In all ten years that he had been a Head Healer at the University, this would be Emil's first time taking on interns. It was a practice expected of all Healers to partake in at least once in their professional careers. It was only Emil's talent and expertise that prevented others from questioning his decision to wait, and given a choice, Emil would have waited for at least another decade, but situations changed. His decision to take on interns this year was prompted by his most esteemed teacher, Master Hala, who wished for her current apprentice, Yuliang, to have Emil as his second endorser for the upcoming Certification Examination.
Emil could never refuse a request from his previous master. Since he was already taking on the burden of one intern, he thought it wouldn't be a hardship to take two more.
The other two interns he had selected were Eric Rhee and Clare Schmidt, who were graduates from the previous year. He had taught them before, and while they weren't the most talented of the batch, they were the top two scorers of their year, and Emil believed that hard work should always be rewarded.
"I would like each of you to introduce yourselves; name, age, and preferred field of practice would suffice. Let's start with the unfamiliar face," he said, gesturing to his apprentice-brother Davos.
The young man's seemingly permanent frown deepened in response, but he did as instructed. "I'm Yuliang Davos. I'm Seventeen years old. I don't have a preferred field of practice, but most of my experience is in midwifery and limb replacement," he drawled.
Emil nodded, remembering his own time interning Sundan's rural countryside under Master Hala. It often was one extreme or another. Someone was either having a baby or coming to you with an irreversibly damaged limb.
"Seventeen? That can't be right. You should be starting your degree at this age, not an internship. " Clare stated, eyeing the shabbily dressed younger man with barely concealed distaste.
Impressively, Davos's scowl deepened even further. He shrugged, "I'm a licensed Healer. No point in wasting my time, getting a degree when I already meet the qualifications to Certify."
Clare's blond brows raised in incredulity."Really? How long exactly have you been a Healer, and where and when did you get your licensing?"
Yuliang rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Been a Healer since I could remember, sister-"
"I am not your sister!" The blonde woman snapped, displaying a temper that Emil had not seen in her before. He wondered if it was just Yuliang's age that was bothering her or whether it had something to do with sharing the same position with another omega that bothered her.
Women were sometimes known to feel threatened by omegas, and Clare would be interning with two of them.
Yuliang seemed to be holding on to his composure by a thread. His lips curled up in a sneer, "-but I've been licensed for about five years now." He shrugged, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets, "What business is it of yours either way. You're not the one I'm interning under. Do you think I'd be here if Professor Belmont didn't already know I'm qualified?"
A sour look crossed the young woman's face when she realized that the younger man both out experienced and outranked her. She clearly wanted to retort, but couldn't, knowing that she had been the one out of line this entire time. "You are correct. I apologize for any offense I caused with my questioning."
Healing was a practice in which only the talented thrived.
Emil himself was one of those 'natural prodigies' who rose in the Healer ranks at a young age, so neither Yuliang being a licensed Healer at seventeen nor his Certification plans phased him.
"Next," Emil prompted, not wanting to spend the whole day on introductions.
"My name is Clare Schmidt, and I'm...24 years old," she reluctantly admitted as if it hurt her to do so. "The field I would like to work in is Healing burns."
Emil offered her a nod of acknowledgment. It was a bit strange for her to say that, though. He had never known Clare to have shown either interest or aptitude for the field of burn Healing before this. He would have known if she had; burn victims were his specialization, after all.
Emil could only assume that Clare either had a change of heart after graduation, or she was hoping to increase her standing in his eyes.
He hoped it was the former, but as a member of the Belmont family and a successful Healer, Emil was too used to the latter not to expect it.
Thankfully he didn't have to think about it for too long as his third, and so far mostly silent intern, took his turn.
"I'm Eric Rhee. I'm currently 23 years old, but I'll be turning 24 next month," the Estish boy said to Yuliang with an easygoing grin. The young omega had always been kind and open to others and was of aristocratic lineage himself with a pending engagement to one of Emil's oldest friend's elder brother, so Emil had always taken special note of the bright young omega. Emil himself was quite fond of his ex-student. Eric was a diligent, hard-working omega who gave him little to no grief in the years he had taught him. "My preferred field of practice would have to be...hmm, probably, burns as well actually, but my skills with limb regrowth have gotten a lot better, so I'm starting to like limb replacement as well," he said brightly.
Eric's pleasant demeanor was contagious enough that even the practically permanent frown on Davos' face softened a bit.
Eric, unlike Clare, truly had skill in tackling burns, and the latter part was obviously for the sake of finding common ground with Yuliang, another omega with who Eric probably felt a kinship.
Davos probably felt the same, too, because he was quick to reply. "It's a bitch-" Davos stopped himself short, glancing at Emil, "Sorry, Professor."
Emil let it go with a wry smile, but he did make sure to convey a look of displeasure.
Such crass vocabulary just wasn't very acceptable for someone who was expected to rub shoulders with the upper crust of society one day.
Davos corrected himself with a careless shrug, "It was... difficult getting the nerves wired right at first, but once you get that figured out, everything else pretty much falls into place."
While the advice was kind, it wouldn't be effective for a Healer of Eric's caliber, who, while a skilled Healer, was no prodigy. The only way limb replacement would come 'naturally' for Eric was to specialize in it. Which, for the average Healer, would take years of focused study and practice to perfect.
Seeing as this was Master Hala's current apprentice and Emil's mentor-brother. Emil couldn't help but look forward to seeing Yuliang's skills in practice soon.