Basic Arithmetic

Third Person's POV

June 5, 2xx1

After seeing Alia run in embarrassment, Atlas followed suit, worried that Alia would get lost again. And his not mistaken, he found her in front of an intersection seemingly confused where to go. Atlas chuckled after seeing this, he went ahead of her again so that she'll know the direction. Alia who saw Atlas walked pass her without talking to her feels a little sour, but she followed behind him anyway like a puppy following its owner.

After 5 mins of walk, they've reached the restaurant, Atlas stop to turn around and look for Alia but a head bump into his back, he chuckled. "Why are you laughing?" Alia said despite being ashamed. 'Why are you so clumsy today!' Alia thought to herself.

"We're here let's go Beatrice and Flint were already there probably," Atlas said. The technique Flint taught him works, he doesn't stutter anymore as long as he slows down his speech.

After hearing that they've already arrived Alia walked ahead of him to escape from embarrassment and Atlas followed suit. The moment they've entered the restaurant the first thing they did was listen to the noise because the noisiest place is where Flint and Beatrice are. However, contrary to what they've expected the restaurant is void of noises.

When they've found the table of Flint and Beatrice, they were surprised to see that both of the chatter heads are silent today and seemingly distant to each other. Flint was facing the left and Beatrice is facing the right, they looked like a couple that is in a quarrel.

"Did something happen?" Atlas said after seeing the two of them ignoring each other. He's wondering what happened to them because a single minute without speaking is already a miracle for the two of them.

"Nothing," the two of them said in unison, they looked at each other and looked away immediately. From their side profile, you can see that both of them are blushing.

"Let's order then," Atlas said ignoring the thing between the two and took a seat beside Flint, while Alia was long seated beside Beatrice.

7:45 am

They arrived at the University.

The subject is not a major subject making it boring for Atlas. This subject talks about arts and it really makes him sleepy. Surprisingly, Alia seems to be interested in this subject. Time flows slowly when you want it to be faster. This morning has become a very long morning for Atlas due to boredom.

11:30 am

The class ended.

Atlas and Flint immediately rushed towards the canteen. This time there's no Fred that they've bumped into. The lunch went peaceful without any disturbance. The girls are nowhere to be found. Since their class is only for the morning the girls decided to go shopping.

While eating their lunch Flint's phone received a call.

*Kring* *Kring*

"Hello?" Flint asked after answering the phone.

"Slave! Come here at the mall, carry my bags" Beatrice commanded, seeing the shopping bags of Alia and her continue to grow in numbers she decided to call Flint to carry her bag. And another reason is she doesn't want Flint to go to the restaurant and Flirt with Shirley, but of course, she won't say that to Flint.

"*Sigh*"

"What you don't want to go?!"

"Fine, Fine I'll go!" Flint said while packing up his bags, he picked the spoon and shoved a spoonful of food in his mouth.

"See you later Atlas!" Flint said with his mouth full.

Atlas heard the conversation between the two, so, he just decided to continue his eating. He doesn't dare go with Flint in fear of facing Alia's wrath. He better stay away from her for now.

Flint arrived at the mall after 15 mins. When he got there, they already have a lot of shopping bags. 'Just how fast did they shop to do buy all those things!' Flint said in his head. Then he noticed Alia who was looking at his back seemingly looking for Atlas. "He didn't come," Flint said to Alia. "I'm not looking for him" Alia answered back with a snort. Flint just chuckled in his head and went to grab all the paper bags Beatrice was holding.

Meanwhile, Atlas finished his lunch, he decided to go to the library since there's nothing else he could do. After a 5 min walk he arrived at the Library, the library in this university is said to be the best among all the university in their country. Top researchers send their thesis, articles, and discoveries in this University, they consider it as an honor to be able to display their work on the shelves of the L University. The library is sure big, it is the size of a coliseum, that's how big it is, the architectural design of this library is superb. Many architects use this as a reference when building their own crafts. This shows that the designer is definitely a genius in his/her field.

Atlas entered the library and grand shelves of book welcomed him; he was awestruck. Atlas as a kid has always liked to read books, he couldn't help but compare this library to the mini-library of the orphanage. He was excited that he discovered this place, the library is simply heaven for a book worm like him.

'System give me a list of the books here' Atlas commanded.

'Scan complete'

Instead of a list, the system gave him a complete 3d hologram of the library, he can see the books inside without the need to go inside the library. Luckily, only he can see this hologram cause if not the consequence is unthinkable.

As soon as he received the hologram, he took a seat at the nearest table and scan for books he'd like to read.

'I suggest you start from the basic arithmetic' the old man emerged again. After several emergence of this old man Atlas began to get used to it.

'Why?' Atlas asked, he already know the basic arithmetic like the back of his palm, why bother learning it again?

'Just follow my instructions' the old man said.

Atlas complied and began to search for books about arithmetic. As soon as he managed to get a book the old man said:

'Do you know why people find math hard? That's because they think it's easy' this statement of the old man confused Atlas.

'Let me explain it to you then, people find basic arithmetic easy because it is indeed the basic level of math, but they often forget that other than it's label as basic it is also labeled as the foundation. Basic arithmetic is the foundation of all the mathematics, it is simple as counting numbers that's why people find it easy and neglected it. They didn't study about it hard and only touched the surface and then they go to the next level, this causes them to have a shaky foundation like a skyscraper with bamboo as it's foundation.'

Atlas still doesn't get why he needs to study arithmetic as a college student, but he still followed through the instructions of the old man. Time passed by as he reads the thin book of the basic arithmetic, despite being thin it still took him 1 hour to finish. He's bored that's why he reads slowly, because if his reading speed is directly proportional to his interest.

'Now check your memory to see if you can still remember the book' the old man said.

Atlas did what he was told to, but a surprise came next. He could actually remember all the details in the book and some things that aren't clear earlier were cleared up. It's as if he has a photographic memory and a golden comprehension. He could now understand why the old man said that arithmetic is the foundation of mathematics, the formulas he learned during high school some of them aren't clear for him only now did Atlas felt enlightenment. Now he knew why some things aren't clear it was actually because he neglected the "basic" and jump right into the next level.

'I can remember all of it! Up to the smallest details like page number! How could this happen?!' Atlas asked the old man in ecstasy.

'It's because all the data your brain received as you read the book was stored in the database of the cube. After collecting the data, the system will scan it and look for errors or misunderstandings then it will give you the enhanced version of what you just learned.' The old man explained to Atlas.

'I'll go read a few more!' Atlas said in excitement as he runs towards the shelves where many basic books are found. He already knew that starting from the basics will help him in the long run so he'll focus on it first.

He finished 5 books before he was forced to go out due to closing. He read and read all day long that he didn't even notice the time. It was already 5:30 PM, 30 mins more and it'll be his shift in the restaurant.

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