Enigma of Sin

"Healer Ashan, how would you feel about teaching young aspiring healers?" Yu Rin questioned Kayn as his answer would determine if he even talked to the other elders about this or even discussed the opportunity to Kayn.

"Teaching? Like taking an apprentice or two here?" Kayn asked as he wasn't opposed to teaching people who wanted to get into the field. In fact, he was passionate about making sure people understood that healing was an art, just as Lydia had drilled into him.

Thinking about her brought sadness to his heart, but he could at least pass on her legacy and teachings to others. Honestly, he just needed a job to cover up his real purpose for coming to Palatine, and healing was what he was passionate about, so why not share his passion?

"Mmmm, not exactly. You see, Lady Versa is a researcher, but she mainly works with the Astaro Academy here in Palatine. The job she was talking about was a position as a professor at the academy, teaching healing. They have been looking for a good teacher for a while now and sent a request to the White Hand Society asking if we could help.

"While most of us don't mind having a disciple or two at a time, none of us want to take on an entire class. Not to mention the Astaro Academy has strict requirements for the healing professor they are looking for, which is probably why it's taking them so long." Yu Rin responded to Kayn with a brief overview of the potential job offer.

"What are the requirements then? I can't be sure even I meet them if they are that strict about them. And while I don't mind teaching as my profession, I do have other responsibilities." Kayn looked down at Lara who had fallen asleep on his lap.

"The academy is asking for either a peak 3rd stage healer or higher. The healer in question must also be dual or triple attributed, their main element being either water or light with them having extreme mastery over their main element. Seeing as you're a 4th stage healer as well as having a high affinity for the light element as I observed, I can safely say that you pass these two requirements. 

"The only main requirement that I haven't been able to confirm is if you have more than one affinity. As for your daughter, I'm sure the academy has exceptions for children and most likely even a daycare. They also provide excellent housing for their professors to my knowledge, so you wouldn't be traveling to and from work. Do you by chance have a second affinity?" 

Yu Rin really hoped that Kayn responded positively. If he was the one to find the new prospective professor, he would receive a reward from the Astaro Academy, not to mention the Society was thinking about just picking one of the elders to go, and he didn't want to be chosen.

There were other requirements as well, but they could mostly be ignored if the candidate excelled at the main ones.

"I do. As you saw my main element is light, but I do have an affinity for water as well. However, am I allowed to make stipulations to the Astaro Academy as well?" Kayn was curious if he could have requirements of his own.

In order for him to feel like he was honoring Lydia's memory, he didn't want to limit his potential class to only those of the light or water elements.

"What do you have in mind? I can ask them or you can ask during your interview with them. If it's about your annual pay, I'm sure it will be generous enough to rival seeing several patients on a daily basis.

"None of us here work every day of the year, so you'd be making more with them than in the clinic. Otherwise, if you're just looking to get a membership here and open your own clinic in a rural village that is up to you."

Yu Rin didn't really think it was a money issue for Kayn, but you never know. There were some healers who were very good at what they did but also very greedy for money.

"Honestly, I'm not worried about the money. Also, I would like to stay here in Palatine as well, so that's also not an issue. However, if I'm going to be teaching aspiring healers, I would prefer to not limit the ones who take my class to just those of the light or water elements. As you are probably aware, every element has the ability to be used for healing, it's just a matter of how they are applied."

After pondering on Kayn's words for a few moments, Yu Rin nodded his head, "I'm sure that the academy would be willing to talk it over with you. If they have someone who is experienced and knowledgeable enough to cure a person of an unknown mana poison, I'm almost positive they would make some exceptions for you. Especially since you would be passing on your knowledge to their students. Honestly, even I would be tempted to sit in on some of your lectures."

"In that case, I would be interested in talking with them then. Though, I'm sure you and the other elders still need to discuss things as you said. What time should I come back tomorrow?" 

"If you don't have a place to stay in the inner ring yet, we can offer you a room that has a kitchen and bath if you would like. That way it will be far more convenient for us both. I'll be talking with the leader and the other elders once we are done here.

"With your prowess, I doubt there will be much of a discussion as they will most likely be just fine with it. That being the case, if you decide to stay with us, I can inform you of our decision later tonight as well as take you to the academy tomorrow so they can interview you." 

Kayn indeed hadn't set up anywhere to stay tonight, so he quickly accepted Yu Rin's offer. After they chatted a bit more about this and that, Yu Rin brought Kayn to an unoccupied room on the 4th floor of the building before saying that he would most likely be back in a few hours.

He also stated that he anticipated the others wanting to meet Kayn tonight and hoped that he would be willing to join for a late dinner as it was already late afternoon.

Easily agreeing, Kayn asked if there was anywhere close that had an open area with no one in it that he could allow Lara to run around a little bit. Even though Yu Rin was a little confused since the room had more than enough room for a toddler to run around in, he still showed Kayn the Society's field and garden area where they grew herbs for those that practiced alchemical healing.

Yu Rin bid his goodbyes after saying he would see Kayn later in the evening. The building itself was a giant square building with the center area being an open field area that grew all of the herbs and even had a nice little outdoor gazebo for people to relax in the refreshing outdoor air.

Once Kayn ensured that he was truly alone using Mana Sense on the area as well as the nearby windows, he placed the Wanderer's Villa down. Even though he had turned on the invisibility formation, he didn't want anyone to see him suddenly disappear out of thin air and ask him questions later.

Kayn took Lara inside as he first went to the kitchen area to place some of Lara's food into his storage pouch in the case that he couldn't access the Villa in the near future. But thinking along these lines, Kayn came up with a great idea.

Quickly making his way to the control room, he opened up the information panel and changed the outward appearance setting to one of a medium sized tent. This way he could set it up inside a room without having any issues or having to worry about having a large enough space to place the Villa.

He also decided to activate features of the detection formation that would alert him to any noises outside of the Villa. He did this in the case that he was inside the Villa, but someone came looking for him and knocked on his door. After finishing his business, he left the Villa and recalled it back into his soul before making his way back to the room he was assigned.

That night, he was able to meet more of the elders of the White Hand Society as well as the leader. Kayn was a bit astonished as the leader was at the 6th stage! Kayn was told by Yvaris Earthborn there weren't very many healers at the 6th stage, but right in front of his eyes was one of them.

The leader had the appearance of a middle-aged woman, but who knows how old she actually was. She might even know Yvaris himself.

The leader who he came to know as Charlotte Erving was very talkative. She had heard what Kayn did in healing Lady Versa's mana poisoning with little to no preparation and without knowing the exact poison, so she was very interested in Kayn's methods. However, she didn't ask anything straight out as it was seen as rude to ask another mage their spells or methods.

Luckily for her, Kayn was willing to entertain her curiosity with a healthy discussion about the healing arts in general. He was able to avoid anything revealing, but he was also hoping to learn things from her since she was in the 6th stage.

Once their conversation started and the elders realized what they were discussing, the room became silent as everyone listening in. Only the other two 5th stage elders popped into the conversation on occasion as the others didn't feel they had a place to interrupt.

Feeling refreshed after an excellent conversation about healing with someone who he could see as a peer for the first time since Lydia, Kayn decided to rest properly in preparation for his interview tomorrow.

Of course, none of the elders had any qualms about giving Kayn this opportunity as most of them didn't want it even if it came with a lot of prestige. Most of them just wanted to heal people as normal, but most of all, focus on their individual researches.

Charlotte Erving even asked if Kayn could set aside a few hours once a week to discuss different healing methods with him. She had gained more than she thought from a mere 4th stage healer and was curious about how deep his knowledge actually went.

Kayn quickly agreed, but stated that if he was offered the professor job that he would have to figure out the best day each week after he learned what his new schedule would be.

Momentarily forgetting the troubles of the past and dwelling on the troubles he would have in the future, he drifted off to sleep.