Cylus 3, Arc 720
“… and this concludes to-trial‘s lecture, ladies and gentlemen”, the Mortalborn spoke before he closed the book that was lying on the desk in front of him and that he had occasionally referenced during his lecture – he had been talking about various alchemical reagents that were derived from animals. “For your homework, I would like you to research a creature that is known as the Tanner Mantis”, he added before he put the book into his bag and took his coat that he had draped across the back of his chair, a fine coat that was made of black wool and whose hood was trimmed with silver fox fur.
He was just about to put his gloves on, not in order to cover the mutations he had acquired due to progressing in his magic, but because the temperatures had been dropping recently, and it was quite cold outside, when he heard someone approach and a familiar, slightly shy voice ask, “Professor, may I speak with you?” He looked up, at Plia Yishnai Velanar, young woman of mixed Ellune and Eidisi descent with grey skin and black hair. She was one of the research assistants that he occasionally worked with, one of his better alchemy students – and she had more recently become a student of swordsmanship as well.
“Of course”, he replied, smiling very lightly. “What would you like to talk about, Plia?”
“I … I heard that you …” the young woman began, blushing slightly before she took a deep breath, as if she had to muster up some courage first and met his gaze. “I heard that you started to work on a thesis last cycle and that you met with Faith Augustin. I heard that you are developing a new kind of potion, and I was wondering … I was wondering what kind of potion it is and how your research is progressing …”
The Mortalborn furrowed his brow upon hearing that. He had tried to keep his research more or less a secret for the time being. The tests that he had conducted on animals had been exceptionally promising, but the clinical trials were not finished yet. Something could still go wrong. Some of the humanoid volunteers might not tolerate the potion.
He had only told four people what he was doing so far, his lover Llyr, his supervisor Ocraloch, Faith – and Plia’s friend Astrid, another research assistant that worked at the Institute of Sciences. The human had helped him with some of the work that he had conducted prior to Ocraloch’s approving his project.
Had she told Plia – or had Ocraloch been unable to keep his mouth shut and spread the word in academic circles?
His demeanor had mellowed considerably recently – developing certain feelings for someone could have that kind of effect – but the prospect of word possibly getting out before he had finished his thesis and put all the pieces of the puzzle together irritated him slightly, nevertheless. It was not Plia’s fault that someone had been talking though, he realized. She was only curious. He would likely be curious as well if their roles were reversed. His project constituted a major breakthrough in the field of alchemy, after all.
“… and this concludes to-trial‘s lecture, ladies and gentlemen”, the Mortalborn spoke before he closed the book that was lying on the desk in front of him and that he had occasionally referenced during his lecture – he had been talking about various alchemical reagents that were derived from animals. “For your homework, I would like you to research a creature that is known as the Tanner Mantis”, he added before he put the book into his bag and took his coat that he had draped across the back of his chair, a fine coat that was made of black wool and whose hood was trimmed with silver fox fur.
He was just about to put his gloves on, not in order to cover the mutations he had acquired due to progressing in his magic, but because the temperatures had been dropping recently, and it was quite cold outside, when he heard someone approach and a familiar, slightly shy voice ask, “Professor, may I speak with you?” He looked up, at Plia Yishnai Velanar, young woman of mixed Ellune and Eidisi descent with grey skin and black hair. She was one of the research assistants that he occasionally worked with, one of his better alchemy students – and she had more recently become a student of swordsmanship as well.
“Of course”, he replied, smiling very lightly. “What would you like to talk about, Plia?”
“I … I heard that you …” the young woman began, blushing slightly before she took a deep breath, as if she had to muster up some courage first and met his gaze. “I heard that you started to work on a thesis last cycle and that you met with Faith Augustin. I heard that you are developing a new kind of potion, and I was wondering … I was wondering what kind of potion it is and how your research is progressing …”
The Mortalborn furrowed his brow upon hearing that. He had tried to keep his research more or less a secret for the time being. The tests that he had conducted on animals had been exceptionally promising, but the clinical trials were not finished yet. Something could still go wrong. Some of the humanoid volunteers might not tolerate the potion.
He had only told four people what he was doing so far, his lover Llyr, his supervisor Ocraloch, Faith – and Plia’s friend Astrid, another research assistant that worked at the Institute of Sciences. The human had helped him with some of the work that he had conducted prior to Ocraloch’s approving his project.
Had she told Plia – or had Ocraloch been unable to keep his mouth shut and spread the word in academic circles?
His demeanor had mellowed considerably recently – developing certain feelings for someone could have that kind of effect – but the prospect of word possibly getting out before he had finished his thesis and put all the pieces of the puzzle together irritated him slightly, nevertheless. It was not Plia’s fault that someone had been talking though, he realized. She was only curious. He would likely be curious as well if their roles were reversed. His project constituted a major breakthrough in the field of alchemy, after all.
