A Clash of Magic and Science

Chapter 8

Karin Crystenn is the top potioneer and herbalist in the town of Blosomville and one of the teachers in school, recognizable by her raven hair tied into a tight bun, soft blue eyes, tall and slender, and happens to be Haryk's fiancé. She examines her classroom one more time; everything is in place, ingredients on the shelves, cauldrons on the corner, clean seats and tables, all in good order. The elf woman sat behind her desk to go through the paper listing the schedule and the type of potion that they'll be brewing for today.

She then picks up a letter from Haryk, its contents telling her of the details of his plan to see if the human guest will show his true intentions. Frankly, she's a bit irked of this, why not push harder and pry the boy further, sure he seems to be immune to pain and intimidation but doesn't mean he's not a danger to the community.

Well, nothing to do about for now, she'll busy herself with teaching the young minds. Soon enough younglings are coming and occupying the seats; she began listing names: Audri, Milon, Grizel, Sely – until she reached the name Mikaela Greenfield; she stares at the young girl along with her two friends and the one who is everyone's topic, the human boy. It doesn't feel right when Mika gave the boy a name that sounds similar to Tulio.

Every child in the room are eying their special "guest", both fascinated and scared at this simple creature, though Karin can see that he's well behave, just standing there taking a glance around the room and the students, and then gazing back to Mika who is chatting with her friends.

"Let us begin this class, and pay close attention." That boy's presence is definitely going to be a distraction for her students. She showed them a small bottle that contains a greenish blue liquid that gave a faint glow. "Can someone tell me what this potion is?"

"A growth potion, it's mostly used on plants." The smartest girl in class Sely answered.

"That's a very good answer, now that will be your test for today, recreate this potion and do it in a pairs; turn to page three hundred and four, the ingredients are all listed, and how to mix and brew; everything you need right there on the shelves."

The children went to their assigned partners, Mylecent with Milon, Bevis with the girl he likes, Karla, Mika with Nikki, along with their guest, they read the lists and went for the shelves, grabbing the right ingredients and amounts.

Karin watches the lone human as Mika told him to start the fire while she and her friends get the tools and ingredients, he just stood there looking down on the spark rocks and then at the elf children starting fires in a small fire pot, he mimics them and starts his own fire. Soon Mika and Nikki went back and prepare the tools and began mixing, so far, nothing unusual or suspicious behavior.

Time pass as her students enjoyed the process of mixing and boiling herbs and minerals on a pot, the teacher saw some few mistakes and ensure that they're unharmed. One instance is one mixing pot suddenly burst into a bright blue flame.

"Too much manadite, Emmie, you put too much manadite!" Rosa yelled at her classmate, it was supposed to be a pinch of the blue dust.

Karin channels mana into her hand and snaps her fingers; a blue dome appears around the failed potion. "And also too much heat; try to learn from your mistake so you will not make it again, understood?" The dome turns in a bubble shape form as it floats to an empty room to dispose the failed mixture.

The next mistake is the mixture turning green and emitting a foul odor, Nycolas said to his group mate. "What did you do?"

Audri defends herself. "Hey, I'm just following the instructions, I don't know what happen."