"Now, I feel bad," Tom Nguyen muttered to himself. Those ten points in class were also the result of Zane's motivation, but he never said anything — not even a thank-you. "I'll repay him another way," Tom thought. His eyes then subtly shifted to Evans, but he remained silent.
"You guys looked like you were in the middle of something. Are we interrupting?" Ahmed asked.
Zane did not answer as he was already in the middle of enjoying his food, so Evans took the lead, "Did you see the article? We were discussing that."
"What article?" After being pointed to the source, Ahmed and Devonte then checked the Student Board. A few minutes later, Ahmed finished reading, but Devonte's eyes were still glued to his hologram, a deep frown on his face.
Evans shifted his gaze to them. "What do you think?"
Ahmed shook his head, "The article brought up a crucial issue, but his solutions fully displayed his social privileges."
"Oh?"
"Even if the tower would grant access to the Virtual Learning Lab to every country in the world, how many of them have the infrastructure to truly put them to use? And I'm not just talking about third-world countries. Many developed countries have no choice but to outsource many of their industries. So, in the end, the ones who would truly benefit are Western Imperial Powers and a few Asian countries, such as China and Japan, which would further enlarge the socio-economic disparity between nations worldwide."
Zane continued eating his food, and with each bite, his life force was strengthened by a small portion. It's not like he was ignorant of Ahmed's point. After all, his second motherland — Ghana — would also fall under this category. And he even knows more about the topic than Ahmed. For example, many European countries rely on American products, services, and even industries, even though they have the technology to make them themselves. So, even if the tower granted them access to the virtual lab, many of those countries would also be screwed as the US would take the lead while they try to catch up.
Zane's original objective was simply to share his thoughts on the application of the Virtual Learning Lab and his observations after reading about the Demon Race; he had never thought his post would go viral, let alone attract so much criticism. Otherwise, he could have written a better article that took all these socio-political issues into account.
"You make a good point, but what if those countries decided to share their technology with weaker nations so they can build their infrastructure?" Evans asked.
"Do you think that's possible?"
"Under normal circumstances, no, but it could happen if the tower intervenes. They are the ones controlling the Virtual Learning Lab, meaning they could dictate the terms of its use."
"You want the tower to force these countries to not only play nice, but also share their technology?"
"Why not?"
"In that case, why doesn't the tower just solve all of Earth's issues? They should have the power."
"You know it's not the same thing."
"If they can intervene once in Earth's affairs, they can do it a second, third, and many more times."
"You need to have more faith."
"And you have too much," Ahmed countered.
The discussion continued for a while, and soon afterward, Zane joined. Then, Tom Nguyen couldn't resist and interjected. As for Devonte? He remained quiet for a while before heading to his room; no one saw him again for the rest of the night.
The discussion lasted for close to an hour; it only stopped after James finally returned from God-knows-where and gave them a nasty look while asking if they had nothing better to do. The mood was destroyed, and Zane — who felt this was the best opportunity to extricate himself — left immediately afterward. Tom Nguyen followed soon, and less than ten minutes later, Evans and Ahmed also dispersed.
After returning to his room, Zane showered before finally finishing his homework. The assignment was relatively simple: read the first chapter, summarize the content, and add a bit of insight. Even with Zane's overachiever personality, he finished the assignment with ample time to spare, which he used to continue reading. Rune Theory is not just about root memorization; spacing is an integral aspect: where to put the runes, how far apart they are, and even the specific size of a rune could affect the entire spell.
And that's just the rune aspect; the addition of Mana Directive complicates things to another level. Zane found himself confounded many times while reading the book, but he did not mind. If necessary, he would read a passage a dozen times before he could understand it, and he also took notes on the parts that remained a mystery. The content was so fascinating that Zane lost track of time; he did not sleep until four in the morning, and three hours later, his biological clock woke him.
"Why don't I feel tired at all? Is this because of the improved life energy? My powerful mental energy? Or something else?" Zane thought. Regardless of the reason, if he could stay in a peak state with only a few hours of sleep, that would mean more time to study and train. "Let's test it out tomorrow in case this is a one-time thing." There were a few variables that could have influenced his current state, primarily the magic food he ate last night and the excitement of his first magic class.
Zane's schedule has already been set: morning training — usually a short 30-minute run — along with meditation. spell training, classes, the library — which has become his second home, Virtual Lab Learning, and afternoon training. With his mind's terrifying ability to absorb information, a few days were enough for him to learn so much.
Three days later, Thursday arrived, and it was time for the first practical class. Following the professor's request, Zane dressed in loose clothing — black sweatpants, running shoes, and a sleeveless blue t-shirt with a picture of a raven's head — holding his magic staff in his dominant hand. Tom Nguyen did not wait for them and headed to class early. Meanwhile, after breakfast, Zane and Evans headed to the training hall.
"Oh, before I forget, I wanted to apologize about James," Evans said as they approached the classroom.
"Why are you apologizing for his actions?" Zane asked.
Evans sighed, "We run in the same circle, and people usually have a certain opinion of my friends or me because of him."
"Then, don't hang out with him."
"It's not that simple. Our family basically grew up together and has a lot of business. Whether I want to or not, I will see him at least 10 times a year."
"Well, I can tolerate him since we have to live together for a year, but he shouldn't go too far," Zane warned. Currently, James' behavior can only be described as arrogant, rude, and annoying, but if he escalates, Zane will not hesitate to ask for a new roommate. And if the tower doesn't solve the issue, he'll solve it his way.
"Don't worry, he's just arrogant and prideful, not malicious."
"Let's hope."
The practical class was in a large area next to the track, with over 200 black, metallic practice dummies perfectly aligned horizontally. The same number of students calmly awaited the professor's arrival, and by the time Zane and Evans arrived, it was almost 9 AM. A quick glance around, Zane noticed many students wearing hoodies, which was understandable. With their heightened senses and so many people around, the feeling of being watched was highly unpleasant. Luckily, everyone subconsciously followed social decorum and did not stare at anyone for too long.
Zane's second observation was everybody's conversation, "It's been three days, and that article is still the main topic of discussion on campus," he thought. With each passing day, his joy over not revealing himself in that article increases.
"I see Tom over there," Zane said before walking southwest. Evans hesitated briefly before following him. As soon as they reunited, Zane began a conversation with Tom Nguyen about something he had learned in the Virtual Learning Lab the day before. With a math expert available to him, he would be a fool not to take full advantage of it.
Sadly, their conversation did not last long before a sudden phenomenon occurred. A magic circle appeared on the ground more than thirty meters from the group of students, followed by a pillar of flame more than 10 meters tall. The heat forced a few people to protect their faces or even retreat a few steps, but less than five seconds later, the pillar disappeared, revealing two people.
"What a show off," Zane thought. "But is this what the professor meant by using the Elemental Planes to teleport?" All signs indicate that this newly arrived teacher had used the Fire Elemental Plane for his grand entrance, but Zane wasn't a hundred percent sure. Regardless, now was not the time for answers. Instead, he focused on the two people who showed up: one in the front and one trailing by one step.
His attention was immediately directed to the woman in the back. He assumed it was a woman because of her body shape and the long hair revealed beneath the hood, but there was room for error. The person wore a standard blue-and-black magic robe with elegant gold embroidery and a three-star pin. However, the hoods hid their faces, revealing only their chins, creating a more mysterious atmosphere.
"Wearing a robe in such weather? It must be enchanted with a temperature-controlling spell," Zane thought. His eyes then shifted to the man in front, who is most likely this class's professor. The man wore what Zane would call a battle robe rather than a magical robe. It had the cloak-and-loose design of cloaks — including a hood, since mages seemed to love those — but underneath was well-fitted leather armor with boots and even hand-guards that perfectly matched the armor; it resembled Jedi robes, just more tight-fitting.
"This design is much better than regular robes," Zane thought. If he had one criticism about the tower and these mages, it was their lack of fashion sense. For now, he would tolerate these robes, but once he had the means, he must design a unique one. Or maybe add a transformation enchantment to the clothes so they can change form at his whim.
"So much red," was Zane's second thought after looking at the professor. Besides the red battle robe with some touches of black, everything else about the professor was red: his boots, all ten rings on his fingers, his eyes, thick beard, eyebrows, and even his hair, which was more beautiful than a ruby.
"Did he dye it? No, now that I think about it, many of the tower staff have odd-colored hair — even the humans. It can't be that they all dye it, which would mean it may be natural. But what's the reason? Could it be that humans in different dimensions evolve to have different-colored hair because of mana?"
Zane was embarrassed since he felt he should have noticed this sooner, and he researched for answers in the library. Luckily, it wasn't too late.