Magick, Monsters & Murder

Though hesitant, Riniock glanced around cautiously before handing over his items. He gave Linry the lidthrag fangs, the kezok's antler, and, after a moment of deliberation, the storage card containing the celseed.

 Linry approached the inspection line confidently. When her turn came, the searching party examined her belongings thoroughly before letting her pass without incident. Shortly after, Riniock joined the line. When he reached the exit, his belongings were checked and deemed ordinary, containing only common maegi items. He was allowed to leave without issue.

 'Finally free?' Niann greeted him just beyond the double doors. 'We've got Creatures, Critters, and Care first.'

 Riniock nodded, falling into step beside his friend. As they crossed the grounds on their way to class, Riniock spotted the handler and his skeletal beast following a trail.

 'Speaking of creatures,' Riniock said, gesturing towards them, 'do you know what that one is?'

 Niann glanced in the indicated direction. 'The edahme?'

 'So that's what it's called,' Riniock remarked. 'I saw it earlier. They were using it to sniff out evidence of murder.'

 'Edahme are exceptionally sensitive to odh and magickal signatures,' Niann explained. 'The ones trained for tracking are usually captured from the siltwater abyss, where they're most abundant.'

 'Why not breed them?' Riniock asked, genuinely curious.

 'People have tried,' Niann replied, 'but edahme raised in captivity don't develop the same sharp senses as their wild counterparts. Because of that, maegi – and even the general populace – prefer to capture them from their natural habitats instead.'

 'How come you know so much about them?' Riniock asked, curiosity evident in his tone.

 Niann chuckled, scratching the back of his head. 'I spend way too much time reading and slaving away in the library.'

 The two arrived at their classroom just in time for their next lesson.

 Professor Amielda, a seasoned expert in creatures and monsters of all kinds, stood at the front. Her reputation for firsthand experience made her one of the most respected instructors at the college.

 'Good morning, everyone,' she began, her tone warm yet commanding. 'I trust you're all holding up after the recent events. Let's treat today's lesson just like any other we've shared so far, shall we?'

 The room remained silent; none of the acolytes had any objections.

 'Wonderful,' she said, clapping her hands together. 'Today, I've brought a special little critter for us to study.'

 She wheeled a trolley to the centre of the room, revealing a large vivarium filled with water and black pebbles. Inside swam a small, palm-sized creature, glowing a bright fluorescent green.

 'Can anyone tell me what this adorable little thing is called?' Amielda asked, leaning over the vivarium to drop food pellets into the water.

 Hands shot up across the classroom. Scanning the eager faces, she selected an acolyte sitting at the far end of the left side.

 'That's…an entriss, professor,' the student, a nervous girl named Lumea, answered as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

 'Correct, Miss Lumea,' Amielda replied with a pleased nod.

 With a flick of her finger, a piece of chalk flew to the blackboard, writing the creature's name alongside a rough but accurate sketch and a few key notes.

 'Now, who can tell us where entrisses are commonly found?'

 Urael raised his hand, drawing surprised glances from his peers. 'Entrisses are native to the cimmerian shores,' he said confidently.

 'Indeed they are, Mr. Flonderance. Good job!'

 The chalk added the new information as Amielda reached into the water, gently cupping the entriss in her hand before lifting it out of the tank. A few students gasped, fearing the creature might be harmed.

 'Don't worry,' she reassured them. 'Entrisses are amphibious and can survive both in and out of water. Though perhaps you should be worried about me.'

 'Why's that, professor?' an acolyte asked.

 Amielda smiled, her eyes scanning the class. 'Anyone care to answer? Get it right, and I'll let you handle this green beauty.'

 Hands shot up again, but none of the answers satisfied her. Some guessed that entrisses could bite, whilst others suggested they spat venom or poison. All were incorrect.

 'I'm sure someone here shares my passion for creatures,' Amielda said, stopping at Niann's desk. 'Mr. Nodahr, perhaps you'd enlighten the class? Why is it risky to handle an entriss barehanded?'

 Niann nodded, clearly having withheld the information earlier. His demeanour suggested he'd taken the arch-maegi's advice about caution seriously. 'Their dorsal skin is covered in tiny prongs that inject a potent neurotoxin when touched.'

 Amielda beamed at him before gently placing the entriss in his trembling hand.

 'Entrisses are highly valued by maegi specialising in medicinal practices and even cosmetology,' she explained. 'Their toxins, when properly extracted and mixed with the right components, have diverse applications.'

 She clapped her hands gently, summoning a box from one of her storage cabinets. The container glided through the air, swooping down to float beside her. Moments later, bulky pairs of gloves emerged from the box, each pair levitating to land neatly in front of every acolyte in the room.

 Next, she distributed delicate tweezers and small glass vials, ensuring every student had the necessary tools.

 'Today, we'll practice extracting the tiny, needle-like hairs from the entrisses' dorsal skin,' she explained, her tone steady but encouraging. 'If you're successful, store them in the vials provided. You'll be using these in your alchemy lessons later.'

 Behind the professor stood a thick curtain. With a flick of her wrist, it pulled aside, revealing several vivariums identical to the one at the centre of the room. Each tank housed an entriss, some wriggling gracefully through the water, others resting at the bottom.

 'Step up and select one for your practice,' she instructed. 'But handle them with care. Any harm to these little creatures, and I'll have no choice but to exclude you from future exercises. I would hate to do that so let it not be necessary, okay?'

 The acolytes slipped on their gloves and took up their tweezers, diving into their work with varying degrees of enthusiasm and skill.

 Some managed to extract the tiny hairs on their first attempts, their efforts rewarded with a vial of neurotoxic specimens. Others struggled, either failing to coax their entrisses from the tanks or fumbling through the delicate process. A few were even chasing their critters around the classroom as the creatures leapt in panic, their handlers too wary of risking a sting to grab them confidently.

 The lesson was momentarily disrupted when Elred collapsed to the floor, rigid as a wooden plank. His desk mate bolted to the professor, urgently calling for help.

 Professor Amielda, however, remained calm. 'No need for alarm,' she assured the class with a dismissive wave. 'These entrisses are juveniles. Their toxins are far too mild to cause any lasting harm. He'll wake up in about an hour.'

 Meanwhile, Riniock quietly excelled, already removing his tenth neurotoxic hair from the entriss he'd been assigned. This lesson felt unexpectedly illuminating for him.

 Until now, he had avoided interacting with the celseed he'd brought back from the crimson glades, wary of triggering another bout of hallucinations. But as he deftly practiced extracting the hairs, he realised that with proper preparation and care, even dangerous substances or creatures could be safely handled.

 When Linry returns my things, he thought, I'll do some research and test a few ideas.

 As the session wound down, Riniock glanced around the classroom, his eyes landing on several academy maegis observing the proceedings from the shadows. Their presence confirmed what he'd suspected days ago – they weren't merely here to monitor the students' battle prowess solely.

 Their watchful gazes betrayed a deeper intent for other kinds of talents and skills.