Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Thirty-eight

"Can anyone tell me the precautions you need to take before accessing a crystal for healing?" The question echoing in the hall as a door opened to the classroom opposite to where he was headed, stopped Junseo in his tracks. It was the first mention he had heard of crystals here at the Medical Academy.

He looked around to see if anyone in the hall might notice if he adjusted his route. Seeing he was in the clear he made himself as inconspicuous as possible as he looked for a seat in the darkened room. Once glance told him the class was for a seniors but it didn't matter. His whole attention was on the shimmering aura in front of the instructor.

"You folks in the front row had better hope I have done something. What is it? Don't be shy, it was in your readings."

The silence stretched out for an uncomfortable minute and then another. Junseo looked around confident he knew the answer and just as confident he would be kicked out if the instructor happened not notice him.

"You, new boy in the back. You look like you want to say something. Come on stand up and spit it out." The man gestured imperiously. Junseo looked around hoping the instructor meant someone else but then rose reluctantly to his feet.

"You will need a clean field and an anchor for the energy, sir." Junseo gave the slightest bow and sat down quickly.

"No, don't sit back down. You need to explain what that means and how it might be achieved. Come on now." Junseo swallowed hard and tried to remember the first discussions he had with his father at the clinic. The kind of thing a generalist would be expected to say.

"Even without the training to tune your own crystals you should be able to sense the vibrations they give off. You want to be sure nothing will interfere with the field you want to establish. A discordant crystal will nullify what you are trying to do." Junseo paused there but the instructor gestured for him to continue. "A resonant field may strengthen your efforts but it could easily run out of control. The worst-case scenario from contaminated fields is all your energy burns out."

The entire class turned to focus on Junseo. His last statement must have come as a surprise but he could not think why. It was drilled into anyone who came near to earning crystals at the dojo.

"Not having a proper anchor comes with the same dangers." He didn't belabor the point but seeing how nervous the other students looked he tried to reassure them. "It is a simple enough meditation to learn. I guess that is why it might be easy for forget. If your lucky enough to have more than one tuned stone you will know straight away when one or the other of them starts to bite." Junseo couldn't help blushing at the memory and slid quickly back into his chair.

"Thank you for sharing your personal experiences. It is not often we have a visitor who has a high enough dan to be initiated into crystal use." The instructor nodded to Junseo and continued with his presentation. He moved through general procedures and on to how to make use of different stones.

"For the longest time crystal lore was viewed as superstitious nonsense. That was until we started to understand different energy forms and micro-vibrations. Healers making use of crystals is not unlike how we have been able to refine common herbal remedies to make them more reliable."

Junseo drank it all in. He was especially taken with how with proper management, a bloodstone might counteract poisons including some snake venoms and how emeralds might help purify any field. His notebook was soon filled with notes about some of the more obscure stones the instructor used for illustration. He lingered in his seat for a minute while the other students rushed out at the end of class. He knew he should apologize for attending a class he was not scheduled for but he could not be sorry. It felt like the first time Junseo was properly interested in anything the Medical Academy had to offer. He was still trying to figure out what to say as he made his way down to the front of the room.

The instructor just said, "Come to my office with me." Junseo agreed readily, even though this meant he would fall behind for his afternoon schedule. He was more than grateful for the offered of tea but nearly dropped his cup when the instructor said, "You don't look much like your father."

"My father, Healer Park Il-un, you know him?" Junseo asked warily.

"We were colleagues at the Palace for a short time. I won't hold it against you."

Junseo could not tell if the man was joking or not.

"Professor Yip told all the faculty we might see a young auditor showing up to classes. His idea was to let your curiosity guide you but you need to know even with a strong legacy connection most of the faculty frown on anyone not following the usual regime. I suppose I don't really have to explain why applying crystals in healing is usually reserved for graduating class."

"Fundamentals come first," Junseo said with a sigh. This was the same lesson he had been served for every discipline he tried.

"I can tell you have heard that one before. You also need to a complete, and uncontaminated connection with your affinity stone. Although now the Crystal Pavilion is out of commission, I am not sure how the rarer affinities will get sorted."

"Only the rarer ones?"

"Well, it is easy enough to see if someone can light up the stones common to their family."

"Right. I guess that makes sense," Junseo blushed and unconsciously toyed with his bracelets.

"Good. I am glad you understand since I am going to ask you to bend the rules a bit with me."

"Sir?"

"For the lab portion of my next class I would like you to demonstrate the difference between an untuned, generic, and personally tuned stones."

"You do know I don't have colors?" Junseo stared at the man.

"That is even better. We will have you do cleansing barriers too," he shuffled through some papers and handed over a dog-eared manual. Junseo accepted the book like the treasure it truly was for him.