The next day, after classes, Ronan entered the Runic Arts Club room. He’d missed the last meeting, so this was his second time attending.

The atmosphere was quieter than before. The room was filled with books, rune plates, diagrams, tools, half-finished arrays, and students working.

Princess Seraphina was there. Sapphire was there. Emerald Sustrei was also present, if he remembered the green haired girl’s name correctly.

The two siblings were gone. They’d stopped attending lessons. From what Seraphina told him during their spar, the two had been told off by Victoria, having "no talent."

Victoria walked in.

She greeted them all noramlly. She didn’t ask Ronan for the reason for his absense last week.

Instead, she asked for the book she gave him last week. The one covering all the fundamentals of runic arts.

Ronan pulled it out and handed it to her.

She read through it. At first her expression was normal, but then it slowly became more suspicious. Her eyes narrowed as she started flipping faster, and then, and flipped to the end.

She dropped the book in front of him.

"Leave."

Her voice was cold and uncaring.

Ronan blinked.

Victoria’s expression didn’t change.

"I told you to complete the material yourself. You use outside assistance and claim the work as your own?"

She believed Ronan cheated.

"I have no patience for people who fake their way through fundamentals. Take your leave."

The room reacted.

Seraphina looked at Ronan with wide eyes. Emerald watched him strangely. Sapphire looked concerned, maybe horrified.

Ronan quickly understood.

He completed the beginner material too quickly. Victoria assumed no beginner could have done that honestly.

Ronan spoke calmly.

"I did not cheat."

Victoria’s usually calm expression cracked. She became colder. More disappointed.

Worse than simple anger.

"Ronan. Just because you are my brother does not mean I will tolerate this. Do not disrespect my intelligence."

"I did not cheat, Sister. I can assure you that."

"Then you won’t mind if I test you."

Ronan agreed easily.

This changed the room’s atmosphere.

Everyone in the room realized he was either very confident or very foolish. They were probably thinking it was the latter.

Victoria began testing him from the book.

Basic questions on rune structure. Mana flow. Inscription stability.

Ronan answered correctly.

Victoria became slightly surprised but continued.

Another question. More technical.

Ronan answered again.

Then another.

Then another.

The questions became increasingly difficult. Definitions to applications. Applications to error correction. Error correction to underlying theory that was covered at the end.

Ronan answered everything cleanly.

Victoria became visibly more interested. Not impressed emotionally, but clearly reassessing him silently.

At one point, she asked him to analyze a flawed rune diagram.

Ronan identified the obvious flaw. Then pointed out a secondary flaw. Then explained why the book’s printed correction was incomplete under certain material conditions.

He’d already solved this. Of course he knew it.

This was the moment Victoria fully realized he had not cheated.

Ronan eventually interrupted the test with a cough into his fist.

"There’s no point continuing. I know the content. Unless you have more doubts?"

Victoria paused.

Then closed the book, shutting her eyes in understanding and a little self-annoyance.

"I was wrong. I apologize for accusing you of cheating."

Ronan waved it off.

"I understand why you suspected me. From your perspective, the conclusion was reasonable."

This earned him a little more respect from Victoria, because she looked him dead in the eyes and nodded her head.

Across the room, Sapphire was staring at Ronan with sparkling eyes. Impressed that he not only passed Victoria’s test but gained her acknowledgement.

Ronan noticed Sapphire but did not address it.

Seraphina was staring at him like she was reconsidering what kind of person he was.

Then she puffed up her cheeks and looked away...?

What the hell is wrong with that girl. Is she really a princess?

With a sigh, Ronan turned back to Victoria.

"What is the next step. If you have no more doubts, I would like to learn the following material as soon as possible."

Victoria nodded. "Allow me to go grab it."

She gave him a much thicker book.

Intermediate Laws of Runic Arts.

"This section is significantly more complex. Memorization will not be enough. If you misunderstand the intermediate laws, everything you build later will be flawed. While it’s clear that you understand the fundamentals, this book will test if you’ve rushed through them or not. Only with a deep understanding will you get through this section."

She paused.

Then she pulled out a pen. She wrote something on it. They were runes, far too complex for Ronan to understand.

She grabbed a tiny pin and grabbed Ronan’s hand. It didn’t look threatening so Ronan allowed it. She poked his finger and drew a little blood, and then dropped it right on top of the freshly drawn runes.

The runes glowed for a second before settling down.

"What was that."

"A test," Victoria answered vaguely.

"I see."

It didn’t look like she was going to elaborate on that.

"If you have questions, you can come to my lab and ask directly."

This was a meaningful offer.

Victoria did not casually invite people to her lab.

Sapphire reacted visibly. Jealousy. Admiration. Disbelief.

Victoria then left to help Sapphire with her work.

Ronan opened the book and began looking through it.

Seraphina scooted closer.

She studied the book. Then studied Ronan.

Disturbed by how quickly he cleared Victoria’s beginner material.

"You’re a fucking freak."

"Should the princess of the kingdom really be using such words? Perhaps I should tell the king and queen about this. Maybe I’d even get a cash reward."

Seraphina’s face paled.

"That was a joke, Seraphina."

"O-oh. Yeah I knew that."

"Sure. How far along are you?"

"Still on the first Chapter. Victoria says I’m moving quick, but clearly not."

"I see," Ronan said. Then he turned to his book. "Good luck."

"W-wait."

Ronan turned.

"Yes?"

"W-well, remember how I went easy on you during sparring today?"

"Did you? I do recall getting my ass handed to me."

"Hmmmm, really?" She looked to the corner of the room. "Well... since I was so nice during sparring..."

She’s just ignoring me.

"...Do you think you can help me out?"