I loaded the Mysticism panel.

"I understand," Richard nodded.

"Good that you understand." Mr. Hutton turned back to the first page of the lesson plan and picked up his red pen to continue annotating.

"There's one more thing. You've been spending a lot of time with Lillian lately."

Richard did not answer, waiting for further developments.

Mr. Hutton's wording became particularly deliberate.

"I avoided the question you asked about her last time. I still don't plan to talk about her situation directly now."

He took the red pen cap off and put it back on.

"But there is one thing I can say."

"That child's talent for reading is no less than yours, and in some aspects, his sensitivity even surpasses yours."

She spent more time on those books on the third floor than you did; she even meticulously analyzed some passages you skipped over.

Mr. Hutton tightened the pen cap.

"But she stayed in one place, and that stagnation lasted for more than half a year."

Mr. Hutton drew a line on the lesson plan.

"I'm not asking you to be her teacher; you're still a long way from graduating."

"But friends can say more to each other than teachers."

"She spent half a year browsing through books on the third floor, then pushed the door open a crack, peeked inside, and came back because it was too dark."

"Some psychological barriers, doors that one person can't open, feel quite different if there's another person standing next to them also trying to open them."

After saying this, the old man lowered his head and focused all his attention back on the lesson plan.

The boundaries of this statement are clear: I will not interfere with your interactions, but if you can lend a hand, then so be it.

Whether or not I can help, and to what extent, is your business, not mine.

Richard did not agree to anything on the spot.

He had a general idea of ​​Lillian's situation.

From the afternoon I bumped into her at the corner of the stairs on the day of the divination plate, to the note in front of the Cicero Cup, and then to the quiet figure that occasionally appeared on the edge of my field of vision on the second floor of the library.

She lingered at the edge of the curtain, her hand already touching the doorframe, but her foot never stepped across.

He understood what Mr. Hutton meant by "psychological hurdles".

Knowledge barriers can be overcome with time and talent, but psychological barriers require something else to pry open.

Courage, or companions.

He didn't continue the conversation about Lillian, but instead asked another question that had been on his mind.

"Sir, I'd like to confirm the upcoming schedule with you."

Mr. Hutton continued writing: "Go on."

"The general education system in the empire is three semesters a year."

It's the end of the fall semester, and the Christmas holidays begin at the end of December.

The spring semester begins after the Christmas holidays, roughly from the beginning of January to the end of March.

Then comes the Easter break, followed by the summer semester, which ends at the end of June.

"That's right."

"The winter break internship you just mentioned is scheduled during the Christmas holidays, which is from the end of December to the beginning of January."

"right."

"And what happens after the summer semester ends?"

Mr. Hutton stopped writing.

He pushed the lesson plan towards the center of the table and leaned back in his chair.

"You're asking about summer plans."

"Yes."

"I remember telling you before that there are summer study programs in Beijing."

Richard nodded.

Greenwood itself has a college preparatory program, and the upperclassmen in the hallways are taking preparatory courses.

After this academic year ends, he will normally be admitted to Greenwood's preparatory program.

He will study for two more years in Bristol and then take the university entrance exam.

If he takes this route, he can get into one of the two local colleges in Briston.

With low admission requirements and decent teaching quality, it's a respectable career path for most Greenwood students.

But after Richard learned the inside story of the academy system, this path was no longer within his options.

Imperial University, Royal Academy, St. Augustine's Academy... what stands behind these names is far more than what those glamorous titles in the newspapers can encompass.

The real core resources, connections, and access to the deeper parts of the veil are all gathered within the walls of those top universities in the capital.

Greenwood’s prep program couldn’t develop the skills he needed, and the local colleges in Briston were even less likely to.

He had only one choice: after this academic year, he would go to the capital to study preparatory courses.

The pathway to the preparatory program at Teito University is the summer study program.

Every summer, top universities in Beijing recruit a group of outstanding students from across the country for intensive assessments that last for several weeks.

Those who pass are directly enrolled in the preparatory class, while those who fail return to their hometowns to continue their studies and try again the following year.

This is the only legitimate channel for out-of-town students to enter top universities, apart from local students who have been studying in the capital since childhood.

Richard meticulously planned out this famous timeline in his mind.

It's mid-November now, and there are still about seven months until the end of the summer semester.

What he needs to do in seven months:

Learn ancient Greek to decipher the secrets of the gargoyles;

Complete the winter break internship and obtain a practical certificate;

Continue practicing the breathing technique and strive to advance [Breathing] to Lv.3;

And open the seal on that Sphinx lamp, unlock all four aspects of the [Body], and see what's going on inside the [Spirit].

Time is so tight, like sand squeezed in a fist, it slips out the moment you let go.

"Sir, what are the contents of the summer training program?"

"Different universities have different arrangements; the summer study program in the Department of Classical Studies at Teito University lasts for four weeks."

The first two weeks consist of intensive lectures and assessments, while the last two weeks are dedicated to specialized research projects led by instructors.

Mr. Hutton pulled a thin booklet from the bookshelf and turned to a page on the table.

"After four weeks, there will be a comprehensive assessment. Those who pass will directly enter the preparatory class of the Department of Classical Studies at Teito University."

He closed the booklet.

Those who fail can choose to return to their original school to continue their studies and try again next year.

Or you could attend a preparatory course at a regular university, but that's probably not something you're considering.

Based on previous years' experience, the pass rate for summer training programs is generally around 20%.

A 20% pass rate is much more lenient than Richard had expected.

However, those who are qualified to participate in the summer training program are already top talents selected from various regions.

A pass rate of 20% means that more than half of these top students will be eliminated.

"The competitive environment in the capital is completely different from that in Briston." Mr. Hutton seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"You stood out like a crane among chickens in Greenwood, but in the capital, you're just a crane standing among another flock of cranes."

He put the booklet back on the shelf, his finger pausing on the spine.

"But you don't need to be too nervous. The results and the recommended list in the Cicero Cup are just a stepping stone. Once you get in, it's all about your real skills."

"I'm not too worried about you on that point."

He picked up the red pen again.

"But you'd better hurry up with that Ancient Greek."

One of the assessment subjects in the summer program is a classical language, covering Latin and Ancient Greek.

"You're fine with Latin, but if you hand in a blank paper for Ancient Greek, the judges will have a very interesting look on your face."

Richard shook his head and chuckled.

This gives us yet another reason to learn Ancient Greek.

Fortunately, the two paths can run in parallel: learning ancient Greek is both for cracking the inscription encryption and for the assessment of the summer study program.

Using the same key to open two doors doesn't necessarily waste time.

Richard closed the door and walked into the hallway.

Mr. Hutton didn't look up; he was drawing on his lesson plan with a red pen.

Richard.

"gentlemen?"

"You are the first student in this school to knock on my office door."

"I used to be the one who kept people here, but this time it's the other way around."

"Does the teacher not want students to knock on the door?"

"Of course I hope so," Mr. Hutton said, screwing the pen cap back on. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

He closed the lesson plan and neatly folded it on the corner of the table.

"Go ahead, there are two introductory reference books for Ancient Greek on the third floor of the library. Find the location yourself."

He added, "It's not with that row of unlabeled bookshelves; it's for proper language textbooks, placed on the second row of the linguistics category."

"Understood."

………………

When I walked out of the teaching building, there were hardly any people left in the corridor.

Most students went to the playground or back to the classroom for a nap, leaving only the echoing footsteps bouncing back from the walls in the empty hallway.

Richard walked along the corridor toward the library.

The red brick building appeared two shades darker on a cloudy day than on a sunny day, making the light shining through the windows even more noticeable.

He went up to the third floor and headed straight for the linguistics classification area.

Separated from that row of unlabeled bookshelves by more than half a floor, the linguistics section's bookshelves were neatly labeled with clear numbering cards.

Richard squatted down and scanned the spines of the books in the second row.

There are several textbooks on Ancient Greek, and he chose two that were suitable for beginners.

The first book is an introduction to grammar, of moderate thickness, with an illustration of the Parthenon on the cover.

The second book is an ancient Greek-Albian bilingual dictionary, as heavy as a brick.

He took both books out and stacked them on the table by the window.

Ancient Greek and Latin belong to the same language family and have a lot of overlap in their word roots.

His Latin background helped him skip a significant portion of the vocabulary memorization work.

However, the grammatical system of Ancient Greek has a few more features than that of Latin: moderate dynamic voice, the hopeful mood, and the dual conjugation...

Just by looking at the table of contents of an introductory grammar book, you can tell that the declension table for this language is almost twice as thick as that for Latin.

The [Knowledge] Lv.2 bonus will make your learning speed much faster than that of ordinary people.

It took him about a month to go from having zero Latin to being able to participate in the Cicero Cup.

The current goal for Ancient Greek is not to reach a competition level, but simply to reach the point where "encrypted text can be deciphered using a lookup table".

The barrier to entry is lower than that of Latin, but the language itself is much more complex. These two factors cancel each other out, so it should be more than enough to complete it within half a month.

He opened the first chapter, his eyes landing on the alphabet.

The twenty-four letters α, β, γ, δ... are arranged in two columns on the page, with the pronunciation and stroke order marked next to each letter.

His brain entered a familiar absorption mode.

The shapes of letters enter the retina, and the memory enhancement of [knowledge] engraves the curves and turns of each stroke into the brain.

The pronunciation rules enter through the ears and are automatically cross-referenced in the mind with the corresponding phonemes in Latin.

Differences were highlighted in red, and commonalities were highlighted in green. Within ten minutes, the entire alphabet went from being "completely unfamiliar" to being "basically familiar."

Very light footsteps came from the direction of the stairwell.

The footsteps paused in the corridor for a moment, then continued to approach him.

The gait was very light, and the contact area between the soles of the shoes and the floor was small, so they were probably women's leather shoes.