"Lothur..."
"Sigh! All right, I'll tell you, but be careful, okay? There are a lot of problems with acting out against academy students or getting caught doing certain things in our city." She walked back beside him toward their former destination.
Annaliese would not try to convince Lothur not to do whatever was on his mind. After all, she understood all too well what it meant to be a cultivator, how they solved their problems, and how important it was to be decisive in this world.
Not only that, after being moved by what had happened to Elke, she could not help but support him in this decision. If it were her in that redhead's place, she would feel protected to find out how severe Lothur was in dealing with the matter.
So, she soon explained to him how to find that student from the Morning Star Academy, having finalized that conversation when they arrived at Doctor Snee's estate.
"Thank you, Anna. And don't worry, I'm stronger than that person, and I have my methods."
"Hmm, I'm curious to see how much you've improved after absorbing that Soul Bone." She smiled at him, hardly able to wait for the mission the two of them would be doing in the next few days.
"You'll see..." He commented when they finally reached the reception area of that property, where Sofie was organizing some papers.
"Sofie, I'm here to talk about the previous matter..." He said, catching the attention of that violet-haired woman.
Upon hearing that distinguished voice, Sofie looked toward the entrance of that place and was surprised to see the most handsome man in the city there. "Lothur!" She said in surprise, not expecting this man to come to this place today.
"Lothur, what do you..." She was about to say but realized Annaliese was standing next to him. "You!"
'Does she plan to do that again?' The violet-haired beauty felt afraid for Lothur, remembering the strange fetish Annaliese seemed to have.
"Hmm, good to see you again, Miss Carl." Annaliese greeted her, not knowing how bad her reputation was among the people in this doctor's office.
"So, Sofie, is your boss here? I've decided to learn this profession, so I'm here to take advantage of the opportunity he has made available to me." Lothur was straight to the point.
She was surprised to hear this since Lothur seemed determined not to follow this path the other time. 'Has something changed? Perhaps...' She looked once more at Annaliese. 'It's not strange. He wants to protect himself from her!'
'Poor thing!' Her heart softened, but since there was nothing she could do to get Lothur out of Annaliese's clutches, she just did what was at her disposal.
"Lothur, wait a moment. My master is already finishing attending to a patient."
After hearing this, Lothur sat next to Annaliese on a sofa in that reception area, where he would wait for 5 minutes until Doctor Snee was free to receive him.
"Young man, you've changed your mind, eh?" The bulging-bellied man smiled as he appeared in that reception area and looked at Lothur.
"Hmm, many things have happened recently, and I've noticed how important medicine is to my life. So, I'm here to discuss getting started in this field." He stood up and greeted Snee.
Annaliese followed him, having spoken to that man before entering his office.
Doctor Snee saw Annaliese and decided to ask. "Young Lothur, how have you been? Any problems like the previous ones?"
Lothur laughed as he remembered the state he had been in the times this man had helped him. "Fortunately, no. I think my skin has become resilient from then to now, so this situation won't be as frequent... I guess."
"Oh? That's better." He 'understood' the situation.
"Well, let's talk about serious stuff." He took some books from a cabinet in his office and placed them in front of Lothur.
"If you want to learn my profession, you will first have to learn about the human body and the effect of substances on it."
"That is initially theoretical work, but it will give you work for at least a few months, depending on your talent. After that will come the practical phase, in which you must associate your theoretical knowledge with reality."
He looked into Lothur's eyes and sat in his armchair. "That will take a few years."
"Years?" Annaliese was the one who asked, surprised that just a young beginner learning the basics of this profession would take years.
It was not easy to learn whatever the professions were. But there was a difference between learning the basics and mastering the skills of a 1-star professional.
So, while it was customary for cultivators to take years to become peak 1-star professionals, learning the basics usually did not take that long. Even more, considering someone with Lothur's talents.
Annaliese was not sure what his talent was. But considering that he had learned the professions of poison master, formation master, and tailor in a matter of days, she knew he had good talent.
In this case, it seemed an exaggeration to say that it would take him years to master what was necessary to start practicing medicine.
Doctor Snee then said to her. "Yes, years. Medicine is not as complicated as the profession of formation masters, for example, but our professionals have to remember a lot more things."
"There are many variables, diseases, and conditions that have similar symptoms, and each body works in its way. That's not extreme, but it's enough to make diagnosis and treatment difficult."
"Because of this, after we learn the theory, we have to test our skills for quite a while until we gain the necessary experience. That's why it takes us longer than other professionals to be able to start practicing our field."
Lothur heard this and agreed, feeling that it did indeed make sense. "No matter, I am prepared to master medicine, whatever time it takes to do so."
"Oh?" Sofia looked at him, finding this change in Lothur magnificent. 'It seems that this woman is scaring him! He's so determined... He must be worried about his own life!'
"Good!" Doctor Snee liked to see the determination in Lothur's silver eyes. "Good, then I'll lend you those books. Then, come to me when you've mastered the theory, and I'll allow you to accompany Sofie on some consultations."
"She's already a 1-star doctor, so she'll be able to evaluate you during her consultations."
"Really?" Lothur looked at that violet-haired woman.
Sofie smiled and said. "Hehe, I am almost at the highest point of my rank. I will soon start preparing to learn the basics of 2-star."
Spiritual professionals of the same rank were not necessarily equal. For example, some alchemists could produce products with 100% purity and others with 20%. This difference was precisely the level of mastery of the professional of that rank, which was independent of the cultivation level.
On the other hand, when changing classifications, a doctor like Sofie naturally had to relearn certain concepts, using a more complex approach that only with an increase in cultivation stage would be possible.
So, even knowing that Sofie was at level 8, Lothur had no way of knowing her position as a 1-star doctor, nor how far she was from a qualitative breakthrough. Thus, he was positively surprised to hear that.
"Well, I thank you in advance for the opportunity. Once I do that, I will come to you for help, Sofie..."