Herbology.

His first specialty.

It made sense. Most of Herbology consisted of learning to recognize, classify, and care for different kinds of plants and herbs, be it magical or normal. Most of these plants are used for different purposes - elixirs, potions, medicines, poisons, etc. As someone who quite liked to find a safe haven among the woods, Herbology seemed perfect for him.

The question was, was the subject - as it was taught in the Academy - a fit for him? Was the Professor?

He supposed he would have to find out.

He chatted with Balsea as he walked into that narrow pathway that had been shown to him the dey before by the Archmaster. Immediately, he heard the buzzing of … everything around him. He stopped speaking to Balsea and looked around. Butterflies, fireflies, bees, birds, and small animals rushed through the branches, and the vines intertwined with them.

What he thought were small bushes led to a variety of trees lining both sides of the path, some of them reaching towards each other while some o them had intertwined branches. Even if he could not feel the mana, he knew. This place was filled with magic and mana.

Theoretically, he knew that most of the Academy had more mana in its environment than most other places combined. But here, it felt like most of it was condensed. He felt the very air they breathed tremble with the intensity of it.

“It’s beautiful,” he couldn’t help but say.

“It is, isn’t it?” Balsea’s voice beside him was soft for once. It sounded as contemplative as Emilio himself felt. It didn’t last long though.

“It doesn’t hold a candle to the Enclosure though!” He exclaimed. “Oh you’d love it there, Emilio.”

“You think so?” Emilio laughed. “Would I be allowed in there? As far as I know, humans are rarely allowed into the Enclosure.”

They nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! You’re my friend! Why wouldn’t you be?” He then hesitated before sheepishly scratching his cheek. “Well … I might have to convince my parents first.”

Emilio chuckled. Balsea was so different from the average human in so many ways, but at the same time, he was so strikingly similar sometimes. He guessed some problems were universal, common amongst all the species.

It wasn’t a long path. Fortunately, this group of students were too busy discussing their study materials to pay any attention to the stray Laik that had ventured into their Class.

The place they reached was under the open sky, with small seats and round tables made out of stone scattered throughout what looked like a huge garden full of plants, most of which he had never seen. Balsea once again led him to an empty seat and they sat down opposite to each other.

The Professor apparently had not come yet.

He asked Balsea a few questions but he quickly found out tat Balsea had never attended this class before. He never had any particular interest in herbology. So he never deigned to attend the classes. Until now. Until Emilio had to attend Herbology.

Emilio couldn’t help but be touched. How come a fae who should know nothing of human feelings was more humane than any other human Emilio had met in this Academy?

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted their conversation. “That’s my table.”

Both of them turned around to see a petite, young girl looking down at them. Her hair was raven black and tied in a braid, coming down to her waist. Her glasses magnified her hazel eyes as she stared down at them with disapproval.

“This is where I always sit. Can you please move?” Her words were polite but her voice was curt.

“I don’t see your name on here,” Balsea said from beside him.

“Balsea!” His tone was much like when he was scolding Jeremiah.

Balsea looked at him sheepishly. “What? That’s what humans say when someone tells them to get up from their table!”

Emilio sighed. The fae was like a child. Learning all the bad things from their surroundings.

“Those are thugs,” Emilio said, with little mercy. “Don’t follow them.”

He then turned to the girl. “Sure. We will get going…” he trailed off as his eyes moved across the class before he sighed and turned to the girl. “It seemed there are no empty seats left. Do you mind adjusting for today?”

Her nostrils flared. She definitely did not wish to share her space with others. But she glanced around and realised that there were indeed no seats available. At least… not for the two of them to be able to sit together.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She sighed and then turned to Emilio. "You, go to that side," She said, pointing at the empty space on the bench balsea was sitting on.

Emilio sighed softly and got up before making his way to the other side. Balsea seemed to have no complaints. In fact, they looked even happier and more excited.

He sat down beside Balsea and looked at the girl opposite to them.

"I'm Emilio," He started to speak.

"I know who you are." She said before he could get anything else out.

Emilio frowned at that. "I was just trying to introduce myself," He said, a strong sense of disapproval in his voice. "There is no need to be rude."

The girl paused at that before she pushed her glasses up on her nose. "I'm Lumnia."

Emilio nodded, his tense shoulders lowering a bit. "Hello, Lumnia. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She said curtly. Emilio was unable to gauge whether she was sincere or not, but he voted for the latter.

"You're a halfling." Balsea spoke from beside him.

Emilio watched as the girl froze and looked up at Balsea. He himself was surprised. Halflings, offsprings of cross-species couples. They were not quite prejudiced against - certainly not as much as Laiks - but they were frowned upon. Most species liked to keep it within themselves. Heck, most people liked to keep it in the same social class.

There was a long pause as she stared at Balsea. "How did you know?" She asked. To her credit, her voice was as sharp and cold as before.

"Your energies." Balsea shrugged.

Emilio had little idea of what that mean except that perhaps it was something that faes could sense. Lumnia either understood what Balsea meant or came to the same conclusion as Emilio. Either way, she nodded.

"I'm half elf."

Almost immediately, Emilio's eyes turned towards her ears. Now that he was taking notice of it, it did seem a bit elongated. Not long and pointy like those illustrations of Elves he had seen in books. It wasn't really noticeable unless you were looking for it.

"If you tell anyone, you're dead." She hissed softly. Emilio turned her eyes to her face, only to notice the slightest furrow of anxiety between her brows.

He raised his hands in surrender. "We won't."

He then turned to Balsea, who shrugged. "I have no interest in playing with a rude halfling."

Emilio sighed. You're being rude too, Balsea.

Before he could say anything though, there was the sound of loud clapping. He turned around to see a short woman who stumbled through an entrance on the opposite side made by two trees bending towards and entangling each other. She wore a short gown that came down to jsug below her knees, leather boots and a vest, her brown hair done up in a messy bun.

"That's Professor Tanya Gias. She's a Druid." Balsea murmured from beside him. Emilio wasn't even surprised by his knowledge of anything and everything within the Academy at this point.

What he was surprised by, though, was the fact that this Professor was a Druid. Druids were the only humans who deviated into nature cores. Druids were rare. There is only a 0.001% chance of a human being a Druid, only one in one hundred thousand. And most Druids preferred to retreat into the wilderness or the Woodlands where the Elves lived. They preferred to stay away from human civilization and stay deep where their own element was abundant.

This woman was an exception, apparently.

"Sorry, sorry!" She exclaimed, wiping her mudstained hands in a towel. "It's almost harvest season for the Datura plants. They need a bit of helping along in their cultivation. Ooh, who can tell me what is the best way to get a Datura plant to its peak?!"

Immediately, there were several raised hands. One of them belonged to Lumnia.

"Yes, Mr. Evan?" She chose someone from the benches behind them.

"Well, usually it needs at least 6 hours of sunlight daily during the summer." A familiar voice spoke up, making Emilio startled and turn around to peeps at the person. It was the very same boy who said he didn't belong here. He hadn't expected an aggressive boy like him to take Herbology.

"It prefers humus rich soil. It ripens within 2-3 months. During its cultivation and care, it is recommended to decompose leaves and barks in and mix it with the soil during the peak periods of the sun. It also needs a lot of water everyday. It is discouraged to try and grow Datura in a dry environment. In a mana rich environment, Datura's qualities become more potent. An overripe Datura can act as a powerful hallucinogenic and has been known to be used for luring people to their own ruin and death."

"Correct!" She said, clapping with a grin as if the boy wasn't literally talking about ruin and death. "Well done, Mister Evans."

Okay, he was starting to understand why the boy was taking this class.

"Now," She turned and walked to the big, round table in the middle, where there was a number of potted plants that looked the same. "Today, we are going to learn about this. Now, come on, take one for each of the desks. If you need more, just let me know."

"I'll go," Lumnia stood and walked to the centre, observed for a moment, and then grabbed one before coming back to the table.

"You guys can touch and inspect the plant you have taken. Don't worry about ruining it, it has stasis and protective enchantments and I can restore it if anything is damaged. Now," She looked at the students, "can anyone tell me what plant this is?"

"It's Sylphium." Lumnia replied as Emilio inspected the yellow petals situated upon the green stem, hesitantly touching the petals. He felt… something. It was vague, like a feather gently pressing against his skin before flying away. He frowned and pulled back.

"Good. Does anyone know anything about them?" He asked.

Emilio's mouth opened before he could think better of it. "Sylphium is a fennel, a flowering plant mostly seen in dry climates. Sylphium has thick roots covered in black bark, about 50 centimetres long, with a hollow stalk, and golden leaves. It has a sap that can be used as both seasoning and medicine. It is seen as a cure for many diseases, such as cough, fever, indigestion, aches and pains, warts and other kinds of maladies. Mixed with certain herbs and after being prepared in certain ways with the use of mana, it can be made into… aphrodisiacs, contraceptives and abortifacients. However over cultivation of Sylphium on any land can turn the land infertile due to repeated exposure to the intense substances inside it, which can become toxic if left alone."

There was silence for a long moment.

"How do you know all that?"