KamiKowa: That Time I Got Transmigrated With A Broken Goddess-Chapter 38: [] Twenty Minutes

Two hours later, Xavier slouched on the couch, one leg draped over the armrest, scrolling through his phone. The coffee table in front of him held a scattered array of textbooks and notes, all of them barely touched. He’d opened his Gate Theory textbook exactly once, read half a page about dimensional resonance patterns, and promptly set it aside.

Calypso sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by her own academic chaos. Her silver hair had escaped its bun entirely, falling in messy waves around her face as she glared at a particularly dense paragraph about Essentia classification.

"This is torture," she moaned, dropping her head onto the open textbook. "Actual torture. I’ve existed for thousands of years, and I’ve never been this bored."

Xavier didn’t look up from his phone. "Mm-hmm."

"Are you even listening to me?" Calypso lifted her head, pink eyes narrowing. "I’m suffering here, Xavier. Suffering."

"Tragic," he replied, continuing to scroll.

Calypso grabbed a pencil and threw it at him. It bounced off his chest and clattered to the floor. "You could help me, you know. Isn’t that what roommates do? Help each other?"

Xavier finally lowered his phone and looked at her. "I’m not doing the homework."

"What?" Calypso straightened up. "Why not?"

"Because it doesn’t matter." He sat up properly and reached for the syllabus lying on the coffee table. He flipped through it, then turned it around to show her a highlighted section. "Look. Class participation and homework is only fifteen percent of our grade. The midterm is thirty-five percent, and the final is fifty. As long as I ace the tests, I’ll pass."

Calypso snatched the syllabus from him. "But... that’s not how school works. You’re supposed to do all the assignments."

Xavier snorted. "Says who? The system is designed to evaluate knowledge and skills. If I can demonstrate those on the tests, why waste time on busywork?"

"Because that’s what normal students do," Calypso insisted, pushing her hair back from her face.

"I’m not a normal student." Xavier picked up the Gate Theory textbook and flipped it open to a random page. "Besides, have you actually read this shit? Listen to this: ’The tertiary resonance patterns of Type-C gates demonstrate quasi-stable harmonic fluctuations that may, under specific barometric and geomagnetic conditions, result in dimensional bleed-through of non-standard crystalline formations.’" He closed the book. "I’m not reading that."

Calypso pouted, her lower lip protruding slightly. "But I have to do all this work alone now."

"You’re a literal goddess," Xavier reminded her. "Didn’t you say you’ve been processing souls for centuries? Surely you can handle some freshman-level homework."

"That’s different," she argued, tapping her pencil against the textbook. "Soul processing is intuitive for me. This is... human knowledge. It’s all organized wrong."

Xavier leaned back into the couch cushions. "Then reorganize it in your head. Or just bullshit your way through it like normal students do."

"I don’t want to be a normal student," Calypso said, her voice dropping lower. "I want to be an exceptional student."

Xavier studied her face, noting the genuine disappointment in her eyes.

Fuck, she got me again.

"Fine," he sighed, sliding off the couch to sit on the floor across from her. "What are you stuck on?"

Calypso’s face brightened immediately. "Really? You’ll help me?"

"I’ll give you twenty minutes," Xavier said, holding up a finger to forestall her excitement. "That’s it."

"I’ll take it!" She pushed her textbook toward him, pointing at a diagram. "This section on Essentia types doesn’t make sense. They’re categorizing everything into these rigid boxes, but reality is much more fluid."

Xavier glanced at the diagram, which showed the three primary Essentia types—Emission, Transmutation, and Enhancement—with various subcategories branching off from each.

"What specifically doesn’t make sense?" he asked, skimming the text.

Calypso leaned forward, her silver hair falling over her shoulder. "They claim that hybrids between categories are rare, but I know that’s not true. Many souls naturally manifest abilities that cross these boundaries."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Like mine?"

"Exactly!" Calypso nodded eagerly. "Your Input Buffer system has aspects of all three categories." free𝑤ebnovel.com

Xavier considered this. "So you’re saying the textbook is wrong?"

"Not wrong, just... simplified." Calypso tapped the page. "Human academics love to categorize things neatly, but Essentia is too complex for that. It’s tied to the soul, to personality, to experiences and desires."

Xavier leaned back on his hands. "So write that in your homework. Challenge the premise."

Calypso blinked. "I can do that?"

"Sure. Professors love students who think critically." Xavier smirked. "Just cite your sources. Say you’ve been reading advanced texts or something."

"Huh." Calypso tilted her head, considering this approach. "That might work."

She began scribbling notes, her expression focused. Xavier watched her for a moment, then reached for his phone again. Before he could unlock it, Calypso spoke without looking up.

"Don’t think you’re off the hook. Your twenty minutes aren’t up yet."

Xavier sighed and put the phone down. "What else do you need help with?"

"The practical application questions." Calypso flipped to another page. "They want examples of how each Essentia type would approach a Tier-2 gate differently."

Xavier thought about it. "Emission types would probably focus on ranged attacks, keeping monsters at a distance. Transmutation types might alter the environment to create advantages. Enhancement types would boost their physical abilities to fight directly."

Calypso nodded, writing this down. "Good, good. And for hybrids?"

"Depends on the specific abilities."

"What about for someone like you?" Calypso asked, looking up at him.

Xavier considered the question. "I’d build meter through combat with smaller threats, then use that stored energy for more powerful techniques against bigger monsters."

"See?" Calypso smiled. "You do understand this stuff."

"Understanding it and wanting to write essays about it are different things," Xavier pointed out.

Calypso laughed. "Fair enough."

They continued working through her questions, with Xavier providing insights based on his practical understanding rather than textbook theory.

"Time’s up," he said eventually, checking his phone. "Your twenty minutes are over."

"But we’re on a roll," Calypso protested.

Xavier stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "Nope. Deal’s a deal. Besides, I’m hungry again."

Calypso sighed dramatically but didn’t argue further. "Fine. What are you getting?"

"I saw some ice cream in the freezer earlier," Xavier said, heading toward the kitchen. "Want some?"

"Yes!" Calypso perked up immediately, homework forgotten. "What flavor?"

Xavier opened the freezer and peered inside. "Looks like... chocolate and vanilla."

"Both," Calypso declared. "Mix them together."

Xavier shook his head but complied, scooping both flavors into bowls. He returned to the living room and handed one to Calypso, who had pushed aside her textbooks to make space.

"Thanks for helping," she said, digging into the ice cream. "Even if it was just twenty minutes."

Xavier sat back on the couch with his own bowl. "Don’t get used to it. Tomorrow you’re on your own."

"We’ll see about that," Calypso said with a sly smile. "I can be very persuasive."

Xavier rolled his eyes. "I’m immune to your divine charms."

"No one’s immune to my charms," Calypso declared, licking ice cream from her spoon in a deliberately provocative manner.

Xavier pointedly looked away, focusing on his own dessert. "What’s your plan for the next practical class? Professor Valdez seems like she’s going to make it challenging."

"Oh, she definitely will," Calypso agreed, setting her bowl aside. "Especially after today’s disaster. She’ll want to establish her authority."

"Great," Xavier muttered. "Just what I need—a power-tripping ex-A-rank with something to prove."

They fell silent for a moment, the only sound the occasional clink of Xavier’s spoon against his bowl.

"We should practice," he said suddenly. "If Valdez is going to test us tomorrow, we should be prepared."

Calypso raised her eyebrows. "Now? It’s getting late."

"Not a full workout," Xavier clarified. "Just some basics. I want to see if I can build meter more efficiently."

"We could try," Calypso said, considering the idea. "Though it’s hard to practice combat techniques in an apartment without breaking things."

Xavier stood and moved the coffee table aside, creating a small open space in the living room. "We’ll go slow. Focus on form rather than power."

Calypso rose to her feet, brushing her hair back from her face. "Alright. What did you have in mind?"

"You told me counter strikes generate the most meter, right?" Xavier took up a loose fighting stance. "Let’s work on those. You throw some light attacks, I’ll practice the timing for counters."

"And what about me?" Calypso asked, mirroring his stance. "What am I practicing?"

Xavier’s lips curved into a small smile. "Not getting countered."

Calypso narrowed her pink eyes. "Oh, it’s like that, is it?"

"It’s exactly like that."