In the guest room where Clark was staying, Shiller placed his umbrella next to him, moved a chair to sit down, then looked at Clark and asked, "How are things at tropolitan University?"
"Well...it's actually quite good. This year I started university. I heard that since the new mayor took office, tropolitan University had gotten more funding. They even replaced the old turf on the playground."
Clark attempted to sit up in bed, feeling that it was a bit impolite to converse with soone while lying down, but Shiller waved him off, signalling that he didn't need to.
Shiller adjusted the table lamp to make its light softer and then looked at Clark, "Now that we are alone, can you tell how you really ended up here?"
"I...I really just..." Clark eked out, faltering as he shot a look at Shiller. He felt that he had been seen through by the professor, yet he was unsure why.
"You don't need to worry, Clark; there are more people in the world with special abilities than just you." Shiller let out a sigh before continuing, "I understand that you don't want to be seen as a monster, you want to live a normal life among ordinary folk, like ."
Clark's lips trembled and he turned his face away, seemingly not wanting to delve into this topic. Just as he was turning, he saw a fla flicker from Shiller's hand.
Clark widened his eyes, staring at Shiller's hand. There was no chanical device in sight, yet the fla was jumping and burning in his hand, brighter than the light of the table lamp.
"Oh my goodness! You...you too..." Clark stared open-mouthed, seemingly not knowing how to express his feelings. He propped himself up on his arm, sitting up in bed, drawing up his legs, and turning to face Shiller, watching the fla in his hands closely.
"This is so cool! Are you a magician?" Clark leaned in close, Shiller sighed at his curious expression.
Logically, Superman's IQ should also be quite high, yet sohow, he ca across as rather naive. Even though he himself could fly faster than fighter jets, could shoot lasers from his eyes, and even had a superior biological standpoint; yet he was still surprised and thrilled at the sight of anyone who could conjure fireballs with their hands.
Shiller clasped his hand shut, a wisp of smoke slowly rising. Clark retracted his gaze, looked up, and asked expectantly, "What else can you do? Can you fly? Can your eyes emit lasers?"
Shiller shook his head and disappeared in an instant. Clark froze; then he heard a sound from the rear, he turned abruptly to see Shiller standing behind him.
Clark rubbed his eyes and craned his neck to see Shiller walk around from behind him and sit back down on the chair. He then said, "There are many people in the world who possess a variety of special abilities, you are not alone."
As for magic...I don't know any, but it does exist. I even know a jerk who knows how to use it," Shiller picked up his umbrella from the side after sitting down.
Clark noticed that there were faint patterns on the umbrella canopy. If you looked closely, you could see those patterns alternating between visible and invisible. He leaned his head forward, stretched out a hand, then swiftly drew it back, seemingly considering his move as rather impolite.
"Is this a magical tool? How is it that the pattern on it moves? It looks a bit like... snake skin?"
"It is indeed snake skin." Shiller stroked the canopy; he could still feel the slightly cold texture of the snake scales. He said, "Have you heard of the Jormungand of the Dust World?"
"Oh, is that the mythical story? We analyzed the dissemination of Nordic mythology in class."
"This is made from its skin."
Clark's expression froze. He swallowed, then said, "So you're saying, soone butchered the Jormungand, and made its skin into an umbrella? That doesn't sound very nice... "
"Are you an animal rights activist? Even if you are, I don't think your scope of protection extends to mythological snakes."
Clark pressed his lips together. He stared at the umbrella for a while, then turned to Shiller and asked, "Is your ability innate too?"
Shiller shook his head, saying, "The source of the ability is not important, the important thing is what you want to do with it."
"That's exactly what I think." Clark agreed enthusiastically, "Even though I don't know why I'm different from ordinary people, I think I can use this ability well."
"Does that include winning the long-distance running championship in your departnt?"
Clark gave an embarrassed smile, "Actually, I wasn't able to control this ability very well until I got into the tropolitan University."
"One day, during the equipnt familiarization session, my photography teacher noticed my strength and referred to the track and field team. During the training, I accidentally ran too fast."
Shiller asked, "...how fast?"
Clark pursed his lips and said, "So fast that I accidentally broke a world record."
"Then, my coach happened to see this training session. He said that I was a genius and insisted that I participate in long-distance races."
Clark made a troubled face, then said, "I was thinking about how to get out of this before I ca here."
"It's fine for the university-level competitions, but if I beca a professional athlete, defeating all the veterans within a year of debuting might be a bit too sensational."
"Also..." Clark put his finger on his chin, hesitating, "Seeing that you also have special abilities, have you ever... well...."
"Don't you ever feel like it's a bit unfair to compete against ordinary people?"
Shiller pulls out a dical record book from his pocket, busily scribbling in it. Pausing briefly, he looks up and says, "Go on."
Clark looks at the record book with curiosity. Shiller straightens and says, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm a psychology professor, I taught psychology at tropolitan University for a while, including a course in criminal psychology. I've also supervised master's and doctoral students."
Clark's eyes widen. He quickly sits up straight and says, "Oh, I apologize, Professor. I've always been very curious about psychology and even took an introductory course in it."
"It's nothing. Also, I am a psychologist, so if you share your worries with , maybe I could help you relieve so of them. You should know my consultation fee is rather expensive."
"Oh, you're so kind, Professor," Clark says with a bright smile.
In so ways, Clark's nature is akin to that of Spider-man Peter's, except Peter is a bit more shy. He rarely expresses his feelings openly and without his Spider-Man suit, he looks more like a reticent bookworm.
But Clark is much more outgoing, his body radiating an energy and passion, especially with his iconic smile that makes people instinctively trust him.
Clark also observes the professor sitting in front of him. He seems like a typical scholar, his pronunciation and tone like those professors Clark had seen in college. His word choice and grammar had a touch of pedantry unique to scholars, but his deanor was very reassuring.
Thinking about himself, Clark lets out a sigh, feeling a mix of emotions.
A lot had happened in the ti between his high school graduation and starting university. He had intended to enjoy a relaxing holiday at ho, but a sudden blizzard trapped all the students in their dorms at tropolitan University.
Actually, when he said he was coming to put out a fire, it was just an excuse to get so fresh air. His college life hadn't quite matched his expectations, bringing him several issues.
Literature and art often depict how people with special abilities live in ordinary society. Clark has read these works, but based on his experiences, they're not very realistic.
It's difficult for a person with superpowers to fully hide their uniqueness. Clark feels this deeply. When you can easily lift several tons, are invulnerable, and can fly at will, it's hard not to use these advantages in many situations.
For instance, when he was minutes away from being late for class and the traffic was stagnant, it was difficult for him to resist flying a short distance. While flying and arriving on ti felt great, afterwards, he could feel a weird sense of guilt as if he had cheated in a ga.
This feeling built up over ti, and with no one to share it with, it wasn't surprising that Clark felt that Shiller, who revealed his own superpowers, could understand him.
Clark organized his thoughts and started to talk.
"When I first joined the track team, everyone was friendly. Initially, I was just doing miscellaneous tasks like bringing water and towels after training, helping with carrying so training equipnt."
"I didn't mind it at all. I knew that's what new mbers did in clubs. Back then, they thanked for my hard work and encouraged that I'd soon be able to train with them."
"It might sound strange, but those were my happiest tis in the club."
"So, what happened next?"
Clark took a deep breath, his tone growing complex: "One day, they were training for a relay race, and one mber got injured and couldn't participate. The other substitutes were all absent, leaving , the newbie, with managing the training equipnt."
"A senior mber asked to join their training as the final runner. Without much thought, I trained with them."
"We were falling behind in the first few rounds, so when it was my turn to run, I was a bit anxious and just..."
Clark pressed his lips together, showing a sowhat upset expression. "I noticed the captain of another team seed upset because his team, which was in the lead, was overtaken by ."
"Later, a teammate told that captain had always been the top perforr and his team had never lost."
"I thought about apologizing, but I was afraid it'd make him angrier. So I didn't, but on the next day, he challenged to a long-distance run."
"Initially, I wanted to purposely lose to him. But the coach had noticed my performance during the relay race and asked to perform well so our school could excel."
"The captain's tone was a little aggressive when he challenged , and I got a bit angry. So when we raced, I ran a bit fast..."
"And broke the world record?"
"I told them the tir was broken. The other students believed , but the coach obviously didn't."
Shiller chuckled and said, "After a while in a profession, even a rough estimate can give fairly accurate data."
Clark took a deep breath and said, "After that, everyone on the track team started treating differently..."
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