cousinsindozens | Galvan Wizards! [For Nita and Azmuth]

Azmuth was certainly not impressed as he waited in the infirmary. He wished he could say that she was the first to have similar reactions to learning she would be working closely with him, but that ship sailed a long time ago. It was more annoying than alarming now.

As he waited for the female to awaken, he contacted her teachers to find out her name, guessing she likely had to have begun formal study.

As she stirred, he asked without looking up from his datapad, "Should I send for someone to take you home?"

Nita held her breath again, seeing Azmuth - her mentor-

Oh, get a grip! she reminded herself.

"No, that won't be necessary," she said aloud.

"I am here to learn about being a wizard and working with mana, not overreact and make a fool of myself."

"At least you're looking to take your studies seriously," Azmuth stated dryly, looking back up from his work. "You obviously know who I am. You are?"

Nita blinked once, 'clearing' her eyes as best she could, then spoke in the manner of one reciting a line long-memorized:

"I am Nita, daughter of Betty and Harold, fifth of the fifth batch. I am pursuing as best I can the horizons of biotechnology. I made 98th percentile on my GATs, and..."

Her concentration broke, then.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do as a wizard!"

Not specifically. Sure, she could pursue her studies from more avenues than she could have otherwise, but she had only the barest clue on where to start; it was as if space itself had opened itself up to her in fractals!

If Galvans had possessed eyebrows, one of his would've been raised. As it was, one eye closed slightly to give the general impression of a raised eyebrow.

"The way you talk, you seem to imply that being a mana manipulator and being a scientist are entirely separate," he said in bemusement.

After all, just who did she think she was talking to?

"In terms of my family's historical experience, it is," Nita replied - though she didn't sound happy about the notion.

"There's not any exact precedent for who I could have inherited the 'potential' from."

There was a thoughtful pause.

"... Though, I'm going to have to learn how, aren't I? Since I won't just walk away from all of this."

"Nor is there one for me, yet here we both are." However, he nodded in approval for the thought she expressed last.

"Now that I know who you are, I'll start going through your records to see where you're at presently. That should take maybe a few hours to get your records and then an hour or two after that to read them all. I don't want to tread ground you've already gone over with your other teachers unless there are areas you've struggled in.

"However, I do have one immediate question: Why did it take you so long to come to the tower? It's rather annoying to be told to expect someone only to have to wait."

He certainly couldn't come to her. He was a very busy Galvan even if he wasn't on the council itself (just regularly dragged through to the meetings to break stalemates).

Nita nodded, relieved that this wasn't going to be like remedial schooling.

Aaaand then she cringed at his question.

"I- I'd say it was nerves, most of all. I couldn't believe that I would have been sought out personally for something so important. I'd worried I'd be wasting someone's time; some of my teachers had to talk me into following up on it, on leaving no stone unturned."

She breathed; in, then out, then in again.

"I also had no idea, to start out, that I'd be assigned to you, of all the Galvan! And I am very sorry for making you wait."

Then she tapped the side of the bed.

"I... also wanted some time to process the information in the Manual, to try and be as ready as possible. I know I'm still far from done."

It didn't feel like a proper apology - or like she was apologizing for the right thing.

"Even if you hadn't been assigned to me specifically but one of my assistants, it's still irritating. No matter. What's done is done."

He got up from his seat and looked at her.

"Do you think you can walk or do you need more time to rest?"

It's not as if any of this really is a dream - that notion arguably terrified her more.

Nita shifted a bit more, checking motion range for as much of herself as possible.

"I should be able to walk, yes."

Time to get better. Time for the next step...

Well, literally, not just metaphorically.

"Good."

Azmuth turned towards the door, taking a few steps before pausing.

"There are going to be whispers. Your faint was rather public. Not to mention where you'll be working isn't in one of the main labs. Don't be surprised if some of my assistants become resentful."

Nita winced.

"Of course."

She was going to have to handle that... or would it be better to ignore them? It was a level higher than ignoring bullies in school, she felt.

Maneuvering off the bed, the frown stayed on her face.

"Should I talk to them? I know one of the purposes of mana manipulation is to slow down entropy wherever possible, and if they become less effective in their work because of how they feel about me..."

"Actually, it'll be the opposite reaction," Azmuth told her. "You have to know that there is a long line of applicants constantly sending their credentials to the tower hoping for a chance to work here. If anything, the ones currently here will work harder to try and surpass you so they work more closely with me."

Arrogance? Perhaps a bit but it was based on solid fact: Working with the best and the brightest was a way to move up the scientific and, by extension, Galvan social ladders. Not to mention by becoming more familiar with Azmuth directly, there was the chance to catch Azmuth's attention and potentially be his choice of mate.

Nita's eyes widened, as she combined that with what she already knew - both as a Galvan and as a new wizard - and she accepted the correction with good grace.

"That's... then it would be best, if I said nothing."

Though with that settled, there were other matters to attend to.

"So, what's next?" Probably the question she should have asked immediately after accepting the Oath, but no matter.

"Now you're getting the idea." Azmuth smirked. "However, given your earlier spill, you have your own uphill climb to work with."

He likely didn't have to remind her of how cutthroat some Galvans could be. Her fainting spell telegraphed weakness, and likely the more ambitious assistants in the tower would likely try and use that to drive her out.

"We go to my personal lab after making it through the gauntlet. I'll spare you the walkaround as I make sure things are still on track."

In a way, it was almost a challenge. She could go to his personal lab and wait for him (though what a treat that would be) or she could show that her earlier lapse was just that: a lapse.

Nita did her best to meet his gaze.

"I think... no, I know I'll take it, now."

It was not a question of the possibility, in her mind; if she wanted to regain any lost ground, she couldn't entertain even the possibility of failure.

Though, she didn't know what she'd do if one of the other lab workers wanted to engage her in conversation. She'd have to cross that bridge when she came to it.

"Good."

That was precisely the attitude he wanted her to have. He was a hard task master; he knew that all too well. And given the poor reputation magic had among their people, it was going to take someone with firm resolve to stand up to basically everyone.

Without another word, he moved to leave the infirmary room, expecting her to follow.

And follow she did, reciting some of her own Biology notes in her own head to keep her calm; classifications of flora, digits of some of the most powerfully recurring numbers found in nature...

If she could draw on that power, she felt she could be all right.

Azmuth checked over experiment after experiment, each lab assistant shooting Nita a look of clear envy when the First Thinker was focused on the data outputs. There was no one scientific discipline that he focused on but none of the social sciences were represented in the tower. Still, there were plenty of labs for each set of experiments in biology, chemistry, robotics, genetic engineering, and so on. Really, given the amount of disciplines Azmuth studied, anyone had the potential to work for him if they caught his eye.

Most of the assistants were curt with Nita, a few were outright hostile which Azmuth didn't stop. He expected his apprentice to be able to stand up for herself. He wouldn't always be around to protect her, after all.

It took four hours for Azmuth to make his way through each lab, reviewing data and ordering adjustments made. A few times he worked hands-on with something that needed his personal touch.

But finally the lab they stopped at was the top floor: the massive dome top made up of a hexagonal window pieces.

"This is where you'll be working with me."

After the first few times, Nita was able to keep herself from looking back at those who glared in envy or found new ways to snipe at her, turning her mind more towards Azmuth's own projects.

While for the most part she kept herself hands-off, eventually she began speaking up to point out what she found interesting about this lab or that device.

She was beginning to feel a sense of exhaustion close to the end of the 'gauntlet', though that she was more willing to ascribe to nerves and the effort of holding herself together than anything related to feeling 'out of shape'. Still, she let out an awed gasp as she took in the view from the top floor...

And then quickly shut her mouth and shook her head.

"It's- ... thank you, again, for this opportunity."

He waved off her gratitude.

"It's how things are. Besides, for what we're working on, we'll need privacy for you to properly focus," Azmuth told her bluntly. "We may be able to work more openly given that it's now a formal path of study, but I doubt you'll find it easy to focus on the basics if you're constantly watched."

"Of- of course," Nita said, nodding.

Who knew what circumstances she was going to have to be working with mana under in the future? Reaching a certain level of automaticity would be vital...

"Should we both retrieve our Instrumentalities, then?"

"I want to see what you can do without yours for now," Azmuth told her. "I was reviewing your academic record during our trips in the lift. I understand you have a focus on botany?"

Nita nodded jerkily.

"Yes. Plants, and the mini-ecosystems they often sustain."

Stretching all the way up to world-spanning biomes.

Azmuth nodded his head with approval. "What sort of experimentation have you done with the Speech and plants?"

At that question, Nita managed a smile.

"Reports. Not just altering controlled environmental conditions, but asking a plant if it can feel the difference - with external verification, of course."

Because one doesn't rely on just one source!

"Have you been working with native Galvan species or anything from other planets?"

"More of the former than the latter, though I'd like to fix that imbalance as soon as possible," Nita answered, shifting slightly from one foot to the other.

"But from what I've gathered so far, plants from different biodomains... well, they sound different, sometimes moreso from others on the same planet than those that come from different worlds."

"Care to elaborate? Galvan Prime itself one large swamp, so I'd assume they had more or less the same 'accent'."

At the same time, he walked farther into the lab. He had something that she could use her skills on as a demonstration.

"It is weird," Nita admitted,

"And the plants didn't give me the impression they couldn't communicate with each other, inasmuch as flora can, but those that had been extracted from near different cities or more obscure regions seemed separate from each other, in some way."

"Regional dialects?" he asked, intrigued. Botany wasn't his strongest focus, and his usage of the Speech with plants was a bit limited.

"That might be the best way to put it, yes," Nita said.

"I made some recordings, as well..."

Though it had certainly felt odd, when it otherwise seemed like no one was speaking. She'd had to use her Instrumentality to store the data, though once it'd been recorded transmission was simple enough.

Galvan Wizards! [For Nita and Azmuth]

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... I should invest in Galvan icons.

You should. And sorry for the delay.

S'awright. /These are times in which I wish I could pay for icons...

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Thanks for no notif, DW...

DW. >:|

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Time for some Galvan spellwork, or shall they handle this differently?

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We are so going to get into technobabble about plants. |D

Welcome to playing a Galvan. XD Technobabble is required.

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