"Alex, how are you not bored of this?" Sophia curiously asked as both girls looked bored out of their minds.
"It has only been thirty minutes. Mom is going to notice you guys are slacking off."
Alex's warning instantly made them go back to work, but Mary was starting to have a different idea.
"Alex, can I just copy the answer off of you——"
"Not happening. Do your work."
Mary looked a little down when she saw Alex rejecting her request, but she didn't bring it up again after noticing his face turning dark.
As the clock hit eight, Katherine finally came back with the breakfast she was getting from the kitchen.
"Here's you all breakfast. Come on, take a break."
Both of the girls dropped their pencils again, and Alex followed suit after his stomach started growling.
"Sophia, Mary, did you two slack off again?" Katherine questioned as she began reading the work the three had done.
"Wut? No, we hood been wruting the hole time." Sophia replied, her voice muffled from being full of food.
"Then why is Alex already on page 17, and you guys are still on page 12?"
"Alex is just good with numbers," Sophia argued.
"Yeah, he's just very good at math. I haven't even seen him stop writing for a second." Mary added.
"Really? Are you sure you two are just not lazy?"
"Alex, did we stop working on our homework?" Sophia asked, looking over to Alex to back them up.
"Um, they were working hard as well. I was just a few questions ahead of them."
"Yeah right. Few questions in a 5-page gap..." Katherine sarcastically replied as she began to double-check Alex's work.
To her surprise, most of them were correct, with only a few minor errors that didn't really affect the overall score in her heart.
"Alex, you did a few of these problem wrong. You shouldn't be using this derivative on page fourteen."
"Really?"
Alex stopped eating his food, turning his attention over to the error that Katherine pointed out.
"Look, you missed the power right here when the question originally had a cubic root."
"Oh, you're right, Mom. Thank you."
Alex quickly erased the whole work before solving the whole thing right before Katherine's eyes.
"There's also a few more minor errors. I want you to go back and double-check your work.
But finish your food first before you go back to work. It's better to get it right than do it fast, okay?"
Alex nodded as he went back to eating, with the other two already finished eating by shoving the food down their throat.
They immediately went back to work, trying to catch up to Alex as he slowly ate the food piece by piece.
As Katherine turned her attention back to the two girls writing on their papers, she was impressed by how fast they were working.
"Now, do you understand how to do this?" Katherine softly asked as she started to view Alex more positively.
"I think so..."
As Alex began to solve the word question with all the knowledge he had absorbed, Katherine's eyes couldn't believe what he was doing.
She was extremely impressed by how fast he was putting it into practice, using everything that she had just taught.
Her mind suddenly started imagining Alex standing in front of the school, being handed the Highest Degree of honor in mathematics.
She could already see him waving his hand at her, calling her the best mom ever in front of everyone.
Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was proud of what he had achieved in life that she could never accomplished.
"Mom? You there? Did I do this correctly?"
Alex's voice snapped Katherine back to reality. She wiped a few tears from her eyes before turning her attention to the paper.
"Give me a moment to check it..."
A few minutes later...
"Perfect. You solved it perfectly. I haven't seen someone so smart ever since I was born."
"Mom, you don't have to compliment me like that." Alex shyly scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed to be called like that.
"I really mean it. If I hand this paper to a professor right now, they would be dying to have you be invited.
The school's resources will all be directed toward you to ensure that you become the next honored mathematician."
Katherine explained as her voice started to get more and more excited, unable to hold back any longer.
"Is math that important?"
"Yes! To go beyond mage level 5, you must have good mathematics skills or someone willing to do the calculations for you.
The higher the mage level, the harder the mathematic equations will become for you to break through your next mage level.
It's so tedious and dangerous that no one ever bothers calculating for someone else unless they are extremely close or desperate."
Both of the girls' emotions jumped on a rollercoaster as they were extremely scared at the first part of Katherine's answer.
But hearing the ending made them feel a little relief, as they could just rely on Alex to help them with this math.
"You two, don't try to think you can just rely on your brother. If I don't see you both on page 17 by lunch, you both are grounded after the break."
"Yes, ma'am."
Sophia and Mary immediately turned their full focus back onto the paper, with Alex trying to move away from Katherine without her noticing.
"Come here, Alex. My precious little baby. I always knew you'd find your strength one day."
Alex initially resisted Katherine's hug, but after feeling the softness pressing against his face, he started enjoying it instead.
"You deserve a break, okay? Just relax on my body and wait until they are caught up."
For a second, Alex thought of finally getting out and continuing to do his homework.
But she suddenly lifted him on top of her lap before wrapping both of her arms around him, allowing him to feel her warm body surrounding him.