“Medulla wanted to see Eva and check out her scars before class started,” Hunter explained.
I became more confused. Professor Medulla knew of Eva’s predicament. He’d been among the many healers who had tried to erase her scars when we thought they were inflicted by a greater demon, and not a more powerful royal. However, he’d since learned otherwise. If he couldn’t eliminate the scars back then, why would he think he’d be capable of banishing them now?
“I told him there was no point,” Eva shrugged. “But he insisted. And since he’s one of our professors this year, I thought it would be stupid to deny him another shot.”
“Good call,” Alex said. “He’s no Tiberius Thorn, but Medulla is prideful.”
“Must be a healer trait,” I tickled Alex’s side.
He scoffed playfully. “Prideful? I resemble that remark.”
We all chuckled, but pulled ourselves together the moment tall and portly Professor Medulla waddled into the room.
“This is Intermediate Healing,” the red-faced man said. “If you are a Crucible or Culling student, you should not be here. You should also stop by the infirmary and get your eyes checked, because none of these people are in your year, and yet you remained in this classroom.”
A hearty laugh boomed from Alex, making me jump. I twisted to look at my boyfriend and arched an eyebrow. It hadn’t beenthatfunny.
But when Professor Medulla’s face lit up at Alex’s response, I understood the show. Alex hadn’t been joking when he said the healing professor was prideful.
Clearly, Alex wants to keep his Golden Boy status.
“Welcome to your Grind year,” Medulla continued. “I trust that all of you are prepared to work hard and learn. If not, you’d better change your frame of mind, as we cover many aspects of healing in this course alone. These are the subjects you will encounter this year.”
The professor faced the whiteboard. With a twirl of his hands, words began forming on the surface. I read them as quickly as they appeared.
Syllabus:
Cell biology
Gross anatomy
Herbalism and plant identification
Healing potions
Poisonous substances and their bodily effects
Magical creatures with healing capabilities
Energy healing
Crystal healing
Magical identification of pathogens
Magical elimination of pathogens
A Survey of mental illnesses
A healer’s toolkit to battle mental illness
Introduction to surgery
Introduction to midwifery
“Holy hell,” I whispered under my breath as I took in the laundry list of things I was expected to stuff into my brain.
Alex didn’t look surprised, but then again, he’d sat in on some Grind seminars last year. He might not have been allowed to attend the regular classes, but he’d surely heard the students talking about their schedule.
