by Newbiel
"Ah, good you are here. I wanted you to meet your future teacher in criminal law, John Merick. John, this is Nathaniel Lyndon." The dean introduced the two.
"It's a pleasure, sir." Nathaniel said respectfully.
"Don't call me sir, we are not in the army here. You can call me Professor in the classroom and Mister Merick outside of it." Even if he was rebuking him he was pleased to see a young man with such a good character. "Do you know why I wanted to meet with you?"
"I presume it is to talk about the LSAT test or to tell me that you were the one that my mother replaced in the DA office." Nathaniel answered simply.
"We are lawyers, we don't presume here, we rely on facts for everything." He said sternly.
The professor looked at Nathaniel seemingly waiting for him to apologize but Nathaniel just stood there saying nothing, looking him in the eyes. The silence was starting to become heavy when the stern expression on the professors face turned into a smile.
"Good, you are not easily rattled. You are right, it was about that. I did not expect you to know about it."
"I didn't but my mother told me about you when she saw your name in the admission file."
"Smart woman, your mother, I did go against her a couple of times and that was never a pleasant experience. That is why I chose her to replace me, I wanted someone who would not cower in front of danger. I'm glad to see that you have something of her in you."
"Thank you, mister Merick." Nathaniel kept his answer simple, he knew that he was there for a reason and wanted to say as little as possible before knowing why.
"I saw that you put criminal law as your major, do you want to become a criminal attorney?"
"Indeed sir."
"I read your LSAT text like almost every law professor in the country I believe. You are obviously gifted but gifted does not suffice in this world, you will need to put a lot of work behind it. I summoned you just to tell you that if you are not in the top five grades of this university at the end of each semester, I will sack you. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Professor." Nathaniel said, seemingly unbothered.
"Good. You can go back to what you were doing previously. We will see each other next week." He said before leaving with the dean.
A second later, Joshua took the place of the two leaving with a knowing smile but was surprised to find that Nathaniel was not shocked or even flustered a little bit.
"He's kind of intense, right?"
"Based on what I have heard that could have been much worse. I think he kind of liked me."
"I think so too but that's the thing, you are not supposed to know that. The plan was to keep you on your toes by challenging you to a top 5 place at all times." Joshua said, shaking his head.
"Challenging me?" Nathaniel asked with humor
"Yeah, your mother said something about that to the dean."
"He didn't listen to her very well in that case. If you really wanted to challenge me, you should have made that for the first place. Top 5 is not a challenge at all." Nathaniel shook his head disappointed and walked away.
Leaving a shocked Joshua behind him, his jaw threatening to touch the floor.
Chapter 53: :
Walking out of the main building, Nathaniel was deep in thought.
The meeting was not the thing that was on his mind. He had anticipated something like that, especially with his relationship with the dean. After all the publishing of the LSAT had gathered a lot of attention from many people so there was bound to be people curious about him and who wanted to talk with him. The ultimatum on the other hand was surprising but not that challenging. Like he had said to Joshua, he had already determined to be in the top three grades of the school with little effort. Top five was just a joke compared to that.
No, the person on his mind was Na-Yung. Putting her amazing appearance aside as it was not the most interesting thing about her, her bearing was extraordinary. She was behaving herself with grace and elegance. That was not something you were born with but taught since young. Based on that Nathaniel could already determine that her family had a huge amount of power and money.
Her behavior was also different from most korean girls. She was bossy and demanding even if she tried to hide it towards him to make a good impression. The fact that when she laughed she did not try to hide it with her hand was very interesting. Korea was a country which has been influenced by confucianism for a long time. Confucianism was teaching that every display of emotions must be hidden. That's why in a lot of anime you could see young asian girls laughing behind their hands. That influence had been passed down in the last three or four generations in Korea. The fact that she was laughing without hiding it meant that her family must be young in their ascension to power and money as old families would have insisted for her to respect the confucianism doctrine.
Another point of interest was her hands. Although she had beautiful hands, there was something odd about them. They had calluses. Archers tended to develop calluses on their fingers' extremities when pulling on the string which was why Nathaniel was so surprised to find that she had calluses on her palms. Other than that her lithe body had muscle and power beneath the skin. Nathaniel was one hundred percent sure that she was a fighter and a very competent one at that.
Her soul color was also surprising. It was steel blue with specks of dark and green. That was his first time seeing a soul with three colors in it. The blue color meant caring while the black was ruthless, but he had no idea what the green colour meant. He had met someone with a green soul a while ago, but he did not get the chance to talk with him so that was still a mystery.
The last thing he found interesting about her was when he watched her walk away from him. She had an almost imperceptible weird way of walking. Nathaniel would have found it strange but the memories of Marc helped him once again. He had already seen that same walking posture and almost died that day. It was the sign of someone walking with a knife strapped on their inner thigh. The simple fact that she managed to pass the metal detector in the building meant that it was a ceramic knife.
There were only two reasons to come to a university campus with a knife. One, she was here to kill someone. Two, she was fearing for her life.
After talking with her for a little and seeing her soul he could determine that she was not a killer. That left only the second option. Someone was after her and considering her background and her training it was bound to be someone highly dangerous. Thinking about it Nathaniel decides to stay out of it. College did not even start and he was already swamped as it was. Moreover Karine asked him to make as few waves as possible here.
Putting the matter aside for now Nathaniel decided to pay attention to what Na-Yung had told him previously about the requisite sport. He found out it was true if that was one of a reason that you were accepted. Nathaniel was not in that category so he was not concerned, but he began looking into the proposed sports out of curiosity.
Looking through the list he was given Nathaniel was dumbfounded. Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Football, Golf, Rowing, Soccer, Squash, Swimming, Tennis, Tracks and Wrestling, he knew next to nothing about these sports.
Taking a pen, he starts crossing off the ones that he didn't like until only three sports were still visible on the list. Basketball, Tennis and Tracks. To be honest Nathaniel never did sports when he was younger and even hated them. He was currently being influenced by the memories of Marc who loved Basketball and Tennis and was good at them in high school. Track on the other hand was easy as it looked a lot like what he was already doing. Each morning he was running ten miles around Central Park before coming back home. He had hesitated a little to pick wrestling too, but then he had seen their sportswear and immediately reconsidered it. That was some ugliness right here.
Putting away the list he made he left the building. He had this week to choose one of them and so was not in a hurry. Hearing his phone ring he got it out of his pocket and smiled reading the caller ID.
"Shut your mouth! Already picking up chicks in College?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, I'm just a little sad that I will have to wait two years to see your daughter here."
"I swear to god if I see you less than ten feet away from my daughter, I will cut your d**k off!" Maggie threatened over the phone.
"Oh oh easy there. Wow you really have anger issues you should see someone about that." Nathaniel said with regret.
"I don't have anger issues!" She yelled again. "Now, shut the hell up, I receive a proposition for you."
"Ok, I'm listening."
"Good. Pitbull wants to make a song with you." Maggie announced excitedly.
"You want me to sing with a dog?" Nathaniel asked, genuinely lost.
"It's not a dog, he is a world known singer. I don't have time for your joke!"
"I'm not joking around, I have honestly never heard of the guy." Nathaniel said feeling wrong. It was not his fault if the guy had crappy taste in terms of naming.
"You must be the only one in this country who doesn't know who he is! He did hit songs with Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo and that's only a part of it. This is the chance of a lifetime to collaborate with someone like him!"
"Yeah, my album is already completed. I'm not going to change everything at the last moment so I will pass."
"This is stupid Nathaniel, one hit with the guy could kick start your career as a singer. I urge you to reconsider." She pressed on.
"Maggie you are the one who always tells me that nothing is free in this world. In your opinion, if I accept, will I get a fair deal with the guy?"
"Probably not but in the long term it will be worth it."
"For him much more than for me and you know it."
"You can't always have a good deal especially with huge stars. They know exactly how much they are worth."
"Well, that's not for me then. Not every shortcut is worth taking Maggie, I will take my own way. Tell him it's a no." Nathaniel affirmed resolutely.
"You are making a mistake Nathaniel." She said. With that tone of voice Nathaniel could picture her shaking her head.
"If it happens to be true, you can always boast in my face with your best 'I told you so'"
"Oh, you can bet on it." She said fiercely, hanging up without even saying goodbye.
Nathaniel could only look at his phone, shaking his head.
Chapter 54: :
Resuming his walk after Maggie called, he continued to visit stand after stand. Some were there just for the new students to have fun and bond with each other while others were representing clubs and associations that wanted to recruit new members. He was asked a couple of times already but he had turned all of them down. He wanted to see all of what Columbia has to offer before making a decision.
Based on what he was seeing the new students were welcomed warmly everywhere, conveying efficiently the concept of community that seemed so important to the school. Even if he was not joining any club yet, everyone was nice to him which was pleasant to see to the eye.
Hearing raucous laughter and whistling ahead Nathaniel got curious and came closer to the stand where the noise was coming from. There were at least twenty students both boys and girls, in front of a table. Behind the table was a twenty year old guy who was playing with a deck of cards. Looking at the table and the three cards on it Nathaniel recognized the betting game 'Find the Lady' easily. The game could be found in every market and every country on the planet. It was a game where you put three cards on the table. Two jacks and one queen. The goal was to find the queen after the guy moved the cards around. It was a known scam where it usually ended with the queen replaced during the moving of the cards.
Observing the scene, he could see that no money was involved and that they were playing just for fun. The guy moving the cards was quite an entertainer but his movement technique was basic at best and the person chosen to find the lady was often finding it. On and on, it was fun and even Nathaniel laughed with the crowd.
"Okay, I see that my client here has found out my trick so it's time to make a change. Who wants to try to FIND… THE… LADY?"
Immediately a number of hands shot up, wanting to be next. Looking attentively at the crowd in front of him with a smile his eyes landed on Nathaniel who did not raise his hand but seemed to have fun. He did not know why but something about that student made him pause.
"Okay okay! I found our next guest, you there the blond with the blue shirt, come over here!" He said pointing his finger at Nathaniel.
Surprised to be picked and cheered on by the crowd, Nathaniel made his way to the front of the table.
"Okay, are you familiar with the game?"
"Yeah, I saw it once or twice before so I'm good!' Nathaniel said.
"Great, are you ready to FIND THE LADY?" He said, moving the card around under the YES of the crowd. "Okay, where is it now?" He asked once he finished.
"Right!" Nathaniel said immediately.
Turning the card in question, the queen appeared, making the crowd cheer again.
"That was beginner luck! Another round!"
"Left!"
"Middle!"
"Left!"
"Right!"
At each round Nathaniel could see that the guy in front of him was upping his game but he was still too slow to fool him.
"And this time, where is it?" The guy asked with a smirk.
"Right sleeve!" Nathaniel answered again, smiling.
"What the hell!" The guy exclaimed.
He was sure that he had got him this time. Picking the queen of heart out of his right sleeve, he was booed playfully by the crowd.
"I didn't know that you were this good, my name is Keath." He said, extending his hand.
"Nathaniel. That was not a big deal, I'm not bad at those kinds of tricks myself." He said, shaking hands.
"Really? Want to take my place and show us something?"
"Not a problem."
"OK. Who wants Nathaniel to show a new trick?" He asked, getting a loud YES from the crowd.
They were impressed by his ability to find the queen each time and wanted to see what he could do. Nathaniel picked a new deck of cards that was present and started shuffling it.
"Okay, this time you all are going to play! So be attentive!" Nathaniel said, placing three cards on the table. The queen of heart in the center escorted by two jacks.
"Ready?"
"YES!"
"It's on."
Nathaniel began moving the cards around under the scrutinizing gazes of thirty people with swift hands. A few seconds later, he stopped.
"Okay, everyone who thinks the queen is on the right, raise your hands!" Twelves hands shot up immediately. "Alright, all of you move on that side!" He said pointing on the right.
"Raise your hands the ones who think the queen is on the left?" This time only nine people put their hands up. Mark chose to stay in the middle with the rest of the students who did not pick sides.
"Okay, move to that side then."
Seeing that everyone was in position, he looked at each group and was satisfied to see a man in all three of the groups.
"Since we are looking for a queen we need a courageous knight. Left group, who is your Queen investigator?" The group looked at each other almost timidly until one of the taller guys put his hand up.
"I'm the queen investigator!"
"Good, come over here and turn your card." Nathaniel says encouragingly. Coming over, the guy picked the card and turned it over. Seeing a queen the guy jumped in joy showing it to his group who cheered until Keath realised something.
"Wait! This is not the queen of heart!" Hearing that everyone looked attentively at the card and realized he was right. It was not the queen of hearts but the queen of diamonds. The left group stopped cheering and the guy put the card down.
"Even if your quest was not successful, you still managed to save a queen. Come on guys, this valiant knight is worth some applause
!" Nathaniel exhorted the crowd who started clapping almost instantly. The guy came back to his group and was even clapped on the shoulder a few times by his mates.
"Ok middle group, have you nominated your queen investigator?" He asked and a few seconds later, Keath approached the table. Taking the card and turning it around a queen of clubs appears in front of the middle group who sighed.
"Noble knight sometimes it's not the results that matter but the road traveled. Middle group, cheer for your valiant soldier!" Nathaniel said, quickly followed by clapping.
"Right group! Our entire crusade now rests on your shoulders! Pick your knight wisely!" A second later a rather attractive man walked out of the right group and took position in front of the card. Picking it up and turning it, the whole crowd sighed seeing the queen of spades.
"But where is the queen of heart?" The last knight asked, a question that was quickly echoed among the students present. The group of thirty people had gone up to almost fifty now as the trick began to gather more and more attention. Nathaniel took on an expression of being deep in thought for a moment before opening his eyes wide.
"I know, it's a ritual! Knight, put the queen of clubs first face down, then the queen of diamonds and last the queen of spades. Make them touch each other perfectly, that's crucial!" Nathaniel ordered. The guys put them neatly in the order asked of him and then looked at Nathaniel. Seeing that everything was perfect he approached the cards and tapped the stack with his finger once.
"The ritual is now completed, you can pick up the card knight. Show us our queen."
Doubtful, the man took the card and turned it around so that the crowd behind him could see it. Seeing the queen of heart, his jaw almost touched the floor. He could not comprehend how Nathaniel did it as he was so close. His reaction was mirroring the crowd perfectly who had mixed expressions of awe and disbelief.
"Thank you." Nathaniel said, making a bow which seemed to wake the crowd up who gave him a thunderous applause. Leaving the deck on the table he exited the stand after being high fived a couple of times by some of the students.
