Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 70 Misunderstanding

"Fail."

"...What?"

"Just one glance at you, I know you will fail the evaluation."

"...But I haven't even taken the supplementary classes yet. And you haven't looked at my credentials yet."

"And what credentials, pray tell, would a one-armed Lowborn like you have? Serve another 6 months washing soldiers' clothes or whatever it is you did. And why are you even wearing your uniform here?"

Just a day back on the Surface, and Rhys was already being reminded of what sort of treatment he had to live through his entire life. He had at least thought that the local Explorer Academy would at least be able to tolerate him since the people in it have already seen all sorts of people, but no.

He was being privately interviewed by someone who seemed to be a member of the school's faculty — and Rhys thought that the fact he was being interviewed at all was already a sign they were accepting of people like him, but no.

The interviewer did not even glance at his file, just texting on his phone as he gestured Rhys to leave after waiting an entire hour, and then another half an hour inside the interview room where the interviewer just fiddled with his laptop until the last minute.

But of course, he was already warned by Lina that this was going to happen, and she taught her a technique that would surely work.

"W… what are you doing?" The interviewer could not help but stand up as Rhys also suddenly stood up and immediately started walking around the table toward him. And then, without even any warning…

…Rhys handed him 10 crisp $100 bills.

"..." The interviewer squinted his eyes for a few seconds, before very discreetly pulling the bills from Rhys's hand and nodding his head,

"...On second thought, I think you at least have the will and resolve to take the supplementary classes."

And just like that, the tone of the interviewer changed as he started typing something on his laptop.

"You need to take a total of 42 hours of classes, 6 hours of theoretical class and the rest is all practical. The lessons will span a total of 7 days, 6 hours each…" The interviewer spoke fast, incredibly fast as he continued typing on his laptop, "...And ah! Since you seem to be in a hurry, a class is actually starting in 15 minutes."

The interviewer then printed out a piece of paper and immediately gave it to Rhys before just pushing him out of the room in a hurry.

"Wh—"

"Room 605, 15 minutes. I already notified the professor that you would be sitting in for the entire duration of the class."

And before he could even ask anything, the interviewer shut the door on him.

"..." And so, Rhys could really only stare at the paper he was holding, before just letting out a small but very deep sigh as he started traversing through the corridors of the Explorer Academy. The Explorer Academy was built several kilometers away from Old York City, with only a few buildings actually surrounding it, and they were far in between — and it was a massive infrastructure.

All the buildings inside the campus were at least 6 stories high, and one even needed to take a small train that was built across the campus to get to the other buildings…

…and to think there were 5 more of these Academies just in Amerka alone. Just a testament to how much the government values the Explorers above all else.

Fortunately for Rhys, he did not need to take the campus train as his first class was just within the building he was in right now. And aside from stares and whispers which he completely ignored, the walk toward his first class was extremely uneventful, as there were not that many people to begin with.

"...Do they really need this much space?" Rhys could not help but whisper to himself as he continued to walk across the spacious corridor, until finally, he reached his class. Before he could step inside, however, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

Rhys quickly looked behind him, only to see an old woman wearing a similar outfit to the man who interviewed him.

"Ma'am," Rhys quickly stood up straight as he saw the old woman, who was most likely the class' professor, "My name is—"

"You're late. You should have gotten ready before the students even gathered. And what are you even wearing?"

"...Ma'am?"

The old female professor did not even let Rhys introduce himself as she entered the room, gesturing to Riley to follow her inside. And as soon as he entered the room, he heard several curious hums and oohs.

The class hall was filled with at least 30 people staring at him, but Rhys did not really mind as he immediately tried to find an empty seat. But before he could even take a single step up, however, he was once again tapped by the professor.

"Where are you going? Stand in front of the blackboard."

"...Ma'am?" Rhys turned to look at the large blackboards that were in front of the entire class.

"Go."

"..." Rhys looked at the professor for a few seconds as she started waving her hand. But after a few breaths, Rhys just let out a small and deep sigh as he walked to the front of the hall. He then stood up straight as he scanned the people in front of him,

"My name is—"

"This is a Lowborn."

And before Rhys could introduce himself, the professor suddenly pointed at him with her stick. Rhys thought the professor was asking him to introduce himself to the class…

…was there really any need to degrade him like this?

"As we have tackled in the last lecture, you will meet all sorts of creatures once you venture down the Underworld — Lowborns are one of them. They are not usually this tall, but the Academy wants you to familiarize yourself with what they look like…

…so we hired an actor you could interact with."

"Ma'am…

…I think there's been a misunderstanding."