Chapter 725: The First Lesson (4/4)

Chapter 725: The First Lesson (4/4)

"Have we?"

"I can't seem to recall at the moment."

"We must have run into each other somewhere on campus."

"Yes, that must be it. Here, take a seat here."

"Alright, thank you, Professor."

Thus, Karen sat face-to-face with the professor. What was supposed to be a massive lecture in an auditorium had, inexplicably, transformed into a private tutoring session.

The professor lectured while incessantly flipping through the pages of the book in his hands. In truth, the content of his discourse was nowhere to be found within those pages; the flipping seemed merely a compulsive habit.

After about ten minutes, the professor paused his lecture. Looking at Karen with curiosity, he asked, "Young man, I see sweat breaking out on your forehead. You must be exhausted. Why don't you take a break and get some proper sleep?"

As he spoke, the professor considerately produced a handkerchief to wipe the beads of sweat from Karen's brow, murmuring in gentle reproach:

"Look at you. If you want to sleep, just sleep. Don't force yourself to endure it. Isn't it perfectly normal for young people to be drowsy?"

"Thank you, Professor, but I am indeed reaching my limit."

"Look at you, why must you resist the urge to sleep?"

"It is not drowsiness, Professor. If you continue to employ spiritual hypnosis on me, I will not be able to restrain myself from retaliating."

The professor froze. "Uh..."

Checking his watch, the professor remarked, "My little granddaughter should be waking up about now. I need to head back to the dormitory to cook for her."

"You may go, Professor. It is quite alright."

"No, absolutely not. I cannot violate my professional ethics as an educator."

"You truly are a responsible and excellent teacher."

The professor retrieved a set of dentures from his pocket and set them upon the lectern. The false teeth began to clatter, and from within them echoed the professor's lecturing voice.

"How about this? Accompany me back to the dormitory, and we shall conduct the lesson as we walk."

"That works too?"

"Of course it does. As long as you are willing to listen, I am bound to teach you."

The professor stood up and motioned for Karen to follow.

Karen truly had not anticipated his very first class unfolding into such a bizarre spectacle. After a moment's hesitation, he followed anyway.

The two of them exited the academic building and arrived at the faculty dormitory complex. Along the way, the professor did indeed lecture as they walked. His erudition was genuine; the insights he shared were entirely absent from the Light of Order.

In particular, his description of the schism between the God of Order and the God of Light utilized perspectives that defied mainstream orthodoxy.

"The affairs of this era's holy church belong to the church, but the events that transpired between the gods belong to the previous era. Many historians believe that with the disappearance of the God of Light, our God of Order was the greatest beneficiary. Yet, I do not share this view. I believe our God of Order was the very deity who least wished to see the God of Light vanish, even though by that time, the God of Order had already broken away from the faction of Light and had even gradually entered a state of opposition.

Furthermore, the series of actions taken by our God of Order toward the end of the previous era seemed utterly frantic. Of course, to you young people, it probably sets your blood ablaze with excitement, since our God truly commanded the world with the posture of an absolute hegemon, haha.

But I feel that within that sequence of actions, the God of Order also manifested a certain state of mind."

The professor produced a key and slid it into the lock. He did not turn it for a long time, but instead took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and asked, "What do you think it was?"

Karen replied, "Loneliness."

He had witnessed it with his own eyes—the image of the God of Order holding high the Sword of Chaos, with the severed head of the God of Light impaled upon its blade, descending Mount Anlaminde step by step. That was not the clamor of a victor, nor the boastful triumph of a warrior, and least of all the eager anticipation of a new era belonging to him now that Light had fallen...

At the time, he had been unable to articulate that feeling. Under the professor's evocative narrative, Karen finally understood. At that precise moment, the God of Order had felt an profound, suffocating loneliness.

The professor's hand trembled slightly. He looked at Karen with a degree of disbelief. Then, far from turning the key, he pulled it out of the lock and turned to head back down the stairs.

"Professor, are you not going home?"

"Let us go. We are heading back to the classroom to have a proper lesson."

"But what about your little granddaughter?"

"She is thirty. She won't starve to death."