11 Taking Care of Business

No matter how much Solomon wanted to keep anyone else from finding out about the strange happenings in Professor Kal's classroom before he could figure out more about him, he couldn't keep the students from gossiping. Word of the elemental potion spread like wildfire, those that had taken part in it happily boasted to their friends about their affinities. This caused much of the student body to want to seek out Professor Kal and ask him to allow them to drink it as well. The only problem was, they couldn't find him.

Though the rooms that the faculty stayed in weren't published, it wasn't much for the more resourceful students to uncover which room was his. Once finding out the information, there was soon a throng of students knocking on his door. This would have caused most professors to dole out harsh punishments to any student brave enough to disturb them, but Professor Kal never bothered to open his door. Many thought that he was either in the city, or ignoring the ruckus just on the other side of his door.

Of course, neither of these were true, Professor Kal was in fact hundreds of miles away, deep underground. The reason he gave his students a full week to complete their assignments was because now that he understood more of the history of the current world, he needed time to put together everything he would need. He would be spending much less time in his lair, so he needed to bolster the security and collect all of his equipment.

After summoning a few death knights to patrol his abode, Kal set about gathering everything he would need. It took him some time, but after a few days, managed to pick out any books that could be of use to him in the future, emptying almost half of his library. Next he moved on to his lab.

The lab was by far the easiest, he would need almost all of his equipment. From bunsen burners to highly calibrated mana density analysers, he would need it all for his upcoming research. When he was finished in his lab, the only thing left were angry spiders, upset about their homes being demolished.

The final step was deciding what to do about his expansive garden. It was fifty acres of pristine, fertile land. It wasn't anything that he could roll up and stuff into his storage ring. After collecting everything else, space was scarce in his ring. Of course, he had other storage items as well, but his ring was by far the most convenient.

He strolled through the fields, the pseudo sunlight warm on his stark white bones. One might not think it true, but the undead could feel. Although not as sensitive as living creatures, the undead could sense heat, cold, and pressure, if they couldn't, the undead would be damaging themselves without knowing. With his skeletal pipe in one hand, his staff in the other, he stopped and looked down at a small, flowering plant.

The petals were large compared to the rest of the plant, their color was bright white, almost the same color as sun bleached bones. The pistol was long, with stamen budding off of it in a star pattern. Kal pinched the stamen, its yellow pollen being ground between his bony fingers.

This was a relatively common plant called funus flos, or corpse flower. They would grow anywhere a dead body was buried, either human or beast, it didn't matter which. It had taken Kal a substantial amount of time to collect enough 'fertilizer' for a field this large. Using the nutrients from a decaying corpse to grow meant they were extremely useful in recovery potions, salves, or health potions. Anything that helped the body recover, adding the corpse flower to it would bolster its effects.

Kal stood back up, appreciating the small field filled with funus flos that were swaying in the artificial breeze. He moved on, inspecting the other small fields that filled his garden. It was so peaceful here, only the sound of the breeze mingling with the buzzing of insects could be heard. If he stayed any longer he might be tempted to just forget about the world on the surface, staying here, in his lair, until the end of time. Alas, the drive to uncover new knowledge was too strong for him to resist.

He decided that ferrying back and forth would just have to be done in the meantime. It wasn't that mana intensive, but warping back and forth made him vulnerable to anyone that was skilled enough with dimensional magic. Although the pool of beings capable enough to affect his travel was bound to be almost nonexistent, he didn't survive this long by being careless.

Opening a warp gate directly to his room at the Academy, Kal walked through, exiting just moments after entering the other side. Before he could even make it halfway to his study, a gentle rapping was heard coming from his front door. Looking towards his heavily warded door, and grumbling to himself, Kal quickly transformed his body back into his human form.

Just as he grasped the doorknob, his fingers had turned plump from the rapidly growing flesh that was covering his bones. He already knew who was on the other side, he had set up surveillance wards on top of the others. For some odd reason, Dean Petticoat had come to personally pay him a visit. Kal straightened out his plain black robe, then opened the door.

"Dean, it's a pleasure to see you alive and well. What brings you all the way to my doorstep?" Kal asked, plastering on his ever decreasing creepy smile.

Dean Petticoat didn't return his smile, he actually looked upset, and a little stressed. He didn't even ask permission, he just pushed his way inside, ignoring the slight resistance Kal had put into the door.

"Professor Kal, I've tried to reach you over the past several days." Dean Petticoat said with a gruff voice, consternation clear in his voice.

"Oh, please forgive me. I've been out and about, taking care of some business, tying up loose ends if you say." Kal explained himself, pulling out the wine he had grown fond of, pouring the Dean a glass then handing it to him.

Kal had no idea why the Dean looked so put out, he'd only been gone four days, not enough time for anything major to happen. Plus, he had only held one class since the start of his tenure, maybe that was why he was here. Maybe the lack of accessibility was the reason for his impromptu visit, he didn't know, he waited for the Dean to finish drinking his wine, hoping to be enlightened.

"This is good." Dean Petticoat said, holding up the glass, inspecting it.

"The reason I'm here is because you've caused quite the commotion." He said, setting his glass down on the table next to him.

"Oh, I have? I don't remember doing anything worthy of being called a 'commotion'." Kal said, defending himself.

"Ah, but you have. The students, along with their families, are all asking about the potion you crafted during your first lesson. They said you called it an 'Elemental Potion'." He said, looking into Kal's eyes, waiting for a response.

Kal scoffed slightly, shaking his head. He'd almost forgotten about the potion he had his students drink, it was a common one back in his day, nothing special. The only thing outstanding about it were the ingredients required, but for him, it was nothing. He really didn't know why anyone would make a fuss over it.

"I'd almost forgotten about that. I was quite surprised when the girl, what was her name?" Kal paused, staring off into space, looking for her name.

Not finding it after a few seconds, he continued. "It doesn't matter, the girl said that they must hold some rock when they turn eighteen to find what their affinities are. I told them that that was rubbish, but some didn't believe me, so I whipped up that potion to prove it to them. It also went well with the lesson I was giving, so I didn't see a problem in doing so."

Dean Petticoat furrowed his eyebrows. "That 'rock', in an integral part of their graduation ceremony. When they leave these hallowed walls, they discover their elemental affinities, it's all part of the Academy's tradition."

"But wouldn't it make more sense to tell them their affinities sooner? I mean, they would be able to master their elements before they graduate." Kal retorted, finding the Academy's 'tradition' nonsensical.

"W-well, y-yes, that would make more sense. It's just that…. just that, we have no other way to uncover a person's elemental affinity without the stone, and them being eighteen." The Dean said, averting his eyes, almost embarrassed.

"That's why your potion caused such a ruckus. If we can allow students to learn along with their affinities, the country's mages will become that much more powerful." He said passionately.

"So I'm assuming you want the potion then, that's why you're here?" Kal asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Yes, it is. Normally I wouldn't even ask about another mage's secrets, and I tried to resist coming here sooner, but the amount of pressure I'm under from the noble families is massive. I receive letters daily, demanding that their child be afforded the same opportunity as the ones that were in your class, saying that if I do not, they will petition for my replacement." The Dean said all this in one breath, his shoulders slumping at the end.

Kal took a moment to think, the recipe wasn't important to him at all. It only had one use, to tell a mage their affinity with an element, nothing that could harm him later on. He didn't really have any reason to refuse to hand over the recipe, for a price of course.

"I'm willing to sell you the recipe." Kal said after some time.

Hearing this, Dean Petticoat perked up slightly, seeing light at the end of his long, dark tunnel. "Great! How much?"

He knew that a potion such as this would cost the Academy a small fortune, but it was worth it. Although the Academy was among the top in the country of Amine, there was more than one, not even taking into consideration the academies in the other countries. Being able to identify elemental affinities would be a huge windfall for them. They would be able to boast to be the only Academy in the world able to identify affinities before a person turned eighteen, allowing them to charge an amount that reflected that fact.

"I want unrestricted access to the dungeons around the capital." Kal said, laying out his terms.

The Dean was a little surprised, he was thinking Professor Kal would ask for the moon in the sky, not something so… boring. But it was no skin off his back, he quickly agreed before Professor Kal changed his mind. Pleased, Kal scribbled down the ingredients and proper steps one needed to follow in order to craft an Elemental Potion. Handing it over to Dean Petticoat. The Dean eagerly read the piece of paper he was handed, his face dropping bit by bit as his eyes traveled down the paper.

Dean Petticoat looked up from the paper, his mouth hanging open, not believing some of the ingredients needed. Most were rare and expensive, but a little effort could get you what you needed, but the one that was impossible, was the last one, the feather of a phoenix. There was no way he would be able to secure a feather of such a mythical beast, there had been no mention of any phoenixes since before the undead war. It was said that there were some residing in the deepest reaches of the largest dungeons, but no one was brave enough to find out for sure.

Finding the look on the poor Dean's face laughable, Kal had to hold himself back. With a smirk on his face, Kal spoke. "Ingredients cost extra."