comprehension, self-discipline, kindness, dedication-you possess every quality a scholar needs. Among the many students of the Akademiya's six Darshans, perhaps not even one in ten could measure up to you."

As he spoke, Alhaitham extended a hand to Xingsu. "Well, my lunch break is nearly over. My name is Alhaitham, the Akademiya's Scribe. If you run into difficulties, you can seek my help."

Xingsu took Alhaitham's outstretched hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Xingsu, an ordinary student at the Akademiya."

"Heh. If you're ordinary, then every student in the Akademiya is mediocre."

"You flatter me, you flatter me."

"Phew..." After seeing Alhaitham off, Xingsu sat in his chair, pondering a question in Tighnari's notes.

Where did Eleazar truly originate?

Unlike the viral or bacterial infections behind ordinary illnesses, Eleazar's means of transmission was completely unknown, as was the cause of its onset.

Hmm... why not ask the amazing Nahida?

But how do I find Nahida...

"Thinking about me?" Nahida suddenly appeared before Xingsu without warning. "I saw how you did today. You're very capable, Xingsu, and you did a wonderful job!"

Xingsu scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Not really... oh, right, Nahida, do you know anything specific about Eleazar?"

"Sorry, I don't know very much about Eleazar either. I only know that it's a pathological change in the human body caused by Irminsul's withering and the spread of Withering Zones. Eleazar is like a small Withering Zone growing on a person's body."

"Irminsul... is withering?"

"That's right. Irminsul has actually been polluted for a long time. As its caretaker, I've been trying to find a way to treat its affliction, but unfortunately, I've had very little success."

Even the God of Wisdom doesn't know the specifics...

"Oh, right, Nahida, I met a young girl with Eleazar today. Her name is Collei."

Xingsu told Nahida about how he had helped Collei that day and his conjectures about Eleazar.

"Hmm... memories? Then could Irminsul's affliction also be caused by carrying harmful information? Thank you for your research, Xingsu." Nahida smiled at him. "Keep it up, Xingsu. I have faith in you."

With that, she disappeared from Xingsu's sight.