Chapter 345 – Sharp Advice

Chapter 345 – Sharp Advice

Kai reached the Veridian Hall as a stream of second-years in burnt orange filed out of the double doors. The senior students passed him by without paying him any mind once they noticed the color of his uniform. He rummaged through his backpack to conceal using his ring to take the skill list, throwing a glance inside once the classroom emptied.

I remembered her schedule correctly.

Beyond the ranks of empty seats, Professor Thornwyn worked on the lowest level of the hall. Her gaze was fixed on the papers she was grading, though he had the sense she knew he was there.

Alright, I just have to ask her.

He lingered a second on the threshold before descending the steps toward the lecturer’s desk. Among all the professors he’d met, Jolene was probably the one he liked the best—and also the one he knew least how to handle. Where everyone else saw a lucky country bumpkin, she seemed to peer beyond his layers of bullshit.

Maybe it was paranoia. The longer he spent at Raelion, the more he understood nobody cared about digging into his background. He was one of many talented commoners who enrolled in the academy each year. The status snippets Professor Thornwyn had scryed during the intake were secreted by oath and lacked specifics. His secrets were safe. Her interest didn’t have to be a bad thing if it netted him better advice.

Reaching the bottom level, he already had his foot on the dais when he remembered students shouldn’t approach without permission—one of many pointless rules on student conduct from the Academy’s Codex. The endless articles and subsections were a stiff read and a drag to get through.

He shuffled back, trying to make the gesture look casual. Even minor breaches could result in demerits if he ran into a cranky professor.

It’s like when Virya tried giving me etiquette lessons as a child.

The witch always said his manners would be the end of him one day. Kai had no intention to prove her right.

Better not build bad habits—.

“What is it, Matthew? You look impatient,” Jolene said. Her austere tone left no doubt that she had been observing him since he entered the hall.

I knew it.

Approaching the desk, he squeezed his brain to recall the minutiae of the Academy’s Codex. “Good afternoon, Professor Thornwyn. If I could disturb you, I was hoping to raise a question for your consideration.”

Jolene lifted her gaze from the papers. She wore a pair of thin, gold-rimmed glasses, glowing with dense enchantments. One crooked eyebrow perfectly expressed her thoughts on his attempt at manners, making clear he’d better get on with it.

I’m trying, okay? I’m not the one who wrote the greetings in that stupid codex.

“Do you want to test another basic elemental proficiency?” she asked. “ I can set aside time in two days, if you have properly prepared.”

“Uhm, no. It’s not about that…” Kai coughed into his sleeve. Why was he even feeling nervous? He cleared his voice, speaking clear and steady. “I want to switch two of my skills for something that’ll be more useful at the academy. I wrote a shortlist of the ones I’m considering, but I thought I should ask for advice before committing to a choice.”

Her attention remained on grading the essays. “You’re overwhelmed by the choices in the library and can’t decide,” she said matter-of-factly, adding a sharp red mark to a paper and muttering in a lower voice. “The same story every intake…”

Kai opened his mouth. Then closed it. Seeing her motion with a slight huff, he offered the papers with the skill pairs he selected with Valela’s help.

Her eyes flashed over the grid of skill names, pros and cons, reading through the five pages in seconds. “Take Mnemonic Mastery and Swift Learner.” She handed him back the list.

“I… okay. Yes…” Kai clumsily took his notes. His gaze shifted between her and the papers—this wasn’t how he expected this to happen.

Jolene set aside the pile of essays and sighed at his befuddled state, watching him over her enchanted glasses. “What is it? Did you not come here to look for my advice?”

“I… yes. That’s what I wanted. Thank you.” Kai put the papers in the bag slung over his shoulders, taking time to think. Even if she didn’t mind his manners, he didn’t want to be rude. “It’s that… I didn’t expect to get a straight answer.”

His past teachers always answered his dilemmas with more questions. They never gave him straightforward solutions. Not before he had jumped through a dozen hoops and tripped in every ditch.

Huh, maybe I shouldn’t take that as the norm…

“Next time I’ll answer it in the form of a riddle if you prefer,” Professor Thornwyn said.

“I— no. I wasn’t complaining.”

“I see… There is a time to let students figure out their own answers, and a time when it’s better to give them directly. From your pages of pros and cons, you’ve spent long enough thinking about these skills. There’s no way for you to know which ones would be slightly better.” She looked him up and down; a lock of auburn hair fell beside her glasses. “You seem the type to obsess over these choices for weeks. Pondering a decision is wise, getting stuck in it is not.”

“I… I know.” Kai wrapped his arms around himself under her stare. “I don’t have decision paralysis. I just wanted to make the best choice since I’ll use these skills for a long time.”

“Decision paralysis, uh…” Jolene muttered, ignoring anything else he’d said. “That is an apt description. Paralyzed by having too many choices and fearing making the wrong one. Where have you heard of the term?”

Damn my mouth.

“I read it somewhere,” he smoothly replied.

Her keen gaze made him sweat cold. “Which book?”

Kai forced his hands to stop fidgeting with the strap of his bag. “I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.” Probably in another life, probably on a phone screen. Still, it was all true. “Can I know why I should take Mnemonic Mastery and Swift Learner? How are they better?”

What a totally-not-obvious way of changing the topic.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I mean, I do actually want to know the answer.

Her eyes squinted beneath the rim of her glasses. “When they find the main library, many students without heirloom paths pick skills that would take a decade to learn. Your list was all quite sensible.” With one last glance at him, she returned to grading essays. “Though I should probably thank Miss Hightide for that dose of realism. It’s good you know your flaws and ask for advice.”

Uhm, I’m not sure that was a compliment.

Her words carried the certainty of a statement rather than a guess. Was he really that easy to read? It couldn’t be a truth skill since he hadn’t said anything.

“How do you know I didn’t draft the list on my own?”