I loaded the Mysticism panel.

The first three rows of the lecture hall were all occupied.

In the very center of the first row is Mr. West, in his early fifties, with his gray hair meticulously combed.

Sitting next to him was a female teacher whom Richard didn't recognize; she wore thin-rimmed glasses and held a pen in her hand.

Scattered in the second row were seven or eight older students, whose grade markings on their school uniform sleeves indicated they were a year ahead of Richard.

One of the boys had his arm draped over the back of the chair, his eyes showing a hint of amusement.

Lillian sat in the corner of the third row.

Upon seeing Richard enter, the girl blinked and then turned her gaze back to her notebook.

Richard made a quick assessment in his mind.

The scene was bigger than he had anticipated; Mr. Holland had probably not told him in advance that there would be an audience, which was probably intentional.

In the official Cicero Cup matches, there are hundreds of people sitting in the audience.

If you can't even hold off a dozen or so people, going to the capital is pointless.

"Alright, Williams, go on up."

Holland sat down in the first row and gestured with his chin toward the podium.

Richard put his schoolbag on the chair by the door and walked up to the podium.

He stood on the podium facing downwards, taking in the expressions of everyone present.

Mr. West had his hands folded on his knees, his expression calm, as if he were waiting for the start of a play he wasn't particularly looking forward to.

Richard guessed that the female teacher, who was probably a rhetoric or public speaking teacher, was tapping her pen on the paper, ready to take notes at any moment.

Some of the older boys were whispering among themselves, while others had already leaned their heads back in their chairs, looking like they wanted to get started and finished quickly.

Lillian sat in the third row, the seat closest to the window, where the light illuminated half of her face.

She turned to a new page in her notebook.

Mr. Holland had told him that his original choice was Lillian, but the girl would get so nervous on stage that she couldn't speak without her notes.

The spot was transferred to Richard, which should have been a relief for Lillian.

But after catching his breath, he probably still wanted to see just how good the person who replaced him really was.

"First part, paragraphs one through four," Holland gestured, "The complete speech, starting from the beginning."

This is the most classic and also the most difficult passage.

Cicero's public denunciation of Catiline in the Senate, particularly the opening four paragraphs, is the climax of the entire speech and has been the most studied text for over a thousand years.

Richard took a breath.

The feeling of relaxation in my lungs, as if the [Breathing] skill had opened up my senses, allowed the air I inhaled to travel deeper than before.

The chest cavity expands, the diaphragm descends, and the vocal cords are ready:

"Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?"

(Katilin, how long are you going to abuse our patience?)

The sense of rhythm is hidden in the melody, and the alternation of long and short notes forms a natural drumbeat.

When Cicero wrote these sentences, he arranged the word order according to acoustic effects.

"Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia?"

(To what extent do you intend to indulge in your unbridled arrogance?)

A boy in the second row pulled his arm back from the back of the chair.

"Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palat... (The middle parallel sentences are omitted) nihil horum ora vultusque moverunt?"

(Can't the night patrols on Paladin Mountain move you? Can't the city guards move you? Can't the people's fear move you?)

The gathering of all the upright men cannot move you; this most secure place where the Senate convenes cannot move you; the gazes and expressions of those present cannot move you?

This sentence is a textbook example of Cicero's use of parallelism:

The six "nihil" (cannot) are layered on top of each other, from patrol to guard, from the people to the virtuous, from the place to the face of everyone present.

Richard made a change when reciting: he slightly lengthened each "nihil" to create a sense of power through repetition.

This was a technique he had learned through tutoring by Mr. Holland.

Parallelisms cannot be read in a flat, straightforward manner; otherwise, they will sound no different from a list.

The true parallelism is like the tides, each wave higher than the last, and when the last wave recedes, the silence it leaves behind is heavier than any sound.

Mr. West remained seated, but he moved his fingers off his knees and onto the table.

Lillian stopped holding the pencil.

She had only opened her notebook to make a note and see if the other person had any obvious memorization errors or pronunciation problems.

But after reading the four sentences aloud, she realized she was not qualified to comment on them.

She placed the pencil on her notebook, folded her hands together, and began to listen attentively.

Richard continued walking, entering the second and third sections.

As the fourth paragraph ended, he turned his gaze back to the scratch on the front edge of the podium.

After a brief silence in the classroom, Mr. West was the first to clap, half a beat faster than Holland, who was standing not far away.

The female teacher patted him a few times, then lowered her head to write and draw in her notebook.

The older boys' carefree attitude had completely disappeared.

Lillian clapped along with them.

Before she arrived, she anticipated only two possible scenarios.

The first possibility is that Richard performed poorly, which would confirm my judgment that giving him the spot was a waste;

The second type is someone who performs reasonably well, able to memorize the entire text but with careless sloppiness, which is also within expectations.

There is no third possibility; at least she feels that her classmates wouldn't be able to do it.

Being able to memorize is not unusual, and accurate pronunciation can also be achieved through hard work.

But giving a speech is not like reciting a text; the control over rhythm and breathing cannot be learned in just a few weeks.

When did this bottom-of-the-barrel company become like this?

She couldn't find the answer.

"Williams," Mr. West began.

"gentlemen."

"There's a small problem with your use of parallelism," Mr. West pointed out incisively.

"Six Nihils, you made the first five progressive, and the last one, which was a good push, worked well."

However, the spacing between the third and fourth notes is too even, which slightly diminishes the listening experience.

I suggest pausing a little longer after the third paragraph, so the audience thinks the parallelism is about to end, making the fourth paragraph even more impactful.

Richard mentally reviewed the rhythm he had just heard.

An expert's touch is truly remarkable. West, as expected of the subject group leader, immediately pointed out the problem that I had overlooked.

"Understood, thank you, sir."

West nodded, stood up, and said something to Holland.

Richard's hearing was still decent, and he vaguely heard "It's worth a try."

After everyone left, only Holland and Richard remained in the classroom.

Holland raised the teacup to his lips and took a sip:

"West is a picky eater. If he says 'it's worth a try,' consider it a compliment."

"You flatter me, sir."

"I'm not flattering you, it's just that you've improved too quickly."

Holland put his teacup on the podium, glanced at him, and looked at him with more astonishment than before.

A student who was at the bottom of the class improved his Latin to this level in just two weeks.

The word "talent" is too simplistic. He has been teaching for twenty years and has seen many talented students.

Talent manifests as a high starting point, quick learning, and fewer mistakes.

But Richard's situation was a little different.

This child started from a very low level; just two weeks ago, he was struggling even with basic positional changes.

But the pace of progress is accelerating, as if a steam engine has suddenly been installed in its brain, and production capacity is doubling every day.

Is this what they mean by "getting it"?

Holland did not ask for the reason.

In either case, asking follow-up questions is unnecessary; getting an epiphany is a good thing.

"Come with me, I have something for you."