Ronin was taken to Professor Espinella’s office in the Upper Floors.

As a Lower Year, it was technically against the rules for Ronin to be there. But Professor Espinella just said he’ll take responsibility for him, and to just wear his cloak so no one would notice.

But someone did.

“Oh, Professor! Is that one of your daughters again with you?” An Upper Year professor asked with beige skin.

They were already at the door of the office, and Professor Espinella was opening the door with his keys until this man came up.

Professor Espinella almost dropped his keys from fright. “A-Ah, yes. Has come to visit h-her Da….. you know how clingy children are once they lost another parent.”

“Yes, poor girl.” The professor went to pat the cloaked Ronin’s head, but the boy just stepped back.

“S-She’s not in the best of moods today, Corteccia.” Professor Espinella nervously excused his ‘daughter’s behavior’.

“Ah, understandable for little ladies her age. But she does seem to be much taller than I last saw her….. They sure grow up so fast….”

“Yes, yes, w-well, nice to talk with you!” Professor Espinella finally managed to open his door after not being able to enter the key due to so much shakiness._.

He turned the knob quickly and dragged Ronin inside, slamming the door behind him.

“Sorry about that, boy. Professor Corteccia has a tendency to be meddlesome.” He said, catching his breath in relief. “You had to be mistaken as my daughter, haha.”

“It’s alright.” Ronin took off his cloak.

‘Not the first time someone thought I was a girl either.’

“Well, that nosy bastard sure must be blind if he really thought an 8-year-old girl could be as tall as you.” He chuckled.

Then he corrected himself. “Ah, I-I should mind my language in front of children.”

Ronin just smiled. “I’m no children anyway, and I am used to foul language more than you think, Professor.”

‘And I know all your curses and thoughts for that guy earlier. If you would have said that out loud in real life, a devout Christian grandmother would have died of a heart attack.”

Professor Espinella seemed to have a VERY different internal self and outside self. His outer voice stutters and sounded nervous…..

While his inner voice was a much more calm, composed, and even spiteful version of his outside voice.

Ronin always find people like that intriguing, and they were the most fun to read the minds of.

You never know how vastly different their spoken words and thoughts would be.

The Coal boy looked around the office. There were many rocks and minerals in glass cases and jars, as well as papers with drawings of them and crystal structures.

This professor seemed to have dedicated his life to studying rocks intensively. Ronin’s natural knowledge of geology was not even this advanced.

Meanwhile, Espinella knew rocks up to the molecular level. The scribbles were wild and very compacted, and the papers were just placed haphazardly with pins and nails on the wall.

He guessed these must be his research papers, though less neatly compiled than how Maellan would have arranged them.

“Commoner Heartstones have higher potency for metamorphism than higher class gemstones…..” He read.

“That is true. It applies to normal rocks as well.”

Professor Espinella took something from one of his glass cases.

“This is a Heartstone. I studied that it was very similar to regular stones, except for its capacity for Flame when a person is still alive.” He should him.

“Is this a human Heartstone?” Ronin asked.

“No. This is a pig’s Heartstone.” Professor Espinella adjusted his glasses.

“Until now I….. I still have no proper funding to gain human hearts as specimen. Damn Blanc D’argent.”

He covered his mouth. “Ah, language! I-I swear, I do not curse as much in front of my ch-children!”

Ronin couldn’t care any less about that.

Besides, why were people so mindful of cursing in front of children when these children will grow up cursing as adults anyway?

He merely picked the Heartstone and examined it. “Flint. Not a bad choice. It generates fire easily.”

“Yes. I prefer morphing rocks that have higher inflammation.” Professor Espinella nodded.

He took the Flint Heartstone, and did the same thing as he did to the coal earlier. He closed his palm and gave it heat and pressure.

And once he opened it, it turned into a metamorphized chert, or ‘Metachert’. It looked similar to the gemstone jasper.

“I could turn it into jasper, in theory.” Professor Espinella seemed to have the same thinking as Ronin.

“However, they all always end up into other variations of chert. A medium Heartstone, neither Commoner nor Gem.”

When he’s speaking about science like this, his voice becomes much closer to his cold and composed inner voice.

“I have come to the conclusion that what it lacks was more Flame. And Flame could not be found nor generated through outside forces. It’s natural in the person’s body.”

“But electricity can spark Flame, as you have seen earlier.” Ronin suggested.

“Yes… But just return it back. Not strengthen it. Otherwise, anything that is in contact with electricity should have had their Heartstones metamorphized.” The now serious Espinella frowned.

“Believe me, I have tried several things over this past 21 years.” He sat on his chair still looking at the Metachert Heartstone. “I am no stranger to the power of electricity and lightning.”

“That was why I believed in Vyrill’s research in the first place. I am happy for his success, but also a tad envious.”

“He had reached good enough results, while I am still testing alone for one. I have no assistants like you, or resources, or even enough faith in myself to push through.”

Ronin went over to him, and gestured with his hand open.

The professor misinterpreted it as Ronin asking for his hand, and so he gave him his hand. But the boy shook his head and pointed to the Metachert.

“Perhaps it is not just the Flame that’s a missing element. It’s not possible for a Commoner Heartstone to have much Flame.”

The professor chuckled. “Oh, but it is.”

“Aren’t you a proof of that? How else would you have gotten into this Academy.”

Ronin did not speak for a while, calculating in his head.

Then, he decided to reveal the truth.