14th Trial of Ymiden, 715th Arc
Stuck in a freezing cold room, Virikai cursed whatever menial worker was slacking off on his duties towards the upper classes. Did they not realise that they had certain obligations and responsibilities towards their betters? It was unbelievable that the Talius scion should be so uncomfortable as he attempted to learn from the esteemed instructor before him. Looking around, he saw that the other seven students were in much the same mood as he... though the few eídisi among the number seemed better off than the foreign visitors come to the city to learn. The entrance of the lecturer caused Virikai to pull his thick cloak tightly about his shoulders, trying to retain any heat that he could - or at least lose no more - as he turned his full attention to the instructor.
“Good morning, I am Sayr Tytle, your instructor for this part of the course. And welcome to most of you, for I believe that this is your first class of your course?” Some nodded, though Virikai did not, lest he disturb the fall of his cloak. “You will soon learn that tertiary education is vastly different to secondary, and even more so if you received your rudimentary elsewhere. Now, much of your study will be private, and the Prime Atheneum is at your disposal, for I can teach you only a fraction of what those times can share.” That suited the eídisi down to the ground; it was what he had been doing before his father had insisted that he stop 'wasting his time'. Now, the difference was that he had to waste more money on listening to some washed up academic rattle on for a few hours each day.
“We will be starting the course with anatomy, specifically human anatomy,” the lecturer, who too was eídisi, scowled at that, and Virikai imagined that he was resentful and scornful of the original race. “This is because the humans are by far the most populous of species and more importantly, all others, including hybrid races, were once descendant from humans, and most share very similar features in terms of physiology and anatomy.” Tytle turned, grasping a piece of white chalk in his hand, and drew a blob which could be a rough outline of a human body. It had a circular head and an oval body, with four oblongs to represent each limb. The boy wondered if he was supposed to copy this down, but no other students had moved and Virikai was more than happy to keep his fingers from falling off due to frostbite, so kept them safely inside his cloak.
Next, the man exchanged the White chalk for a different coloured one, and began to draw a series of circles and oblongs across the body. Did it have some form of measles? “These,” the lecturer spoke, booming voice echoing through the large, empty, and freezing room, “These blue circles, represent the placing of organs throughout the body. Though one might argue that some are more important than others, there had been no evidence thus far that it is possible to live without any of them. Today,we will done going over the main ones. We will start from the top and work our way down, shall we? The brain.”
Tytle poked the uppermost circle, resting in the blob which was supposed to represent the head, with the chalk, “To get this far, I'm sure you all have one,” Virikai resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the attempted humour, to which only half the class responded at all. He forced himself to remember the benefits of gaining a proper qualification from the academy, rather than just knowing the stuff. “The brain is the controller, it has multiple functions, from processing abstract thought to controlling your body. Not, this can be conscious, such as turning your head or walking, or it can be autonomic, such as the beating of the heart or the break down of nutrients as done by other organs. In short, the brain is the central organ of the nervous system, which exerts control over every single function that your body has. Right now, that might not seem all that impressive, but by the end of this course, you might have much more respect for the activity of your brain.”
Common sense, really, if he gave enough thought to it. The heir to the Talius line hoped that his money wasn't about to be wasted on season's worth of drivel like this. Was Tytle actually trying to romanticise the brain? “In all sentient species, from humanoid creatures all the way through to a languageless rodent, the brain is located in the head. It is theorised that this is because it is close to sensory organs, where taste, smell, hearing and sight occur.”
Plus most of the relevant skills, especially medicine, were high enough that basic classroom work at this level isn't going to gain much EXP. Research, being a book skill by nature, is naturally an exception.