Uriel stood for a while in front of a closed door and heaved a dejected sigh. He was about to speak to a Professor and ask him to become his student but he didn’t even know how to phrase it. Anyway, he was there already and there was no going back.
’Why does this have to be so difficult? Fighting cryptids is way easier.’ He inwardly thought.
"Come in." A stern voice replied to the soft knocking on the door. The lab was spotless and there were many vials and all sorts of lab equipment in the shelves and cabinets all over the spacious room.
"Excuse me, Professor Lamar..."
"I’ll take you as a student. Grab a manual and prepare for the test. You’re dismissed."
"About the manual, I already read it." Uriel was lying as he only got a glimpse of the contents on the book, but since Amy was so obsessed with it he could guess more or less what it said.
"Then what are you even doing here? I already clocked out, go bother someone else." Professor Lamar said as he mixed a green liquid with a clear one, though as soon as they mixed together the liquid became milky green. The liquid seemed dangerous, which was the reason why Uriel gasped when the Professor proceeded to drink it and then cleared his throat.
"Is that... alcohol?"
"Why yes, do you want some?" The Professor offered a vial to Uriel. The pungent smell that came out of the mix was oddly alluring.
"It’s a liquor made of herbs, it was invented a couple centuries ago to cure the common cold."
"Does it work?"
"It doesn’t, but after two glasses no one even cared if they were still sick." He laughed.
Professor Lamar was completely different from the picture Uriel painted in his mind. The few occasions where he saw him he was always scolding someone and he had a reputation as one of the most strict professors in college.
"If you’re not drinking then scram. You’re ruining my experiment."
Uriel closed his eyes, pinched his nose and drank the liquid in a single gulp. The burning sensation was extremely unpleasant, it took Uriel all of his willpower not to throw up on the spot but he somehow managed to retain the liquid.
"I’m impressed. You’re an ascended and yet you managed to drink it in a single gulp. I’ll drink to that." Professor Fermi poured another glass for himself and drank it whole. "So, why are you still here?"
"To be honest, I’m not sure. I was told by Professor Nika that I should ask to become your student, but I don’t want to become a field medic."
"Ah, Nika... I get it now. Here, have another drink."
Uriel always had a distaste for alcohol, but it was late and the professor had already clocked out. If he wanted to garner his good will, the best thing he could do was to drink . He grabbed the new drink Professor Lamar handed to him, but instead of the burning liquid he expected, he felt an incredible relief that made him sober up immediately.
"What is this?"
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"This is a formula that cancels all the effects caused by alcohol. I’ve been working on finding a drink that can provide enough calories for a heavenly rank hunter without making them drunk.
As you may know, one of the struggles that comes with climbing up in the ranks is the intake of energy and that’s the main reason why most of them turn to alcohol." Now that Professor Lamar was sober too his previous relaxed attitude shifted back into his stern one. It was as though two personalities coexisted in the same body and Uriel found it unsettling to say the least.
"I don’t get it."
"Alcohol is an aromatic organic compound, this means it’s carbon based. That’s why it provides so much energy."
"Ah, I see." Uriel tried to follow his reasoning, but he wasn’t great at chemistry and he only comprehended the basics. "So, you’re trying to make a non alcoholic energy drink?"
"Precisely." Professor Lamar nodded solemnly, seemingly pleased that Uriel could understand the importance of his work.
"What do you think about this?" Uriel said as he pretended to take an energy drink can from his backpack, though in reality he bought it from the souvenir shop in his museum. It costed him a trite, but he was curious about it them because they were far more effective than any other energy drink he ever had.
Professor Lamar took it with distrust and poured it in equal measure in two different vials. One of those he drank immediately. He widened his eyes and started jotting down on a notebook. The sight of the obsessive Professor somehow reminded Uriel of Luna whenever she saw a cryptid.
The professor then put a sample under the microscope and gasped.
"Professor, what do I need to do in order to pass your course?"
"Becoming a field medic is easy, all you need is basic knowledge about the human body, about mutated cells and how to use a medkit. You won’t be treating any regular humans since they almost never take any part in combat. Evolved, ascended and heavenly rank hunters are usually very resilient and as long as they’re not killed they can recover from almost any wound with little help."
"I mean no offense but then, why is taking your class so important."
"What career path did you choose?"
"Archaeology."
"Then let’s put it this way. The field medic course is the same as the anthropology class. Anthropology gives you an understanding on the basics and students that pass it should be able to tell to which period a certain artifact belongs to. Does that make them archaeologists? Of course not, but they can perform some tasks related to archaeology."
"I see. So, a field medic is basically a technician."
"Indeed, but a very important one. More often than not the lives of the whole hunting party depend on the medic."
"Thank you Professor, you’ve been really helpful."
"Please, don’t mention it. About this drink, where did you get this? Can you get more?"
"I’m afraid I can’t tell you." Uriel shrugged.
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"I guess I was asking too much." Professor Lamar sighed and took another glance at the micoscope. "Drop by whenever you want, especially if you bring me more samples."
By the time Uriel went outside the sky was dark already and he went back with a wide grin on his face. Professor Lamar turned out to be way more agreeable than he initially thought and he actually learned a lot. Now he felt optimistic about the combat medic course thinking that, even if he didn’t want to follow that particular specialization, he could still benefit from it.