Reaching for the Stars

Chapter Twenty-One

This time when I left the mess hall after eating breakfast by myself, after I politely refused Atticus's invitation, the other three first years seemed to take that as a cue they should leave as well, quickly following behind me to class. Professor Kresmir said nothing about their timely arrival, but he didn't say anything about them being late either so that should be a cue to them.

Why their faces dropped when Professor Kresmir said we would be doing the same as yesterday I wasn't sure, he seemed like a professor intent on perfection, so why would he let them go onto anything else when he wasn't satisfied with their performance? Unlike the others who seemed to drag their feet in doing what we already did yesterday, I quickly and efficiently processed the herbs and then quietly waited for Professor Kresmir to come take a look.

Seeing me not moving he walks over quickly and tests each of my samples, before looking up at me with a pleased expression, "Excellent work, Elianna, perfect purity levels for all of these ingredients." I dip my head shyly in acknowledgement of his praise, though my happy feeling doesn't last long as one of the other students speaks up.

"Isn't this favoritism, Professor? I am doing everything that she is doing, and you haven't once praised me, yet all she gets is praise!" Dante did not seem to like that I was better at something than he was, Professor Kresmir's expression drops immediately upon hearing his words.

"You accuse me of favoritism, Dante? I am impartial, that is what makes me an excellent teacher, I care not for your high background, which is why I don't praise you for something you are merely average at. You do not do everything she is doing, because every time she processed the herbs, she listened to my words, she got a little better each time, but you keep making the same mistakes, you speak of me over praising her work? How long did you stay in class after I said I was finished teaching?" I shift awkwardly, unsure of where Professor Kresmir was going with this.

"I stayed long enough to clean up and then I left, you were done teaching." Dante sounds very confused, but Professor Kresmir merely nods and turns to look at me.

"And how long did you stay after class, Elianna?" My cheeks darken as I realize maybe he had noticed me staying late after all.

"Four hours professor, until I was sure I had gotten the processing right." He points at me, nodding his head enthusiastically.

"You see that! That is why I praise her, because she puts in the work, the effort, herbalism is about effort, if you don't put the effort in you will never excel. You complain that I am teaching the same thing again, but none of you stayed to perfect your skills like Elianna did, you stopped doing anything as soon as I left the room, herbalism in this school does not stop when the teacher leaves, you are expected to finish your work whether the teacher is there or not. Don't speak to me of favoritism, I am merely giving praise where it is do, she put in the effort, missing dinner even, while the three of you goofed off in town, bragging about being an herbalism student here, as far as I am concerned right now, she is the only true herbalism student in this room. Now shut your mouths and get back to work!" Professor Kresmir spared nothing in his lecture, and the three of them were properly subdued upon hearing his words.

"Elianna, seeing as you are the only one to have proven you can properly process potion ingredients, I will begin showing you what you did wrong in your preparation of the Snow Ink Mushroom poison antidote." He waves me up and I easily listen to him, though I can feel the glares of the other students on my back, even under their glares I give Professor Kresmir all of my attention as he shows me what I did wrong, and how to fix it.

"Now remember even though I've shown you the proper way, as an herbalist you must also know the properties of medical herbs, how to identify similar looking ones and know confidently which herb is which, it is the hardest task of an herbalist, but also the most important, there are thousands of herbs and knowing their properties, the correct way to process them as a result of those properties, and how to add them in to a potion correctly so that their properties do not cause an adverse reaction, are the most important things an herbalist can learn, so while I know you will likely stay here until you can produce this antidote correctly, I want you to also focus on beginning to memorize herbs and their properties." I understood what he meant easily enough, so I nodded in agreement.