Chapter 623: The Interview
Northern, after the man's kind gesture, took light steps forward and sank his butt into the plush brown chair. He was a little tense.
Again in his life, he was in a position where he felt he could not control the outcome of this certain event. The feeling made him nervous and irritated at the same time. He clenched his hands tightly.
"Hay hay, no need for you to be nervous now, boy. This is going to be a walk in the park."
Northern smiled politely and made it clear in a calm and cold tone. "I am not nervous at all, Professor Heim."
The chunky Professor gave Northern a serious and somewhat unreadable expression, then cleared his throat.
A few seconds of silence drifted through the luxurious office, raising the luminescence banner of the bright day star as golden light radiantly permeated the tall windows behind the Professor.
The place was almost blinding, but the rays of light shifted subtly and did not obstruct anything, especially not Northern's vision.
The man's thick and mature voice pierced through the silence with a lace of seriousness that seemed to densify the air.
"So, here it says you have never attended the academy." Professor Heimburger lowered his eyeballs to look at Northern through his glasses.
"Yes,"
"And you want to be an instructor here?"
Northern nodded carefully. "Yes."
The professor went silent, closing his downturned eyes for a moment as he shook his head. He opened his eyes and met Northern's gaze with an intense look of passion.
"Young boy, Rian. You are full of talent. You are an outstanding and marvelous existence. You are what this world would refer to as a prodigy. A Sage at sixteen years old-the world has never seen such a phenomenon. You, boy, are extraordinary!"
Northern squinted his eyes. 'Don't tell me this guy is about to give me unwarranted advice?'
His guess was impeccably correct! Heimburger's voice continued to ring in Northern's ears without pause.
"Now, if you were to take all that talent and put it into learning, can you imagine what you would achieve? You would be the best to ever exist. I know you have responsibilities, you want to get paid and also enjoy the privileges of an instructor, but hay, lad, four years is just a blink away. You'll be done with your section of learning and ready to work!"
Northern's entire disposition suddenly shifted. His expression became grave.
Aside from the obvious change in his eyes, there were some unseen things that could very well be felt by someone of Heimburger's caliber.
After all, he kept his mouth shut suddenly and blinked several times, even trying to withstand the burning glint in Northern's ethereal blue eyes.
"You seem to be mistaken about a few things, Professor."
The professor almost leaped out of his skin at the cold sound of Northern's voice.
"I am not trying to be the best to ever exist. Why should I try to be something that I already am? Despite being a Sage, there's not a single person in this academy that can drive me to one knee. To simply put, this place has nothing to offer to me, nothing to teach an existence such as myself."
The professor's brows curved slightly.
"Oh? Did I annoy you? Or sound too cocky? Is that what you think? I could show you. Here, take my hand." Northern said, stretching out his hand on the table for Heimburger to take. Heimburger hesitated, an unsure look drifting through his pupils like uncoordinated winds. "Sure... boy." He pressed his lips and slowly touched Northern's hand.
The moment he did, however, he jumped instantaneously, attempting to leap as far away from Northern as he could, smacking his fragile frame against the window and slipping down like a wiped-off stain.
He lay on the ground wide-eyed, heaving with buckets of sweat rolling down his face. Northern rose from the shadows he cast on the ground, bending in front of the Professor.
"Do you understand a fraction of what I am trying to say?"
"Wha—wha- what are you? What is that darkness? In all my one hundred and fifty years of living, I have never, never seen such a force of existence. Who are you?"
Northern shrugged. "You tell me. I am not the one who has lived for a hundred and fifty years." He said and stood up.
Then he put his hands in his pocket, looking down on the Professor, his chin raised.
"I have no desire to become a student. It's also understandable if you can't give me the position of an instructor. I will just take my leave."
'Now to rely on what Thalen had said.'
Northern turned away and was walking, but Professor Heimburger's voice called for him.
"Boy..."
Northern's lips immediately curled up.
The Professor slowly got up to his feet, his breath rough as he found it difficult to flawlessly piece his speech together.
"We cannot offer you the position of an instructor just like that. Even that of an interim instructor. There's a strict rule of the academy never to hire outsiders. We only hire people who graduated from this school. However, I could make an exception for you. If you promise me one thing."
Northern narrowed his eyes. 'I don't like where this is going.'
He lingered for a few minutes, his eyes drifting here and there, then his focus returned, as did
his voice.
"What is this promise?"
"You will accept. You will accept the position..."
Northern tilted his head slightly with a puzzled look on his face.
"The promise you want me to make to you is that I will accept the offer you want to make to
me?"
Professor Heimburger nodded with a serious look on his weathered face.
"That is weird... but sure, I guess. What is your condition?" Northern asked, while thinking, 'What matters is that I am able to do the things that I need to do.'
The professor's mood seemed to lift as he exhaled and spoke.
"I will offer you a position of interim assistant instructor, my assistant instructor. You will, however, still have to pick up a course, because the academy rules are the academy rules. You can pick up shorter years' courses. When you are done, you can be promoted to a full
instructor."
Northern was silent for a few seconds, thinking. Then he asked, "Is craftsmanship, particularly blacksmithing, part of these shorter years' courses?"
"Oh, yes, of course. You'll find any kind of craftsmanship in the academy, taught by the very
best of the continents."
"And must I be your assistant instructor?"
Professor Heimburger nodded gravely. "That part is important."
Northern narrowed his eyes at the Professor. 'After showing him a short depth of the void,
what he wants is for me to be his assistant. Now that is suspicious and interesting.'
A corner of his lips curled.
'But it doesn't matter what his agenda is. I can just kill him if it gets in my way. What matters
is I am able to do the things I want to do.'
"One more thing... this is very important."
Professor Heimburger's eyes lit up as Northern's voice rang out.
"Yes, boy?"
"Do I have to report to you every day, from the main campus all the way to this place?"
"Huh? No, no, child. I have an office in the main compound that you will be in charge of. You will only need to come here when I summon you, which will be very few, as we can communicate without having to see each other. Seeing you, in fact, devastates my gentle
soul."
Northern smiled contentedly. "Alright, then. This can work."