Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Chapter 36

Joshua and Marvin, well past middle age, fell into heavy silence after broaching such a somber topic. Finally, Marvin sighed and urged, “Alright, our old bones can still hold up.

“Let’s give youngsters more time. When the moment comes, they’ll definitely do better than we did back in the day. Go on in, don’t keep Briar

waiting.”

Joshua nodded, waving Marvin off. “Go on, scram before our close contact draws attention.” With that, he shut the lab door,

Bored of waiting in Joshua’s office, Briar got up to check out the space. The room was simply furnished–just a desk and bookshelves lining

the wall.

Alongside traditional medicine texts, the shelves held countless specimens of rare herbs, some of which Briar had only seen in Tristan’s private vault.

But what truly caught her eye was an old picture frame nestled amongst the specimens. The photo showed five young men. The one in the center was clearly a younger Joshua.

A

To his left stood Marvin, whom she’d just met. To the right, she recognized Griffin in his youth. The man next to Griffin was unfamiliar to her.

But the real shock came from the long–haired, black–rimmed man on the far right–he was the spitting image of a young Tristan.

‘Whoa, she thought, ‘didn’t know Tristan was such a trendsetter back then.‘

staring at the photo frame. “Briar,” he chuckled, “bet you can’t guess who’s the

turned with a smile. “Obviously

laughing. “Excellent taste! For that alone, I’ll make sure

hadn’t expected this seemingly stern, old–fashioned Joshua to be so witty. “I’ll study hard, I

first and introduce you to your seniors.

Briar trailed behind, nodding along, his warm demeanor sparked a flicker of genuine anticipation

I’d ever

medicine students were men, many from hereditary practitioner families. With Dasmieca cracking down on traditional practices

universities had a brutal 8:2 male–female ratio, Shoneport’s ratio was relatively balanced

department rarely topped a hundred students

join his lab was rare.

students.

there are ten males and only one female. So this young lady

every guy in the lab stopped what they were doing. Their eyes were glued

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Chapter 36

his hands and announced, “Alright, let me introduce–this is Briar, our new transfer student in first

James Garcia was the first to applaud enthusiastically. “Hey there, I’m James, head

fourth year.”

Mosby chimed in, “Hey, Briar. I’m Karl, also a fourth–year