Enigma of Sin

As Kayn began to walk along with Vix outside of the building, Charlotte pulled a crystal out of her dimensional ring and handed it over to Kayn. She said that she would take her leave here and also that she would call soon to check in with him. Accepting the crystal, Kayn gave her a small bow and thanked her for her help.

With the exchange of farewells, Vix felt a sense of relief. While she was an amazing healer in her own right, comparing her with Charlotte was like comparing a dragon to an ant. Charlotte was just that talented and powerful, so she felt a little intimidated with her around.

They left the administration building before making their way to a small shopping district that was within the academy. There were shops for weapons, armor, a general store, a clothier, restaurant, and an alchemy shop.

Vix brought Kayn to the clothier where he was given five sets of self-fitting professor robes and the accompanying uniform clothing. Kayn lamented that he wasn't able to stop washing his clothing yet since he had yet to find anything enchanted with self-cleaning, but fortunately laundry was easy for him.

Kayn used one of the fitting rooms in the shop as they did custom work as well that wasn't self-fitting. Once inside, he took his clothing off before using a bit of water, dark, air, and fire to clean himself up quickly and dry off without making a mess. He then put on his new uniform which was a white color with black and gold accents and trimmings as he was part of the healing department. 

There was also a badge on his arm with a lion's head shield that had a staff and sword crossing behind it. This badge was the crest of the Astaro Academy.

With his clean body and fresh set of clothing on, Kayn decided to pull up a portion of his hair in the back, as he thought the partial pony tail would make him look more refined. He honestly wanted to cut his hair, but just hadn't had the chance to find someone who could. At least someone who wasn't going to butcher his hair.

Est had refused to cut it for him stating that he would look much better with at least shoulder length hair, which is about as long as it was currently.

Kayn looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in a long time, and couldn't help but marvel at his own looks. He wasn't conceited, but the difference in this life versus his last one was astonishing. If he thought he looked decent then, he would probably consider himself ugly if he compared it to his current appearance.

As Kayn left the fitting room, he noticed that the attendant who had helped him out was now staring at him with wide eyes and slightly rosy cheeks. She was actually a student at the academy that worked at the clothier part time for contribution points given by the academy to purchase things in the shopping district or specific resources they wanted.

Kayn chose to ignore the young girl, who was actually probably a year or so older than himself, and walked towards Vix, who he was asked to address as Director Vix. Director Vix gave Kayn an approving nod, "That uniform looks quite good on you Professor Ashan. Let's continue with the tour then, shall we?"

Kayn was then led around the academy grounds for the next few hours as the academy itself was like a small city. There were several different buildings for housing, separated into students and professors. There were also better accommodations for those students who were classified as Prime students, or those who earned and spent their contribution points on their living situation.

As for Kayn, surprisingly, he was shown to a small two-story building that even had its own small garden in an enclosed area behind the building. He was told that Charlotte had negotiated this for him as part of his contract at the cost of a little less pay annually. Kayn praised Charlotte in his mind as that is what he would have asked for himself if he had the chance.

The academy had several large buildings that were classified as main buildings. There was one building for each element where students would learn about their specific aptitude and how to make the best of their affinity towards it.. The largest building was for the healing department though, as it also functioned as a clinic. 

Not to mention a large portion of the building was a combat training area as well as arena. It seemed that they had planned this in the case an emergency happened during training.

There were not only other smaller buildings for specific specialties such as alchemy and enchanting, but also other trade skills, like blacksmithing. There was even a cafeteria that would provide food on a rotating menu basis for all the professors and students alike.

Some students liked more fancy dishes though, hence the restaurant that was in the shopping district. Professors even had their own dining area within the cafeteria that provided additional choices as well as separate seating away from students.

Kayn was also shown where every portal formation was located and how to activate them so that he could get around the academy faster. His normal routine would be using the portal in the housing district to get to the healing department's building and back, or using either to get to the cafeteria area.

Kayn made his decision immediately that for the first week or two he would use the cafeteria, and then go back to making his own food for the most part.

He was still planning on putting Lara's food together too even though the general store had infant and toddler options for food as Kayn wasn't the only one inside the academy to have ever had or have a family as a professor. Even some students had families already.

There was also a small building that acted as a daycare, but Kayn was also told he could hire his own nanny from their service listing if he so desired. Kayn stated he would probably go with the latter, but he would really just keep Lara inside the Wanderer's Villa in his soul while he was teaching or otherwise occupied.

There was plenty for Lara to do inside of the Villa's play area he had made. He also discovered that after this recent update, he could materialize a copy of himself inside of the Villa that could interact with physical things and would also relay what it could see and hear in real time. Thus, Kayn had no issues with leaving Lara alone, as she wouldn't truly ever be alone.

…

After the tour concluded, Director Vix brought Kayn back to her office where she began to explain what his new professor role would look like and what his lesson plans should cover.

"Your class will run every other day during the morning hours. The students that will be attending your class will be first year students more likely than not. We have it open to other students, but as you will be teaching introductory healing, it's most likely that no students that are not new will apply for it as they have taken it previously."

Kayn nodded his head at this, it was expected. He didn't think he would be teaching any of the advanced healing classes during his first year. Also, he wanted it this way as it would provide an opportunity for the new incoming mages to discover if healing was right for them regardless of their elemental aptitudes and affinities.

"If there is ever anything you need, please feel free to ask." Director Vix stated as she had pretty much covered everything Kayn needed to know, including setting a date before the school semester started to review his lesson plan together.

"In that case, as a professor, am I allowed to visit other lessons while I'm not teaching? I've been interested in alchemy for a while now, but never found a chance to look into it properly." Kayn asked, as he was interested in more than just alchemy, but it was the best option to ask the question in his mind. Potions with different effects were used by healers quite often in clinics, so it was a reasonable inquiry.

"Yes, professors are allowed to visit another department or even other professors' lectures. However, you are not allowed to intrude upon the lesson by adding anything. Any disturbances to a professor's class will make the individual quite unhappy, and then I would hear about it.

"So, my only ask is that if you attend another professor's lesson, regardless of the topic, remain silent as a student would. Unless you are one hundred percent positive that the professor is teaching incorrect information, then and only then can you correct them, but do report to me immediately after if this happens."

Seeing that Kayn understood, Director Vix reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a chain with a small ornament in the shape of the Astaro Academy's crest. However, in the lion's mouth was a small translucent bead.

"This necklace is the way we academy staff communicate with each other. It works exactly the same as normal communication crystals, but only connects you to other academy staff. Just imprint your mana signature as you did earlier and say your name.

"Then when you want to call anyone, just say the person's name and title should work. When someone is calling you, you will feel a slight tug on your mana before the necklace will relay into your mind who is calling you.

"Now, I'll let you get acquainted with your new home as I have much to prepare for the upcoming semester. Once you are ready with you lesson plans, contact me through the necklace. At that time, I will show you to your appointed lecture hall so that you can prepare the space to your needs.

"Once again, welcome to the Astaro Academy Professor Ashan. We are happy to have you join us, and I can't wait to sit in on some of your lessons." A gentle and genuine smile became visible on Director Vix's face after she finished speaking.

"Thank you, Director Vix. I won't disappoint you and I look forward to sharing my knowledge with you and my new students. I'll call you once I'm prepared." Kayn gave a small bow to her before leaving her office and testing out the portal system before he arrived at his new residence.

Kayn stood in front of the house and opened the door. He had already imprinted the locks with his mana so that they would only open for him the first time he stopped by.

Looking into the fully furnished house, Kayn smiled as he had finally made real progress and was able to give himself and Lara a peaceful environment to grow, at least for a little while. He wanted to enjoy this newfound peace before he started his search for Marco DeMarco in earnest.