Vhalar 120, Arc 720
"Would you stop doing that and sit down, please?" Talieson the bard, a dark-haired man in his early thirties and one of Devin's two roommates told the young Mortalborn who was pacing back and forth in his living room, from the door to the window and back again, as if he were some sort of madman (or a prisoner that had been trapped in a tiny cell too long).
Devin stopped dead in his tracks for a moment and glared daggers at the older man who was sitting on the couch, a fine couch with deep red upholstery, before he continued to pace, with a look of utter determination on his face. And what more, he started to talk to himself.
"Maybe I should quickly seduce all of the professors. That would probably be easier than going to that meeting. Some of them are kind of ugly though. I don't want to seduce ugly people”, he muttered and pouted and proceeded to talk to himself some more before his eyes suddenly lit up in a most suspicious manner. He had just had a most excellent idea!
He stopped again and fixed his gaze on Talieson.
"I could make someone else attend the Charter meeting instead of me! Would you like to have a Becoming spark of your own? All you have to do is pretend to be me for a couple of breaks and convince the professors that I deserve a degree", he exclaimed and smiled brilliantly. His other roommate, Aidan, had refused his spark, but maybe Talieson would be more interested? Becoming was totally awesome!
"No, thanks", Talieson replied in a very dry tone of voice. "I’m not suicidal. From what I’ve heard most prospective initiates die. I'd like to live a little longer, if possible. I still want to go on that world tour sometime and play in Nashaki and Melrath and so on!"
"I'm a really good doctor. I could probably keep you from dying", Devin tried to convince him because he refused to give up that easily.
"No means no", Talieson repeated in no uncertain terms. "Seriously though, why are you so nervous, Devin? Normally, you are almost overly confident! What's the matter with you?"
"I just don't like exams and such very much", Devin murmured before he abruptly walked over to Talieson, plopped down on the couch next to him, grabbed a couple of chocolate cookies from the bowl that stood on the table in front of the couch and stuffed them into his mouth.
A few moments later, he already stood again though, left the living room in a hurry, stomped up the stairs to the first floor, and disappeared into his bedroom where he sat down in front of his very luxurious vanity table.
Something had just occurred to him. Exams and such were among his least favourite activities ever, but on the other hand, his Charter meeting would constitute an opportunity to show off.
He'd be facing a couple of very important people that he would be able to impress with his extensive knowledge of medicine and his dazzling good looks. They'd admire him, and he'd be even more famous afterwards!
He’d be able to show them what a real academic was like!
And what more, he'd get another diploma that he'd be able to put on his wall!
He grabbed a brush and started to work on his hair until it was nice and shiny and then he opened his wardrobe and eyed his excessive totally reasonable clothing collection before he picked a fashionable and rather expensive black suit with hints of violet (to match the color of his eyes).
A couple of pretty accessories made of Adamantite followed in quick succession, and then he grabbed his bag and stuffed his pencil case, his notebook and such into it before he rooted through his desk and finally removed a couple of rolled-up pieces of paper from it with a triumphant cry.
The season before, he had taught a class, a very special class, and he had shown his students a couple of different posters. Those posters would probably come in really handy when he explained what he wanted to specialize in, so he put them into his bag as well.
A few moments later, he was back in the living room. Talieson was still there. The bard had gotten himself a bottle of red wine in the meantime and was just pouring some into a glass. Devin eyed the bottle greedily for a moment before he simply walked over to his roommate in order to grab …
“What?” he complained when Talieson quickly pulled the bottle away from him and shook his head.
“It wouldn’t be good if you showed up drunk”, the bard told him in a firm tone of voice. “I’ll make you tea if you want though, a nice calming tea. With sugar in it”, he added upon noticing the look that the Mortalborn gave him. The mention of sugar always made Devin happy!
~~~
Approximately a break later, the Mortalborn stood in front of the door behind which the meeting would take place, a wide smile on his face, as if he had never been nervous at all. Next to him stood another young man that was approximately the same age and just as not nearly as fashionable, with brown hair, a nice brown suit and a lacy white shirt.
Once upon a time, Devin had not liked Professor Argus Hamilton-Smith at all, because he had given him extra homework and made him help grade the essays of his Letter students.
And Argus Hamilton-Smith … well, he had used to think that Devin was one of those students who were nothing but trouble and needed a lot of extra attention (which he had given him, of course, because people admired you when you dedicate some attention to the problem students).
He'd come to realize that Devin had real potential and was quite a skilled doctor though.
He would never have more potential than he had though!
“As I told you before, you will be asked to talk about what your plans for your Licentiate are and what your work adds to the medical field, among other things. As long as you don’t lose your nerves, it won’t be that bad”, Argus said to Devin in a firm tone of voice. “Have you made notes for the meeting, by the way?” he asked.
When Devin nodded and patted his bag that had a lot of stuff in it, he told him, “Good luck, Doctor Thorn!”
He meant what he said. Argus didn’t want Devin to be better than he was and overshadow him – absolutely nobody was ever allowed to do that - but he didn’t want him to fail either. If Devin failed his Charter, it would ruin his nearly perfect track record!
With that thought in mind, Professor Hamilton-Smith opened the door. The two young men entered the room together. The meeting that would decide the Mortalborn's academic future was about to begin.
"Would you stop doing that and sit down, please?" Talieson the bard, a dark-haired man in his early thirties and one of Devin's two roommates told the young Mortalborn who was pacing back and forth in his living room, from the door to the window and back again, as if he were some sort of madman (or a prisoner that had been trapped in a tiny cell too long).
Devin stopped dead in his tracks for a moment and glared daggers at the older man who was sitting on the couch, a fine couch with deep red upholstery, before he continued to pace, with a look of utter determination on his face. And what more, he started to talk to himself.
"Maybe I should quickly seduce all of the professors. That would probably be easier than going to that meeting. Some of them are kind of ugly though. I don't want to seduce ugly people”, he muttered and pouted and proceeded to talk to himself some more before his eyes suddenly lit up in a most suspicious manner. He had just had a most excellent idea!
He stopped again and fixed his gaze on Talieson.
"I could make someone else attend the Charter meeting instead of me! Would you like to have a Becoming spark of your own? All you have to do is pretend to be me for a couple of breaks and convince the professors that I deserve a degree", he exclaimed and smiled brilliantly. His other roommate, Aidan, had refused his spark, but maybe Talieson would be more interested? Becoming was totally awesome!
"No, thanks", Talieson replied in a very dry tone of voice. "I’m not suicidal. From what I’ve heard most prospective initiates die. I'd like to live a little longer, if possible. I still want to go on that world tour sometime and play in Nashaki and Melrath and so on!"
"I'm a really good doctor. I could probably keep you from dying", Devin tried to convince him because he refused to give up that easily.
"No means no", Talieson repeated in no uncertain terms. "Seriously though, why are you so nervous, Devin? Normally, you are almost overly confident! What's the matter with you?"
"I just don't like exams and such very much", Devin murmured before he abruptly walked over to Talieson, plopped down on the couch next to him, grabbed a couple of chocolate cookies from the bowl that stood on the table in front of the couch and stuffed them into his mouth.
A few moments later, he already stood again though, left the living room in a hurry, stomped up the stairs to the first floor, and disappeared into his bedroom where he sat down in front of his very luxurious vanity table.
Something had just occurred to him. Exams and such were among his least favourite activities ever, but on the other hand, his Charter meeting would constitute an opportunity to show off.
He'd be facing a couple of very important people that he would be able to impress with his extensive knowledge of medicine and his dazzling good looks. They'd admire him, and he'd be even more famous afterwards!
He’d be able to show them what a real academic was like!
And what more, he'd get another diploma that he'd be able to put on his wall!
He grabbed a brush and started to work on his hair until it was nice and shiny and then he opened his wardrobe and eyed his excessive totally reasonable clothing collection before he picked a fashionable and rather expensive black suit with hints of violet (to match the color of his eyes).
A couple of pretty accessories made of Adamantite followed in quick succession, and then he grabbed his bag and stuffed his pencil case, his notebook and such into it before he rooted through his desk and finally removed a couple of rolled-up pieces of paper from it with a triumphant cry.
The season before, he had taught a class, a very special class, and he had shown his students a couple of different posters. Those posters would probably come in really handy when he explained what he wanted to specialize in, so he put them into his bag as well.
A few moments later, he was back in the living room. Talieson was still there. The bard had gotten himself a bottle of red wine in the meantime and was just pouring some into a glass. Devin eyed the bottle greedily for a moment before he simply walked over to his roommate in order to grab …
“What?” he complained when Talieson quickly pulled the bottle away from him and shook his head.
“It wouldn’t be good if you showed up drunk”, the bard told him in a firm tone of voice. “I’ll make you tea if you want though, a nice calming tea. With sugar in it”, he added upon noticing the look that the Mortalborn gave him. The mention of sugar always made Devin happy!
~~~
Approximately a break later, the Mortalborn stood in front of the door behind which the meeting would take place, a wide smile on his face, as if he had never been nervous at all. Next to him stood another young man that was approximately the same age and just as not nearly as fashionable, with brown hair, a nice brown suit and a lacy white shirt.
Once upon a time, Devin had not liked Professor Argus Hamilton-Smith at all, because he had given him extra homework and made him help grade the essays of his Letter students.
And Argus Hamilton-Smith … well, he had used to think that Devin was one of those students who were nothing but trouble and needed a lot of extra attention (which he had given him, of course, because people admired you when you dedicate some attention to the problem students).
He'd come to realize that Devin had real potential and was quite a skilled doctor though.
He would never have more potential than he had though!
“As I told you before, you will be asked to talk about what your plans for your Licentiate are and what your work adds to the medical field, among other things. As long as you don’t lose your nerves, it won’t be that bad”, Argus said to Devin in a firm tone of voice. “Have you made notes for the meeting, by the way?” he asked.
When Devin nodded and patted his bag that had a lot of stuff in it, he told him, “Good luck, Doctor Thorn!”
He meant what he said. Argus didn’t want Devin to be better than he was and overshadow him – absolutely nobody was ever allowed to do that - but he didn’t want him to fail either. If Devin failed his Charter, it would ruin his nearly perfect track record!
With that thought in mind, Professor Hamilton-Smith opened the door. The two young men entered the room together. The meeting that would decide the Mortalborn's academic future was about to begin.
