NOVEL WEB Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Azure Blue
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The classroom fell quiet.
Under the light of the morning sun, the eyes of the students looked like sparkling jewels.
Su Ye had been standing outside the classroom door for an uncomfortably long time. He felt the pressure of every eye in the classroom landing on him, and he had to force himself not to nervously tap his right thumb and index finger together.
“I’m sorry, Teacher Niedern. I’m late.”
Su Ye bowed a full ninety degrees toward Niedern, immensely respectful.
Acknowledging his mistakes was one of Su Ye’s strengths.
Su Ye rose to meet Niedern’s friendly gaze, but he felt as though he was transparent under the man’s eyes.
Niedern’s stern voice spread through the classroom. “This is the poorest class that I have ever taught, and you are the poorest student.”
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The students burst out in laughter.
Su Ye’s face burned in embarrassment.
“However, I believe that you can do better.” Niedern’s voice turned gentle.
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“Thank you, teacher,” Su Ye said hurriedly.
“I have some understanding of your circumstances. But you must know that the future will only grant you power if you put in your best efforts.”
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“Thank you, teacher!” Su Ye lowered his head and earnestly committed Niedern’s words to memory. He repeated the sentence over and over again in his mind.
In the world of magic, Su Ye had to regard himself as the most uneducated of students.
A few of the students in the class looked at Niedern. They seemed to be deep in thought as they recalled the words Niedern had just said.
“Return to your seat.” Niedern nodded his head slightly, then turned back to the class.
Su Ye suppressed a sigh of relief and scanned the classroom. He noticed that this classroom was completely different from those on the Blue Star.
There were five large, rectangular tables of shoddy craftsmanship in this classroom, their long side facing the magic blackboard at the front.
The first four tables were already filled with students. Only the last table had an empty seat.
Su Ye had spent the previous year sitting at the last table as well.
Su Ye scanned the classroom, then pressed himself against the wall as he walked quickly toward the last table.
A few of the students shot dirty looks at Su Ye, while others stared at their spellbooks. There were even some students who were mumbling something in mocking tones.
Su Ye finally made out what they were calling him: the Third Fool.
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Su Ye’s stomach clenched instinctively when he heard this phrase, and his expression slowly hardened.
He had recalled many memories while he was running to class.
Last year, Su Ye’s grades were third to last.
The student who had been in last place had already dropped out of school.
The student who scored second to last had been stuck in the first year class for five consecutive years. He only managed to advance to the second year after the dean gave him special approval. He was twenty-five this year and went by the name “Hort.”
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Unlike the children on the Blue Star, there was no foundational education in Greece.
Over ninety percent of men in Greece began learning about farming or other skills from the age of seven, while women learned weaving or housekeeping. Less than ten percent of the children from rich households received education after the age of seven. They focused primarily on memorizing and reciting poems or developing their artistic abilities.
In ancient Greece, poetry triumphed over all other art forms. Subjects like history or theater all had a lower status than poetry.
However, out of the ten percent of children who continued their education, only a tenth of them could read and write. This was because slaves were usually responsible for teaching the children in rich families how to read and write. Few people were willing to make themselves look like a slave by taking up teaching.
However, the situation had changed slightly with the appearance of mages. More and more people started to read books.
At the age of fourteen, an extremely small number of children from rich families would become the students of famous masters to obtain knowledge or skills, while the rest of the children would either continue their farming activities or begin military training.
Sparta was an exception.
There were no mages amongst the Spartans. All of them were warriors, and even the weakest of them would become Iron Warriors when they came of age.
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This was because any Spartan male who didn’t become an Iron Warrior by the age of twenty would be executed.
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Su Ye hadn’t been exposed to any education before the previous year. Thus, even though he had put in a decent amount of effort, third to last was the best rank he could achieve in the class.
For that reason, Su Ye, Hort, and the child who had dropped out of school were always mocked as the Three Fools of Plato Academy.
Su Ye was called the Third Fool.
Su Ye walked to the last table and noticed that there were six people seated there.
One was Hort, the youth known to the others as the Second Fool. He looked older than anyone in the room.
Even sitting in the back of the room, he was impossible to overlook. It seemed like he was the only one standing in class despite the fact that he was seated.
Hort was 2.1 meters tall, and he was still growing.
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He shot a wide smile toward Su Ye.
The reason he hadn’t dropped out of school was simple; it was his father’s dying request.
His father was an old soldier who had noticed a Persian army moving in the wilderness. After leading his team through several ambushes and surviving multiple attempts on his life, He had led his team back to relay the information, avoided multiple attempts on his life, he got the information back to the Athenian army. He died shortly after voicing his wish that his child be allowed to study at Plato Academy.
Out of all his classmates, Su Ye was the closest to Hort. Su Ye nodded toward him in greeting.
Su Ye was on decent terms with the rest of the people at the last table, with the exception of Rolon, who he had never said more than three sentences to. Rolon was a male classmate from a noble family.
Rolon had transferred to this class midway through the last semester. It was rumored that his family had considerable status in the city of Athens and that he had previously studied at a famous academy for nobles. No one knew why he suddenly arrived in this class. Later, it was said that Rolon had severely injured another student in his former academy and was forced to leave.
Su Ye nodded at Jimmy, Laker, and Ebert one by one, but he didn’t greet Rolon.
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Rolon didn’t look at Su Ye, either.
When Su Ye reached the near end of the table, he suddenly found himself staring into an azure ocean.
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His eyes locked on a young lady wearing a long white dress. She had long black hair, dark and shiny like a waterfall. It looked as if every strand of her black hair was adorned with black diamonds.
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Su Ye looked toward her. All his attention had been drawn to her eyes.
Her eyes were as clear and sparkling as sapphires. They were like blue lakes on a snowy mountain.
The azure lakes reflected the sunny blue sky.
The young lady wore a matte gold necklace around her neck. A pendant bearing the side profile of a woman hung from the necklace. The hair of that woman was formed by nine interlocking golden snakes, and each snake had a pair of red diamonds etched into its eye sockets.
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This necklace was as elegant as it was exquisite, and it exuded vitality despite its obvious age. Su Ye was immediately certain that the necklace was not only an heirloom of a noble family, but it was also a piece of extremely powerful magic equipment.
On an average person, this Medusa necklace would have instantly drawn the eye, but on this girl, it was the last thing that Su Ye had noticed.
This was also the first time Su Ye had met this new classmate.
Su Ye was feeling confused. He should have seen this beautiful young lady as soon as he entered the classroom, but he had only noticed her when he got close. Could that be because of the necklace?
The young lady felt Su Ye’s gaze and turned to look at him.
There was no emotion on the young lady’s exquisite face. She was as cold as an ice sculpture.
Su Ye wasn’t adept at socializing with women. He simply nodded slightly before turning to sit down. He then froze for a moment.
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The large table could fit eight people, but the only empty seats were on either side of the young lady.
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Su Ye had no choice. He sat between the young lady and the large fellow, Hort.
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All he saw from the corner of his eye was a color as blue as the ocean.
Su Ye grabbed his spellbook. He received a magic message the very moment he sat down.
At this time, Teacher Niedern’s voice came from the front of the classroom, “Now, I will lead the class in reviewing all of the language lessons we had last year. After the review, I will give a simple summary of the six new foreign language classes we have this year. The rest of the classes will be introduced by the other teachers…”
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“Six? And there are other classes? Am I hearing things?” Su Ye was confused. The memories of despair, fear, helplessness, and mania instantly swarmed into his brain. Su Ye’s ears began to ring, and his heart pounded in his chest.