“A forger quill gives their bond the ability to take and transfer properties of certain matter,” Professor Hash said during class. He continued on with “depending on what is taken, the matter can end up destroyed.”

Like usual, a stare down between Rom and Yale started to happen a few minutes into class. Followed by Hash getting them to stop with a stare of his own.

“The certain matter a person bonded to a forger quill, called a forger, can only transfer properties from is called their attuned matter, correct?”

Yale’s question on something he already knew was a lousy ploy to get affirmation which was met with a “Yes you are correct Mr. Tool but I have a feeling you already knew that, so please in the future don’t waste my time with silly questions. It is doing the opposite of making you look smarter.”

Hash's reply put a smile on Rom’s face.

“Ms. Dorfmure, I see my comment amused you.”

“I agree with him. Your spectrum is radiating blue,” Shade mentioned.

“Hush,” Rom said, which got a sharp reply of “Don’t tell me to hush, you hush.”

“Am I amusing to you?” Hashed asked, walking up to the front of his podium.

The class sat in wait for Rom’s answer who was at a loss of words for a moment or two.

“Yes. You are amusing to me, professor.” The entire class gasped. “And I am glad because if you were boring or not fun, then your teachings wouldn’t be memorable.”

Hash tilted his head looking at Rom. “I never thought of it like that. Thank you for explaining Ms. Dorfmure.”

Rom wiped away a bead of sweat that came down her head and looked over at Yale’s displeased face.

“Now getting back to forgers and their attuned matter. A forger attuned to metal can take away the durability of the brass door handle to the class, making it so that a simple gripped turn can break it apart. While a forger attuned to bone can grab my arm and take away the durability of my bone, making breaking my arm an easy task.”

“So it must be through physical touch? The forger must physically touch their attuned matter to take away the properties?” Rom questioned.

“It is dependent on the experience of the forger. A beginning forger will need to physically touch the matter while another just needs to be near it. Also the speed in which a property could be taken is based on the level of experience. This is seen through one of the games metal forgers play in which they hit an assigned small metal sphere and whoever breaks their spear into more pieces wins.”

Rom thought back to what happened three days ago at the precinct. “That would be similar to two metal forgers getting shot with one bullet being cracked in half upon impact while the other crumbled into small little pieces, correct?”

”Yes and for any future or current metal forgers, please don’t don’t do that. If you are not able to take away enough durability quickly enough then the bullet can very well kill you or at least ruin a shirt.”

“That's probably the reason why so many metal forgers are shirtless with six pack abs,” Yale claimed, followed by a laugh from him and other students.

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“Ok everyone settle down. Talks of the metal forgers outfit choice can be had another time. Let's get back to our original topic,” Hash stated, getting everyone back on track.

Once class ended, Rom rushed to her next class to take a test and to the professor’s surprise, Rom finished the test much earlier than expected. While the other students were still working on their test, the professor decided to give Rom a task for extra credit. After bringing in a young man who volunteered to be a class test subject, the professor told Rom to change his spectrum.

“Well Ms. Dorfmure, it seems you have manipulated a person’s spectrum before.”

“It was beginner's luck, Professor Nest. I used my one day access to a deeper library floor to learn how to call upon different memories within a person to change their spectrum. I had a feeling it would be needed in class and I made sure to remember how to do it.”

Rom couldn’t reveal she learned to call upon memories to stop her roommate’s spectrum from bleeding. Well she could but it would have been more of a hassle if she did.

“Interesting, very interesting,” the professor said in disbelief.

As the class continued, Rom noticed that the majority of the questions being asked weren’t from her or other students but from the professor. Questions about where exactly are you from, who are your parents, and what grades you get in high school. All were directed towards Rom who was trying her best to not be offended until one inquiry became an accusation.

“Unfortunately another student got hospitalized from sloppy memory manipulation which is most likely due to a beginner spectra. Do you know anything about that, Ms. Dorfmure?”

Rom frowned her face. “No I don’t but can you please explain why I would?”

The professor walked up to Rom’s desk, looked her straight in the eyes, and said “Unless another freshman is hiding being a spectra for some reason, then that just leaves you in the freshmen class that is able to manipulate memories. Also from the task you completed so easily, I could tell that wasn't the first time you changed someone’s spectrum.”

“She tricked us. She just wanted to see if we knew how to manipulate memories,” Shade concluded. “Yeah and we fell for it,” Rom added.

After trudging through what remained of class without acting on her thoughts of punching her professor in the face, Rom quickly gathered her books and left.

“We can’t do what she asked,” Shade mentioned.

“I know I know but what choice do we have? Professor Nest is going to make the assignment fifty percent of my grade,” Rom responded.

“So what are we going to do?”

“For now, we are going to learn how to create false memories like the assignment requires and I will figure out something before her next class.”

Rom and Shade went to the busy cafe within the library to grab a bottle of water before hitting the books to study. While they were waiting in line, Rom noticed a girl who was just a few feet away keep stealing glances at her. With the disrespect she endured in Professor Nest’s class, Rom had little to no patience and walked over to confront the girl.

“Can I help you?” Rom asked brusquely.

The girl took a step back and started fumbling over her words with “Oh…I am…I just…”

“So you can keep looking at me like a creep but can’t talk?”

The girl took a deep breath and finally found her words of “I am sorry. I was just admiring your black jumpsuit.”

“Oh,” Rom uttered while joggling the front zipper of her sleeveless garment with a front flap held up by straps over the shoulders. “Thank you. I like the scarf around your neck and how it ties in with your blazer.”

“Really? My roommate said it looks stupid.”

“Its not stupid at all,” Rom imparted onto the girl bringing out a smile.

Not wanting to get back into the long line, Rom told the girl to have a nice day and left the cafe to go study. Hours passed and Rom made no head way in figuring out how to complete the task of creating false memories.

“I need someone to practice on. Going over what to do is getting me no where.”

“Suke. We already changed her spectrum twice. Why not practice on her.”

“I don’t think she would be a good person to practice on since she is infected with a haunting.”

Deciding to go outside to get some fresh air, Rom walked past James. “Rom!”

Damn. He saw me.

“Hello,” Rom said turning around to James already being inches in front of her. “Ok back up. I don’t know you like that.”

Taking a step back, “Sorry. I just wanted to apologize for my actions the other day in the precinct when I decided to stay even after what happened with those escaped prisoners.”

“No apology needed. Suke and I didn’t even ask or needed you there anyways so you staying didn't matter to us.”

Thinking the conversation was done and proceeding to turn back around to walk away, James continued talking. “I know and my apologies for intruding on what happened.”

A sigh was let out from Rom who turned back around. “You all apologize so often.”

“You all?”

“A girl in the cafe said sorry to me earlier. Suke has apologized to me multiple times already and now you two times within less than a minute. In the Nile, someone can be totally in the wrong and would rather die than sorry.”

“That seems a little much and a cry out for help but I have no problem apologizing and so–”

“Yes, yes you are sorry and I have to leave to figure something out. So goodbye.”

Before Rom could turn back around for a second time to leave, “Oh maybe I can help,” James mentioned.

Why won’t he just…wait, maybe he can help. I might have found my guinea pig.