The First Cultivator - Changing Existence

In the places above him were some of the oldest people attending the Imperial Scholar Camp.

One was almost elderly, at least 40 years old. Another was most likely in her twenties. The last seemed like he had just become an adult, but was still rather old compared to others.

Nobody had ever claimed that the Imperial Scholar Camp was fair. It did not care about the gaps in age and the differences that would bring, just the abilities of those in it.

Most of the students were indeed not adults, but the three at the top of the list were. 

The Imperial Scholar spoke.

"Number one gets three intelligence points. Number two gets two intelligence points. Number three gets one intelligence point. There are no rewards for those below that."

Skymender sighed, but it was not completely unexpected.

"That is the end of today's session. Same time tomorrow."

This marked the end of their day, as well as the end of the first test. Skymender returned to his house, eventually ate, fell asleep, and woke up the next day.

Class began as usual, but the subject was different.

"Since the Imperial Scholar Camp will only last around three months, we will not spend too much time on anything. That goes especially for English, the language everybody already knows. Next, we will begin to understand the fundamentals of science."

Skymender perked up. This was his specialty.

"Science is one of the most important things to possibly learn about, for it is not simply a category of knowledge, but encompasses the entire idea of human advancement. Every breakthrough, be it in technology, medicine, or war, are all based on science. In a way, everything else such as Math, English, and Reading, all build up to science."

The class paid great attention. His words were incredibly attention drawing.

"There are many studies of science. You can study space, earth, technology, medicine, and even poison."

As he said poison, he looked at Skymender. It was only for a moment before he turned back.

"We naturally cannot focus on so many categories, and those five are just a few of the many. Instead, I will teach you the basics of most of them, and as a class, you will pick three to focus on. Let's start with the study of space, one of the less known categories."

Everyone listened with their full attention as the Imperial Scholar spoke. It slowly got late, but he had no intention to stop, still going on as if he had infinite energy.

Windows stopped showing brightness, and only darkness remained. The room was lit by a bunch of candles, which a few people came in and set up.

On the Imperial Scholars desk was a lamp that gave off the most light in the room.

Finally, he stopped.

"That covers four common branches of science. We will continue tomorrow. Make sure you study your notes."

Skymender looked down at his notebook, which had tens of completely full pages. He sighed and prepared to stay up late. It was already dark outside.

He didn't even return to his room first, instead stopping by a restaurant.

As he ate, he went over his notes, doing his best to commit it all to memory. 

He noticed other people in the same restaurant doing the same thing. In fact, among everyone inside, only one person was not eating while studying. Instead, he was fully focused on his meal.

It was the person only a year older than Skymender who had spoken to him before. If he recalled correctly, his name was Charles.

Skymender wasn't sure why he wasn't looking over his notes, but he also didn't care enough to think about it.

On the previous leaderboard, Charles had gotten sixth place. It was good, especially for his age, but it was still below Skymender.

Skymender soon finished eating and returned to his room, where he continuously looked over his notes. After a while, he went to bed. The next morning, he returned.

When the Imperial Scholar entered, he did not waste even a second before getting straight into it.

Everybody knew they were in for a long lecture, but none dared to slack. That was except for Charles, who Skymender noticed was not even taking notes.

He had garnered others' attention yesterday as well as today. Skymender only happened to notice his actions today.

It was odd, but Skymender had an idea pop in his head based on everything he had seen from Charles.

"Perhaps he has a perfect memory."

It was something he had heard about while studying in the Imperial Capital, but it was truly one in a million, if not rarer. The simple idea that someone could have it was hard to believe.

However, it would explain why he was in the Imperial Scholar Camp at such a young age. As for Skymender, he had placed first in the intelligence exam during the Noble Gathering.

It was not surprising that he was here.

The class continued just as long as the last, and they had covered a total of eight branches of science.

The next day, and the day after that, it was the same.

Finally, one more day passed. More than a week had gone by since the start of the Imperial Scholar Camp.

"Alright. Yesterday, we finished the twentieth branch of science. Although there are more, these are the most well known and researched."

Behind the Imperial Scholar, on the board, were the names of twenty branches of science.

"Everyone can come up here and put a mark on three different branches. In the end, the top three will be studied."

With his words, everyone got up and walked towards the board.

Skymender, along with everyone else, had already decided the three they wanted to study. His first mark went on the space branch. It was the most interesting and the branch with the most potential.

His second mark went on the physics branch. This studied matter, energy, and motion. A lot of science was deeply rooted into physics. Finally, his last mark went on medicine. He had heard a saying once. A master of medicine is also a master of poison.

He felt it was about time to expand on that.