Returning to the lab, Kanan was surprised to be met with three people standing outside of it, deep in conversation. Professor Quartz stood facing a mature beauty with short blonde hair. To the side, a younger girl with long blue hair and a familiar set of white robes stood to the side, listening intently.
"So this is your new disciple, Marie?" Inquired Quartz, looking at the girl.
The woman, Marie, nodded. "Indeed. Introduce yourself, Aurelia."
Aurelia stepped forward, giving a curtsy. "It's a pleasure to meet you professor. I am Aurelia, and I'll be working as Marie's assistant from now on. We'll hopefully be seeing each other often."
"Hahaha, quite the refined young lady, huh? Looking at your hair, are you possibly from the Celeste family? As expected from someone capable enough to become Marie's disciple, I suppose. She doesn't play favorites, if she acknowledged you it must mean you have some real skill."
Aurelia gave a shy smile, pleased with Quartz's evaluation. At the same time, Kanan reached the group, his footsteps drawing the attention of the three.
"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. I just saw some familiar faces so I thought I'd say hi."
Aurelia's eyes widened, shifting in an instant between curiosity, recognition, shock, and anger.
"YOOOOUUUU!" she yelled, grabbing his collar and shaking him. "Where have you been!? You said you would come see us at the academy, first thing after registering. You said you absolutely wouldn't forget!"
The force of the shaking knocked Poppy off his head, sending her tumbling on the ground. Taking advantage of it, Kanan detached himself and scooped up the little spider, giving an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry, sorry. A lot came up. I was going to go soon, I swear."
"Soon? You just forgot about us, didn't you! I -" a hand gripped Aurelia's shoulder, and she turned to be met face to face with Marie's eyes burning a hole into her. Belatedly, she remembered that she had been in the middle of being introduced to Professor Quartz.
Mortified, she stepped back and gave a deep bow. "My apologies."
Marie brought her hand to her face, sighing.
"Hohoho." Quartz gave a deep laugh. "Well, it appears you two already know each other, but you haven't met Marie yet, I suppose? This works out well then."
"Marie, this is Kanan. He's Argana's disciple, and he's staying here at the lab at the moment. He's also the one I brought up earlier regarding admission."
Aurelia scooted up to Marie, holding a hand to her mouth and loudly whispering. "He's the one I told you about too, master. The boy who cured the Lazumu on the trip to the city."
A flicker of interest colored Marie's face. "Well, well, well. I didn't expect the boy who my little disciple hyped up to be the same one that Quartz had been bragging about. He says you're talented enough to be admitted to the Academy's tamer department directly."
Her eyes swept over Poppy, nestled in Kanan's arms. "That's a Bubble Spider, is it not? Truly unexpected."
Her words could be taken as an insult, but her tone was more curious than critical.
"I'll be seeing more of you soon, I expect. Still, we should be going. I have to take this stupid disciple back and teach her how to behave when being introduced to someone. Until next time."
Aurelia paled as Marie grabbed her arm. "You'd better come tomorrow!" she yelled before being dragged off. "Don't forget this time!"
She raised her fist, her yells echoing as she disappeared around the corner.
Chuckling, Quartz turned to Kanan. "So what is it, boy? You look like you have something to say."
"Mm. Do you mind if we talk for a minute, professor? Something strange happened during a mission last night that I'd like to consult you on."
"Of course, come on in," Quartz said, gesturing to the door.
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"Light Curtain's effect is amplified at night? That is indeed peculiar."
Professor Quartz sat across from Kanan. He was deep in thought, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table in front of him.
"There is one precedent that I can think of. There is a beast called the Moonshadow Butterfly that possesses both the Dark and Light attributes. Due to its unique elemental affinity, it can use both elements interchangeably, regardless of the time. However, that shouldn't be the case with Poppy. The elements of the Bubble Spider have been rigorously tested. It shouldn't have dark type capabilities, and there's no sign that Poppy is a mutation."
"Unless…" Quartz stopped to think, his face scrunched up in concentration.
"Perhaps the difference is Poppy's level of training. To my knowledge, nobody has invested such effort in a Bubble Spider before. If by some small chance the Bubble Spider does indeed possess an extremely weak Dark attribute, it might be possible that the attribute only develops enough to be recognized when the Bubble Spider has been trained to this extent."
Kanan's eyes flashed with excitement. "Dark attribute… if that's true, it could be the missing piece for Poppy's evolution!"
Countless ideas and possibilities started racing through his mind. He wanted to test them all right away.
"Professor, do you mind if I use some of the laboratory equipment? I'd like to use the energy reader and the alchemy station to run some tests."
Quartz nodded, stroking his beard.
"Of course you can. As long as you're staying here you're one of us. Feel free to use any of the facilities. I just ask that you replace any of the materials you use, and let the researchers use the equipment if they need it."
Satisfied, Kanan shot to his feet, a smile crossing his face.
"Of course! I'm going to start straight away. This is it, I can feel it!"
"Hold your horses there. There's one more thing" Quartz spoke, dampening Kanan's momentum.
"It's regarding what I was speaking to Marie earlier about," Quartz continued. "I've requested permission for you to belatedly take the Academy's entrance examination. The semester hasn't officially started yet. If you're so inclined, you can enter into the beast taming department starting next week."
"...Provided you pass the exam," he added. "But that shouldn't be an issue for you."
Kanan thought about Quartz's proposal.
The Academy…. To tell the truth,Poppy doesn't particularly need the resources that the Academy can offer. The battle experience is tempting, but I can get that through other means. Do I really need anything they can give me?
He explained his thoughts to Quartz. "Are there any benefits to joining? To be honest, I think I can learn more here in the lab."
Quartz briefly pondered over the question. "Hmmm. There are a few. The first is connections. Silverwind Academy is home to the younger generation's elite. Future researchers, breeders, and tamers who will grow up to represent the city will be attending."
"Secondly, you will get access to the youth circuit of the intercity beast taming competition. Individuals who are not affiliated with an academy need to qualify separately."
"And finally, and perhaps more importantly for you, is the Forbidden Zone support. Once during each of your semesters, you'll have the chance to enter an otherwise restricted Forbidden Zone as a learning opportunity. This will allow you to procure rare materials or beasts that you might otherwise have difficulty getting your hands on."
Quartz's words were like honey, tempting Kanan. The first two aside, the allure of a restricted Forbidden Zone was strong. It ignited Kanan's researcher spirit. Still, joining the academy just for that was a huge commitment.
"May I have some time to think about it, professor?" Kanan asked.
"Mm. The makeup examination is on Monday. You have until then to decide."
Kanan wasn't sure about the Academy yet, and there was one huge factor that had to be addressed first — Poppy's evolution research. Knowing the results of the dark type experiment would help him decide how to proceed afterwards.
"In that case, I'm going to start testing Poppy now! I'm going to need Marsh Grass, and Underroot, and Deepwater Crystal, and…"
Muttering to himself, he raced out of the room, heading straight for the lab.
Left behind, Quartz leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands over his chest. "A new type for the Bubble Spider, huh… That kid is onto something bigger than he knows. I should make some preparations. He's going to make quite the splash."
He thought about the boy racing off with his spider and gave a grin. "Still, he's just like we were when we were younger, isn't he Argana? Hohoho, maybe what we needed was to be reminded of that passion again."