The Novel's Professor

Rio hummed as he walked through the hallways of the academy, his footsteps resounding in the quiet corridors. He sipped the coffee he was holding, tasting the bitter splendor of the caffeine.

'It's already the second day of the exam...'

Rio faintly thought, his body stopping in front of the observation room door. He grasped onto the doorknob—before he could twist it open, a presence suddenly loomed over his back.

...He was getting a huge Déjà vu over this. Rio grimaced, preparing for the curious woman he wanted to avoid the most.

"O-oh.... hello, Mr. Rio."

An embarrassed voice resounded behind him.

It was far worst. Rio sighed, his luck... It was never going to be better. He loosened his hold over the doorknob, straightening his back as he prepared himself—he turned his back, confronting the elegant... ashamed noble lady.

Samantha fidgeted under the stare, her eyes averting in embarrassment as she remembered last night's event. She didn't know what got into her last night—but it was not like she regretted it.

"Hello, Samantha." Rio replied, his voice soft. He continued with full of natural confidence. "Good morning. Are you going inside...?"

"Ah...yes," Samantha nodded awkwardly, her eyes shifting to Rio.

"Alright, perfect timing. I was about to enter too," Rio said, his hand grasping over the doorknob as he twisted it. The door made a clicking sound as it opened, displaying the vast interior of the observation room.

Rio stepped forward inside the room, his gaze shifting to Samantha as he gestured her to freely enter the room.

Samantha smiled, her body taking a step forward to the room. She came to Rio's side—silently standing beside him as they waited in the room silently.

The silence between them stretched until Samantha couldn't take it anymore and decided to break the silence. She spoke, her voice soft. "..So...Mr. Rio, were you able to sleep properly...?"

Rio flinched, startled from her voice. He shifted his gaze to her. He nodded as he answered concisely. "I was able to sleep properly. Thank you for last night."

"...No problem," Samantha smiled happily, her face emitting a glowing radiance. "I'm always happy to be able to help, Mr. Rio."

"I can see that," Rio chuckled, staring at her smiling expression. He raised his brows as he asked. "How about you? Did you sleep properly...?"

"You don't have to worry about me!" Samantha replied, her hand waving in dismissal. "I slept just fine. It took me a while... but I was able to get some sleep."

"That's nice to hear," Rio commented. This time, he was genuine. He was grateful for Samantha—and the best he could do was lessen her worries if she needed. "...By the way, I've been meaning to ask, but how did your teaching classes go?"

Samantha widened her eyes slightly, surprised. She nodded as she answered. "Its been doing splendidly, Mr. Rio. My subject class is about the geographical locations of the world. I think... I'm doing fine, at the very least."

"...You think?" Rio frowned, his brows knitting in confusion.

"Well, you see... some students sleep at my class sometim—" Samantha chuckled. However, before she could continue her words—Rio's voice intervened midway.

"Who and what class are these students?" Rio's frowned deepened.

"... It's alright Mr. Rio, I'm sure it's because they are just tired." Samantha chuckled, her hand waving in dismissal. "My classes start near the end of schooling day. Besides, I know that geography is certainly not... the most interesting subject around."

"Don't discredit yourself, tired or not... they are students of Volund Academy. They should be responsible for their actions," Rio replied, his eyes narrowing. If he knew one thing about Samantha—It was her overwhelming genuine kindness. Kindness should never be taken for granted. "So you teach geography, huh? I didn't know that. I don't know much about it myself. Can you explain it to me?"

"I would be happy to. I love geography, exploring and traveling." Samantha giggled cheerfully, her voice softening. Her blue sapphire pupils seemed to have transformed into yellow shining stars. "Geography is actually quite interesting... it's the study about the physical features of the earth...from countless beautiful sceneries and harrowing dangers, and its influence on culture and human civilization...."

Samantha continued to talk without pause, her voice happily explaining the subject to Rio, who listened intently.

Time slowly passes as both of them enjoyed one another's accompany, their voices were drowned in the array of noisy conversations inside the room.

After a while, Samantha heaved a breath, feeling slightly tired. Rio raised his brows, about to help her—however, at that moment, a loud voice interrupted in the room.

"...Ahz, oh well. Good morning again, teachers. It's time for the second day of the exam to start."

All the teachers suddenly stopped talking, their attention shifting to the middle of the room, staring at the drowsy intimidating blonde haired man — Brandon Gungnir.

"Once again, good morning teachers..." Brandon yawned, his eyes sunken dark as he stared at the array of teachers in the room.

"Good morning, Deputy Head." A Combat Teacher chuckled. "It seems... you're rather lacking in sleep."

"Ugh, tell me about it..." Brandon sighed, shaking his head. "They murdered my mind and body by forcing me along with the administration to check the exam points...and something tells me it's not going to be over until the week."

The Combat Teacher bitterly smiled in pity.

"Speaking of exam points, before we watch the exam again, let's try to check whether each of your bets are a mistake or not," Brandon continued, his hand raising as he tapped the smartwatch attached on his wrist. "Let's see... let's see... We'll start with Top 10 to 1. I'll go with the top ten first."

The teachers straightened their backs, staring at the man in anticipation.

"Let's see for our Top 10...ohoh! It seems some teachers are going in with high hopes."

Brandon chuckled, his fingers tapping on the smartwatch. In that instant, a large hologram displaying the team's information and statistics.

"Top 10: Team Kiro, TP: 867 pts+"

In the room, a wide hologram displaying a tanned skinned youth holding dual blades stood as the person eliminated demons along with his teammates.

Hearing that, some of the teachers narrowed their eyes in surprise. Kiro was no noble name. A few of the teachers inside the room chuckled with pride. Their vote was accurate—now only if Team Kiro could maintain their top 10 spot until the end.

"Moving on...for Top 9 from the first day,"

Brandon tapped the smartwatch once more. The hologram suddenly changed its display, replacing the tanned skinned youth with a petite noble lady.

"Top 9: Team Griasai, TP: 889."

The hologram displayed the statistics of the petite, noble lady. Showcasing her capabilities and contribution to the team.

All the teachers nodded, predicting the outcome accurately. This time, the results were not too much of a shock. The leader was Benierre Griasai, a famous noble heir in her own right. The top nine was quite deserved.

"Top 8: Team Ruby, TP: 946 pts."

The hologram changed once again, this time showcasing a cute red ribboned student. The teachers nodded, still unsurprised, as their eyes stared at the information displayed on the hologram.

"Top 7: Team Elysa, TP: 988."

Brandon continued, following one rank after another. Rio hummed as he stared at the constantly changing holograms—normally he wasn't going to pay attention to the ranking, but now that he had decided his goal, the search for talents was more important than his reluctance.

The list continued one after another, eliciting either happy or regretful responses from the teachers. Top 6 had 1,065 pts. Top 5—surprisingly was occupied by two teams that were at a tie in points, both 1,278 pts.

After the displaying the top ten to top five, a small paused descended on the room. Brandon raised his head, staring at the array of teachers that had eyes glowing in anticipation and interest for the following rankings.

"It's time to move at what we all been waiting for..." Brandon chuckled deeply. "The top 4 to top 1 rankings. I'm sure most of you here bet on this sector."

The teachers nodded, agreeing with his words.

"Well, without further a do....for Top 4!"

Brandon shouted, his hand tapping over the smartwatch. In that instant a team was displayed on the hologram, replacing the previous image.

"Top 4: Amber Hong, the daughter of the esteemed Zeus Hong himself! For the TP: in a day, she accumulated 1,547 pts!"

At that moment, the teacher's eyes immediately shifted to the hologram, staring at the black haired female student displayed.

Amber held a magical bow, her hand pulling the bowstring as she shot towards the group of demons. After the brief clip of her eliminating demons with precision, the hologram displayed the academy's personal evaluation.

[Leadership: 10/10, Strength: 7/10, Battle Awareness: 10/10, Battle IQ: 10/10]

The teachers widened their eyes, surprised. Those stats... they were amazing. The daughter of Zeus Damion Hong, Amber Hong was a top generational talent. To exemplify, getting a five out of the academy's evaluation was good already; much less getting a perfect evaluation.

"Wow..." Samantha opened her mouth, awe-struck. "Four perfect ratings. How amazing!"

Beside her, Rio nodded in agreement. To understand how amazing Amber's rating was phenomenal, one must first know the academy's self evaluation system.

Among the top students inside the academy — some specif few were personally evaluated by academy themselves and are given a rating for their profile status as a titular of top generational talent.

The amount of students that got a perfect rating in the entirety of Volund Academy's history were only few and in-between. And all those students who got perfect ratings eventually graduated to become colossal and successful Miracle Invokers in the society.

"Alright, think your bets a mistake or not? Well, that doesn't matter...I'll be showing the third one. And ooh boy! you would be shocked." Brandon commented, his hands crossed over his chest.