"Did you hear about it?"
"What?"
"The spectacle on the test platform yesterday!"
"What about it?"
"The last recruit to take the test did so with his entire body!"
"Really? What a sight that must have been!"
"Indeed. His performance was excellent, but his act completely ruined it! Oh no, here he comes!"
Whispers followed Eizan around the minute he left his dorm the next day. It was bad enough being joked about among his peers; now he had to handle the mocking of the senior apprentices. The sudden wave of self-awareness prevented him from asking for directions to the infirmary. He had to find out how Agnes was doing. But that was easier said than done; he ended up wandering around the premises for some time before he found the infirmary.
Agnes was sitting on her bed in an unladylike manner, with one leg on the bed and the other hanging loosely. A pocket knife was levitating in the air before her, and some nurses were shivering in fear on the ground at the foot of her bed. Wow, even the Tower couldn't curb Lady Agnes's ferocity. A grin adorned her face the moment she saw him. "I must say you are a loyal servant; who knew you loved me so much you carried me out of the forest?"
Eizan fought the urge to roll her eyes; she was at it again. She grabbed the knife out of the air and stood up abruptly, sending the shivering nurses scampering away. The soft rays of the early morning sun added a golden sheen to her dark skin, portraying her as one of the dark woodland fairies from his mother's folktales. "How about you lead me to my room now?" she said to the nurses and turned to him. "I will deal with you later.
Yep. She was definitely alright.
Eizan's token vibrated, and he realized it was an incoming message. This identity token had so many uses. The message read: Come to the platform; an elder is about to give a lecture. Duobing. He did a little dance when he thought of how much the boy had warmed up to him. Could they be considered best pals now? He forced down the excitement and hurried to the platform. By the time he got there, the lecture had already started, but he wasn't too disheartened.
His eyes searched for Duobing in the sea of new and second-year apprentices, and he found him sitting towards the far left. He rushed over but was stopped by a second-year apprentice. "Are you a Dlugothan?" asked the second-year apprentice. He shook his head in response, although he had no idea what that meant.
The apprentice gave him a once-over and furrowed his brows in contemplation: "You look like a Glotulzchaian, but you are a bit too tanned. You took the test here, right? You should go to that section," he said, pointing to where the twins were seated. Not wanting to argue, he proceeded in that direction and found himself in an empty seat. Not long after, Agnes arrived with two girls in tow, but they went to a different section.
What was with all this division? He could ask Agnes later, he figured. Without knowing it, he was beginning to rely a bit on Agnes; his loner image truly was because he had been secluded for too long. After the lecture, he and other normal apprentices went to find the quest hall. All the quests available could only be completed by secondary or core apprentices, and as for the tasks, the academic points awarded were too low.
Eizan took his time browsing through the tasks and found one relatively easy one offering a surprising amount of academic points. Without much ado, he reserved the task before the others could. He couldn't miss out on this task because he hesitated!
The bald man who lay on his stomach on the grass might have been dead. He might have been poisoned and left out to rot under the elements, judging by the spilt jar of wine beside his head. A firefly flashed out from the shrubs in the garden and hovered about a few inches above the man's head. It might have been attracted by the strong scent of wine in the air or the reflection of the departing sun on the man's shiny bald head, but how could Meredith know what actually attracted the firefly? She considered herself just an observer.
The man's eyelids twitched, indicating he was very much alive—much to her chagrin, which was enough to send the firefly rapidly fluttering away. Curiosity had nothing on this firefly. The garden in which this man lay boasted a lot of rare herbs and plants, some of which were unidentified, generating a peculiar scent that was hard to get rid of. One must not forget the addition of the sickening stench of that spilt wine; it could clear the nose most afflicted with catarrh instantly. Rumour has it that most of the herbs in his garden are from students who dared to cross him. His suite of rooms, which oversaw the garden, had a large living room—which he had conveniently turned into a laboratory—two bedrooms, and an attached restroom where he discharged some of the nastiness he was made of. His eyelids, with their string of isolated long lashes, drooped lazily over his emerald green eyes, which seemed to never get enough sleep. His small, thin, sharp lips parted to reveal his white dentition in a jaw-breaking yawn that rapidly changed to short fits of coughing after he choked on his saliva. Come on, choke to death!
"Are you done ogling me?" His lazy eyes gave her a once-over.
Ogling what? She asked herself, Your angelic face or the nasty personality it hides?
"Both"
"Leech!" she cursed under her breath and threw him a change of clothes.
"I can still hear you," he said, flashing her a smile.
"You're awfully chatty this morning, Master Cornish," she observed with an air of civility. It didn't matter how vexed she was; she couldn't show it; otherwise, she would risk losing the chance to end her apprenticeship.
He threw on his long teaching robe and carefully tied the belt around his waist, retaining his youthful look, unlike the young grandmas and pas parading this tower in their unadorned teaching robes. He downed a glass of some suspicious-looking liquid lying around in his lab and spit it out almost immediately. "Mmm, wrong liquid." The spit disappeared shortly, courtesy of his place's in-built cleaning magic. He picked up another glass and examined it first before drinking. This time, he kept it down. She followed quietly behind him as they left his garden in the direction of the great hall. She was surprised he didn't forget today was his turn to give a lecture.
"Your entire family enrolled this year?" he asked.
"Yes, master."
Master Cornish pushed open the twin doors to the great hall gently, and the chattering and bickering quieted without a trace. He stepped onto the podium with her close behind, an easy smile on his face. "The poctus potion developed by—"
"Nicolai Reedhorn," a girl cut in, and he smiled at her.
"Correct, change a person's appearance to another's for two hours provided you—"
"Add a strand of hair belonging to the person you want to impersonate," the girl completed for him.
The smile on his face completely disappeared. "When I speak, you listen; do you understand?" The girl nodded after what seemed to be an hour, and the lecture proceeded as usual. Meredith stared at the girl but refused to pity her. They had spent five years in the Tower, so she can't say she doesn't know Master Cornish seeks vindication for even the smallest of grievances. He definitely would not let this go. Her token vibrated, and a string of words appeared in her mind, and she subconsciously looked at her master. It must go well this time.