For once, Nero was wrong. It was not just a long day, but a long few days! That night, when Nero went to bed, he consulted his roommates about what was taught during classes that day. While he missed classes, he could still study from the book.
The issue was that the things that were taught in class weren’t all in the book, and all the things in the book weren’t necessarily taught in class. Moreover, the professors were likely to elaborate in depth on important topics that might only be casually mentioned in the books.
The problem he faced was that there was no solution to this issue. It wasn’t like he could ask his roommates to teach him what he missed in class because they all had their own things to do during their limited free time - not to mention that he might not be able to teach them anyway.
Nero tried to consider what the point of making him miss classes was. It was obvious that he didn’t need the extra physical training, so it had to be something else. Was he not allowed to talk to or try to build a relationship with his seniors? Surely cracking a single joke didn’t warrant such a reaction.
He had a few different theories, but he couldn’t narrow it down. Surely there had to be some positive reason behind it.
The next day, he was once again now allowed to do anything, only made to run throughout the day, and this routine continued for a few more days until, on Saturday, suddenly he was allowed to follow his cadets to class.
Nero felt the timing was unusual. The actual running itself made no real difference to him since his body recovered quickly, and he was careful not to overload his body with aether anymore. Had they decided that he had enough? If that was the case, what had he really achieved?
He did not get an answer until he walked into the first class and was presented a surprise test. All the cadets were being tested on all that they had been taught the prior week, and the result for this test was crucial. A bad grade on any test would have a significant impact on their final grade at the end of the semester, which would determine whether or not they passed.
Nero was not focused on that. He, instead, saw the sinister intent behind having him miss so many of his classes. For whatever reason, word had gotten out that he had wanted to beat Vilhelm’s record, as was evident by his strong start which beat what the prodigy had done.
While Nero no longer thought much of Vilhelm, it was still true that he wanted to surpass him. To join the Vulkan legion, he needed to be the best candidate and currently that was Vilhelm.
Thus, by making him miss his classes, it seemed like a deliberate attempt to sabotage him and make him fall behind Vilhelm. Nero’s first instincts were that Vilhelm or his supporters had instigated this so that his reputation could not be challenged - but then he remembered where he was. No one, and quite literally no one could interfere with KMA. Thus, it was obvious that this was on purpose.
What could they get from making him fail like this? More importantly, did Vilhelm face the same sabotage as he did? While it was impossible to get an answer to the second question without some investigation, he was able to come up with a plausible answer to the first.
By making him fail in his goal, the professors could break his mental momentum. Even if he made a second resolution after failing the first, he would lack the momentum he had with the first. More importantly, the impact of his actions would also be reduced.
Perhaps to the professors this was a good thing. Clearly, Nero was headstrong and had many ideas of his own. Maybe they wanted to break him down and rebuild his character to their design, to make him into a good soldier. But Nero didn’t want that.
He wanted to become stronger, smarter, better equipped and more experienced, but he wanted it all while retaining the core of his personality and mentality. He wanted all of that without compromising on his goal.
If his professors thought that it would be so easy to beat him down, they were in for a rude awakening. While Nero lacked the opportunity to attend classes, he had kept up with the syllabus, and in fact even surpassed what was being taught in class by studying the book.
Aware that he had a disadvantage due to missed classes, not only did Nero wake up early to study, he asked his roommates to visit the library and bring him additional books.
Though Nero was quite strong, he was far from a brute. He understood well the importance of knowledge. While he may have suffered due to missing up classes, he had more than made up for it by thoroughly studying the subject from many different sources.
Since the assessment was for all classes, that day many students suffered tremendously. Since this was a surprise test, they had not been prepared. Moreover, the tests were not easy, and one could not rely on luck to get through them. Moreover, there were many invigilators inside the classes to ensure that no one tries to cheat using some card or ability.
Nero, however, had no problem. The test was not exactly easy, and he wasn’t sure what the professors would be marking on since he hadn’t been present in class, so he over-answered each question, making sure to cover it from every angle that he could think of.
Thus, by the end, Nero had more answer sheets than everyone else for every single subject.
By the time the tests ended, everyone felt mentally drained, yet there was no time for rest as noon drills began.
Nero ignored it all. He could not know whether or not he could get a perfect score. He would have liked it if he did, but he couldn’t be sure. Regardless, not only did it not affect his mental momentum, it did not even alter his plans. His professors had severely underestimated him and his resolve.
He was not showing off for the sake of vanity, though that was surely what outsides may think. He was only acting so publicly for two reasons: to show his evaluators his quality, and to establish a new reputation. Even if he failed to get a perfect score in some tests, that would not change his resolve because his goals were more long term than just a single academy semester.
In fact, that evening, during free time, Nero set into motion his plan to get permission to issue Crucible challenges to his seniors ahead of schedule. He started that by going to the Dean of Academics - Professor Isabella.
Finding her office was fairly simple, and there seemed to be no one ahead of him to meet her so her assistant led him right in. The office furniture was... appropriately sized to suit the professor, which actually made it appear quite adorable.
Nero, however, would never admit that, for it would get him killed - he was sure of that!
"Mr. Grant no one is permitted to resit for the assessments if that’s what you’re here for," she said without looking up at him. She seemed to be grading the very tests she was speaking of.
"That’s not why I’m here, Ma’am," said Nero in a very professional tone. "I am here to bring to light an issue."
Isabella sighed, and then looked up to him with emotionally exhausted eyes.
"If you miss classes due to punishments, then that’s your fault and no one else’s. If you’re going to complain about the drill sergeant, then please don’t waste my time."
Nero looked at Isabella as if he was surprised.
"No Ma’am, there seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. I have no issue with the punishments, nor am I here to complain about someone," he said, sounding solemn and serious.
"Ma’am my issue is that I think that the academy is wasting a lot of my time. The training is too light, and non-focused, while I could be taking a lot more classes than I currently do. If you check my test you’ll see that even though I missed a lot of classes, I had enough free time to more than make up for everything I missed. I’m being held back, Ma’am, because the academy is taking things too easy."
Isabella rubbed her eyes and looked at Nero as if to check whether or not she was hallucinating.
"You care to run that by me again?" she asked, unsure whether she heard him correctly.
"Ma’am, while I’m sure that the program that was designed for the cadets is extremely rigorous, it does not quite suit me. Running, doing push ups, carrying weights is all fine to physically exhaust me, and maybe train my body a little more, but the classes I’m taking are inadequate."