“Euughgh Disgusting”

Burning Rose can be seen in the dining hall of the Institute staring intently at a bottle containing a glowing liquid . This liquid is an Alchemical product, courtesy of the Dawnward Alchemy department, designed to cleanse their bodies and promote the growth of magic power. Every sorcerer in the institute drinks this potion every night after dinner and has become a sort of daily ritual in which they all drink at the same time. The punch line is that the Liquid tastes horrible and everyone winces in agony every time they drink it, even the Grand Scholar. They have complained multiple times but the Alchemists all claim that good medicine tastes horrible.

When the Grand scholar gives the signal everyone, including him, must drink the bottle’s contents in one go. This has also been some sort of tradition of proving your strength as a sorcerer. And when the time came the dining hall would erupt in an explosion of pain and suffering. An outsider would think of this as an image of hell.

“H-help me I’m gonna be sick Hueehghhgg” Burning Rose declared as she desperately tried hold back her dinner from leaving her stomach.

“Hold it in Burning Rose, we have to hold it in huuhhgghg” A girl with long but unruly black hair said while twisting in agony

“Ah I can see the light, it’s calling for me” Said another girl short with short brown hair as she laid her head on the table.

“No Serene River, don’t leave us!” Said the girl with the black hair

“Don’t you get ever tired of doing this gag, Bright Sun?”Burning Rose said, still reeling from the pain.

“I think it’s a good distraction” Bright Sun said as the unpleasant feeling left her body

“I bet Cursed Bat is laughing at us right now, that damned Alchemist. How dare she take pleasure in the pain of her friends” Burning Rose said visibly annoyed

“If I was in her position I’d be laughing too you know. The sight of hundreds of sorcerers all groaning in pain must be a sight to behold, ugh.” Serene River said in a defeated tone.

“Let’s change the topic in order to further distract ourselves, the taste still lingers in my mouth. Make it stop” Burning Rose was now on the verge of tears.

“Oh, did you hear about the news!” Bright Sun suddenly exclaimed.

“What news?” Burning Rose asked

“It’s been the talk of the town since early morning! Of course you haven’t heard of it since you spend your days holed up in the chambers practicing magic. Ever since you were given the rank of Scholar we only to get to see each other during meals! “

“Hey! you make it sound like I’m some kind of hermit. Of course I won’t get to see you since I am no longer required to take classes” Burning Rose complained

“Well you kind of are right now to be honest. Maybe one day you’ll grow a beard too” Serene River chimed in

“Nobody asked for your opinion you know?”

“Guys can I continue?”

“Yeah sure”

“Yeah sure”

“Don’t be shocked okay?” Bright Sun then paused for dramatic effect “The Outsiders defeated three Manticores with a powerful metal bird!” Bright sun exclaimed, excitement In her voice

“Who cares?” Burning Rose replied

“Don’t you understand? The Outsiders have not shown any magic capabilities, yet they command incredible power!” Bright Sun’s excitement now reaching new heights

“It doesn’t interest me in the slightest; it’s not as if we can’t achieve flight ourselves with the use of magic. I actually kind of feel sorry for them that they have to rely on their Machines to do things that we can do with a few words” Burning Rose said with a smug smile forming on her face

“Overconfident as always” Serene River said in disapproval

“I am not though, what I say is fact” Burning Rose then stood up

“After all, Magic is the best!”

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“Euughgh Disgusting”

Karl complained as he tried his best to swallow the food paste he was served. He spent his entire day in Larien village again studying Magic. But this time he lost track of time and ended up going back late. He wasn’t alone though, he was joined by none other than Steven, who also lost track of time.

When they arrived back to Fort Spearhead, Nelson immediately called them for a meeting. He revealed that he plans to take everyone to the capital of Aleria, Lancia. Nelson wanted to know what they wanted to ask of the King as part of the Negotiations. But after Engr. Yamato was done with his requests Nelson gave up and simply decided to take them along and be part of the Negotiations. Apparently he realized that he wouldn’t be able to explain their demands properly so it was better this way.

The meeting however took over an hour and by the time it was over, the chefs have already cleaned up and there was no more food left. They complained but Nelson said it was their punishment for not coming back on time. Then he berated them for not being professional and then were given a stern lecture about following a schedule and being on time. In the end they were just given food pastes.

“ich not dat bhad” Steven spoke with his mouth still full of food, and with an audible gulp, swallowed all of it in one go.

“I’ve eaten worse in my expeditions.” Steven said as he opened up another tube of paste

In the short time they’ve spent together, Karl has gotten used to Steven’s weird behaviour and began to respect him. After all he is a fellow scientist and they are both in Nelithea in search of Knowledge, albeit in different fields

“I’ve got to ask” Karl said as he took another tube “Why are you even coming with us to Lancia? Can’t you just study the fauna and flora here? I mean Fort Spearhead is a lot closer to the Mystic forest after all.” Karl asked.

“I would if I could, but the Military won’t do any further exploration until we are done with the Negotiation. Plus I heard they have a much bigger creature Archive in the Capital so I want to check it out first” Steven replied “What about you? Can’t you just keep studying with the adventurers?”

“I could but their magic is too simple and samey. Not to downplay their skill but their spells are all too basic and their knowledge on magic is even lower. If I want to know more about Magic I need to visit the Magic Institute located at the capital”

“Plus I’m kinda disappointed that they just treat Magic here for granted. Even the most knowledgeable magic user I encountered didn’t understand just how magic works. They simply treat is as a phenomenon that has no explanation. And I can’t accept that”

Karl didn’t notice but he suddenly started to monologue passionately.

“An advanced enough technology is indistinguishable from Magic” Karl exclaimed. “If we looked at this so called “magic” under the lens of science we would get a better understading of it, and therefore improve it's use. After all with the help of science we were able to achieve wonders and started to reach for the stars. Heck we even opened up this new world thanks to science! Just think of the potential heights we can reach if we can understand magic more! I mean our great understanding of something as mundane as boiling water helped fuelled a great upheaval in our society, the industrial revolution! What more if we have this very powerful force that can do almost anything!”

Steven stared at him for a while and then smiled. “You really do love science don’t you”

“Of course” Karl said as he stood up

“After all, Science is the best!”