Chương 88: Intense Learning

My next class was Dwarven Language. I showed up a few minutes early and took a seat at the front of the class. I realized people preferred the front seats for better focus. In the next few minutes, the class filled. The classroom was big, set up like a theater. A bell rang nine times, signaling the start of a new hour. A dwarf walked into the classroom, wearing the more elaborate robes of a Professor. They had gold stitching and the platinum crest of the College. The quiet talkers fell silent rapidly.

"I am Professor Thrain Ironscribe, your Professor for the Dwarven Language skill. If you commit yourselves fully during this classroom time, you will gain around 17 skill levels per month. More if you are capable, less if you are lazy," he said while looking about. No one dared to speak or make any noise. Since Ironscribe wasn't a common dwarven name, the Professor was clearly committed to the College. It wasn't in your face, but the Professor had changed their name to conform to the culture of the College.

"My assistants are passing out the textbooks for this class. It contains pronunciation markers in the Eldarin Language. You will memorize the words and sentences. Over the decades, they carefully selected them to help you learn the language as quickly as possible. You must read 10 pages each day. At the end of each class, an assistant will call on a student to read a page from the previous day. Today, you will study pages 1 through 10. Then 11 to 20 and so on. You can study ahead.

But you need to commit the words to memory. At the start of each class, one of my assistants will read off the ten pages. Follow along in the text." The Professor looked over everyone.

"While it might seem cold to teach the course like this, this is the most effective way to learn the skill with so many people. If you require individual instruction, my assistants are available for hire along with their hourly rates for personalized instruction outside of class. But this book learning while listening to conversations at the start and end of each class is incredibly effective, combined with focused study." Everyone remained silent as the Assistant Professors passed out textbooks.

"At the end of every week, there will be a short test on the fifty pages that you have gone through. The results will be listed at the start of the following week. There is a direct correlation between test grades and skill level gain," the Professor explained.

"As for people with skill levels already in Dwarven Language, that is fine. You are welcome to study ahead or to request the next five textbooks in the series. There will be a new one every month. But if you don't know the material, don't rush ahead. I will return at the three-month mark after they administer a more comprehensive test and at the end of the semester for the final test. Now my assistant will read off the first ten pages," the Professor said before leaving the classroom.

I listened closely as the Assistant Professor quickly read off the first ten pages. Once he was done, he looked up at everyone.

"You may begin copying and practicing in your heads. Don't disturb others. I will ring a soft bell when it is time for me to select ten random students to demonstrate what they have learned. If you complete the ten pages, you may proceed. If you finish a textbook, you can come up, show it to me or another Assistant Professor, and quietly request the next one, and we will provide it. Begin." I quickly began copying the words in the textbook while repeating them in my head.

I was familiar with several of the words I had to copy, but I went through each of them diligently. After an hour, the midpoint of the class, I had gone through ten pages. I then continued for the next ten. My experience copying the Eldarin dictionary came to mind. I also had the skill Empowered Writing, a tier 3 skill, and Speed Reading, a tier 2 skill. By the time the class was nearing its end, I had gone through 18 pages in the textbook. A soft bell was rung.

"Stop writing. Pay attention. You come up here and read off page 1 of the textbook from your notes. Also, you, you," the Assistant Professor began calling up nine other students to the front of the classroom.

"Hurry up, run!" The students dashed. He pointed at the first student who had come to the front of the classroom.

"Now, you read quickly and clearly." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Gash ra tor. Gash ver gon." The student read from their notes and finished reading the first page.

"Good, go back to your seat. You are next." The Assistant Professor pointed at a student in the middle of the group whom he had called down to the front earlier.

"Me but-""Do not talk back, or I will expel you from the classroom. Come up and read now." The student hurried to the front of the classroom.

"Ter von tereran-""No. It is tereren. Continue." After five interruptions, the teacher ordered the student to stand aside in embarrassment, then called over the next student to continue reading the rest of page 2 and then page 3. Once all ten pages had been read off, there were two students at the front of the classroom.

"IDs," the Assistant Professor ordered. The two students handed them over, and he recorded their names on a sheet of paper before handing the IDs back.

"I've marked you down as troublesome students, so you have a higher chance of being called back up. Since you clearly can't focus and study, the school will expel you from the class if you fail three times. There is no need for failures or those who can't keep up with the slow pace of this class. You'd better improve by tomorrow, or else you'll face consequences. The same goes for the rest of you. Focus on learning. The College will expel students if they fail all their classes.

The students would waste all the money they paid for tuition. Your family and friends will mock you for failing in year one." No wonder people said this place was brutal.

"Dismissed! You have five minutes to get to your next class," the Assistant Professor said and left. Students rushed out of the classroom. Thankfully, I didn't have a class after this except for Wednesday through Friday when I had Monster Processing. I spent the next two hours studying the Dwarven Language in a study nook next to the same amphitheater classroom. My next class for the day would be Dwarven Etiquette, immediately followed by Dwarven History.

Both classes followed the same style as Dwarven Language, but with fewer students present, about 400 instead of 800. There was a demonstration at the start, followed by book learning, then students were called up to show what they learned at the end of the class. The students had to respond appropriately to a social situation for Dwarven Etiquette. The questions were straightforward. If someone of a higher station than you says good morning, how should you respond and act?

I could see the questions getting much trickier as the semester went on. I focused on answering the questions that were asked at the end of the class. Dwarven History had a rapid-fire quiz of three questions for ten students at the end of class. There were no demonstrations at the start. At least we could answer in Eldarin in this class, but using Dwarven was also acceptable. All the classes were in Eldarin. There were only special exceptions made, like allowing Dwarven to be used in Dwarven History.

I got dinner, and my brain felt like mush. I had to keep pushing myself. No wonder people called this the dungeon of the mind. If you didn't focus on learning, you would fall behind. They would find and expel troublesome students without mercy. The skill level gain of students rated the Professors. While they couldn't expel students arbitrarily as long as they had a fair method, they could remove students who caused the average level gain to decrease, thereby scaring the others into working harder.

It was six in the afternoon as I dragged myself to an auxiliary classroom to work on Focused Meditation. An Assistant Professor was waiting inside the smaller classroom.

"Welcome to the Focused Meditation Auxiliary class. Do you have the skill already?"

"Yes, level 43," I replied.

"Excellent. The cost is one silver per session." I pulled out my ID and handed it over. I then got it back.

"There is a guidebook. Please start with the exercises on page one and do them for an hour. Then go to the next one. Once you get through the book, repeat it over and over to improve your skill levels."

"That's it?"

"Yes. You get a private room, and you can ask me questions if you need to. But go through the book first before asking me to check your meditation poses. I will correct you on your second time through. There are 50 poses. Going through them once on your own is important. The key is to hold them. They get increasingly difficult, and the textbook has some wonderful pictures across several pages."

"Is everything self-study?"

"First year?" I nodded.

"Mostly yes. Otherwise, this place would go bankrupt. But don't underestimate the methods the Professors have come up with. The boost from personalized instruction will only add a level or two every month compared to these self-study methods."

"Then why sit here?"

"Recording and observation. What are the most common mistakes and questions that the textbook doesn't answer? They will further refine things by updating them in the next version. There isn't much to add, but I also use this time to devise other training methods for the Meditation skill series and other skills. If an Assistant Professor comes up with a good enough method, we get to become a full-time Professor and teach the skill."

"It can't be easy," I said.

"It isn't. Some people like to take it easy and manage the workload for the Professors they work for. Now get to posing, hold each pose for one hour, and hold it. That is key." I nodded and went into the adjacent room. There was a comfortable floor mat and dim lighting, likely chosen to maximize skill gain for Focused Meditation in an environment optimal for the broadest range of students. I opened the textbook and maneuvered into the first pose. I sat with my legs crossed and my feet on top of my knees.

My hands were making odd shapes, while I had to manage my breathing in a specific pattern. As the minutes wore on, it was harder to hold the pose while maintaining my breathing and focus. It was hard, but not impossible. The person who devised this pose clearly knew they were making it difficult but not impossible to work the Focused Meditation skill.