Accountant narrows his ridged eyes and stares at Isabel. He seems to want to say something, if only his voice had a less audible volume than 'rumbling jet engine.' Instead, he rakes through his hoard with the barbed tip of a wing, stopping once a minute to push a stone to the side.

"JADE IS THE ORNAMENT OF IMPERIAL STEWARDSHIP IN THE EARTHEN EAST. IT IS THE SECOND MOST POPULAR WARDSTONE: NOT MODERN, BUT NOR IS IT OUTDATED. IT DEMANDS LOYALTY. METHODOLOGY. MINDFULNESS. FRAGILE, BUT BALANCED IN SPIRIT. THE SET-SPELL IS QUITE GOOD: IT IS A TENACIOUS BULWARK TO ENVELOP YOU AND YOUR MASTER."

"THE DIAMOND, FAVORING THOSE WHO ARE PURE. CLEAN. SCOURED THROUGH. IT OFFERS THE SET-SPELL LESSER HEALING. A CHILD LIKE YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE. NOT IN A DAY WHEN THE BLIND MAY SEE AND THE BROKEN MAY WALK. NAY. YET FOR MANY WOUNDS AND SICKNESSES, LESSER HEALING ENDURES AS THE MOST EFFICIENT CURATIVE."

"ANGELSLATE. A LIGHTWEIGHT AND DURABLE ORE. IT WOULD MAKE ARMOR OF YOUR GARMENT. THE STONE ASKS FOR A GREAT DEAL OF DEVOTION AND HOPE. IF YOU CANNOT MAINTAIN SUCH A BEARING, IT WILL BE DEBASED INTO CHALK. SALT. DUST. IF YOU CAN: IT RISES A MARK ABOVE ITS PEERS AND WILL NOT BE CORRUPTED OR WEAKENED. I WOULD NOT CALL IT COMMENSURATE BALANCE. BUT NEEDS DIFFER."

"Of these, jade suits best. I am not hopeful continuously, nor do I make pretensions to holiness, but I can be mindful and loyal. What suits well with jade for a flexible, workmanlike tool? And - "

She fishes in her pile of odds and ends. "What have you to say of mithril, and what is the etching metal for Academics?"

"MM. ADAMANTANIUM IS EXCELLENT FOR A RELIABLE WORKMAN, MITHRIL FOR A DEFT-HANDED LABORER. EVERMETAL — IN DOUBT, EVERMETAL. MAGICAL FORGEWORK TENDS TOWARDS WINDFALL OR RUIN, BUT THE ABIDING ALLOY EFFECTS A DRIFT TO THE AVERAGE. OF COURSE, CHILDREN CANNOT VALUE CONSISTENCY. WHY SHOULD THEY MONITOR TRENDLINES WHEN LIFE SEEMS TO THEM SO RANDOM AND SHORT?"

"AND YOU WISH TO KNOW MORE OF MITHRIL, THE POET'S METAL. LOW DENSITY. HIGH HARDNESS. HIGH DURABILITY. IT IS SUITED FOR THE CHANNEL OF DELICATE SPECIALTY WORKINGS. SENSITIVE AND MALLEABLE TO THE TOUCH OF PSYCHE. CASTING THROUGH IT IS LADEN WITH COMPLEXITY, SUCH THAT I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT TO A CHILD."

"AS FOR THE LAST: YOU SPEAK OF STARBRINE. THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY HAS ASSUMED ITS POSSIBILITY FROM ITS FELLOWS — YET IT IS ONLY RECENTLY THAT WE HAVE MADE SYNTHESIS OF IT. I HAVE HEARD TELL THAT IT IS THE IDEAL CANVAS FOR RUNEWORK, THOUGH I HAVE YET TO REVIEW THE PUBLICATIONS. THE HOUSE DOES NOT AT THIS TIME POSSESS STARBRINE, BUT I FORESEE NO PAINS IN ACQUIRING IT."

There is some cultural opacity between ancient fire-breathing reptiles and twenty-year-old witchlings, but it is not hard to notice that Accountant seems pleased.

"—I think it's a mistake to name me that off of a few words. With respect, you haven't known me for long."

"Acquaint me further with this mistake."

Professor Ravi doesn't actually assault punish people for saying things she dislikes, or she would have put Isabel out for mentioning her prosthetics. She penalizes — intentional wastes of time, maybe?

"Well. I wasn't admiring massacres. I know very well that this sort of thing is bad. I feel bad when people die or when they're in pain. I know I don't sound very convincing right now, I'm just — using my verbal processing cycles for introspection, rather than persuasion. You're smart and have a lot of divination, so hopefully it comes off clear."

"You have not familiarized me with my mistake. If not distaste for mortal life, then whence your fascination for overengineered armaments? You cannot tell me it is pure aesthetic merit. You would be nauseated to see a dragon in a glass and wood-lacquered case. Nor would you wish it to fly and march for your amusement."

"—so I am not a baby serial killer and it is very weird that you are acting like I am, and additionally concerning that you are acting like a mother serial killer."

"Deflection. My character and teaching methods are not under discussion. Answer the question."

Pause and think.

"—I don't think I'm actually fascinated with dragons as instruments of death. I just had the intuition that you might approve of someone appreciating that. Unconsciously."

"Do you do anything consciously, Belor?"

Maaaaybe?

She can't say that, she has to actually think about it and give an informative answer. Also she is being the literal worst student. Even if Professor Ravi is blithely evil, that doesn't forgive being a crappy student.

She speaks slowly, stupidly, because no one is behind the wheel right now, "I can. If the persona demands it."

"Why have you enrolled as a student at Hawthorne Academia?"

"The person I am around Isabel, the person I am most often — she has a lot of goals. She's fascinated by the prospects of magic and wants as much of it as possible."

"And in what important sense is this person not your root self?"

"She's — conditional. A frame I can force myself to fit. But if you're trying to figure out who I am when I'm alone, it's not that."

"Your confessions to me have been striking. Remarkably forthright for someone who at the same time treats personality traits like jewelry. I have a passing sense of the search parameters now. Even so, I believe it in your interest to commit taboo and mandate evermetal for your use. As for the capstone—"

The air above Professor Ravi's palm seems to buckle and warp, straining as though being crushed. In her hand sit a white marble with a rainbow film, a blue gemstone with a saturation that wavers in shade and saturation, a brilliant large sapphire, and a stone of cold pale green.

"—you are a creature of wordless intuition. Go ahead and look for what is right."

Empty Pearl. Soul - Mind. 
An absence of a gemstone that nonetheless retains magical power. Known to reduce the presence of its wielder, convey mental detachment, and shield the wielder from subtle influences.

Evanescent. Wind - Soul. 
A partially-real gemstone, only tenuously attached to existence. Bestows speed, clarity, and an immaterial quality. Can be used to anchor the set-spell Obscuring Mist. 

Sapphire. Life - Body. 
Resonant with the human heart, Sapphire lends its power to romantics and those who are more interested in people than things. It can be used to anchor the set-spell Glamour.

Peridot. Soul - Mind.
Used often in divinations, Peridot is said to grant control over one's fate. It yields its power to clever witches who pursue their goals with skill and foresight. It can be used to anchor the set-spell Invisibility.

"Tell me more about Adamantium, please. What qualities does it have?"

"STABLE. PONDEROUS. RESISTANT. IT PRESENTS GREAT DIFFICULTY TO THE SABOTEUR WITH HER DISPELLATIONS AND COUNTERMAGIC. IDEAL FOR THE CASTING OF PERMANENCY — BOTH A FITTING SPELL FOR THE METAL AND A COSTLY EFFECT ONE WOULD NOT WANT SPOILED. NATURALLY: ITS FORTITUDE ONLY REFLECTS THE ENDURANCE OF ITS MASTER. NO MORE THAN THAT."

Lily closes her eyes. 

Something in her heart cries out for Mithril. She wants to be deft and clever and skilled. And drawing on - what she and Marianne have - feels right.

But.

She's already selected jade, for loyalty and mindfulness. And she has been warned, by a teacher with literal centuries of experience, that if she feels a call to something that is illusion. Accountant, similarly, has seen many, many children like her. And she is a child - young in her power, unknown to the real world, yet to become what she is. She is not deft or clever or skilled, not in the use of magic.

How long is she going to use this tool for? Certainly for years. There should be space for her to grow into it. But neither should she take the complex expert's tool merely because she wishes she could use it effectively. That's how you end up with a kitchen full of useless expensive gadgetry. 

How good is she at enduring?

... It's practically the fundamental skill she has. Managing. Dealing with things as they come. She is cold enough to question her emotions, here, and take the careful road, and work with the change as it progresses.

It's not what her heart sings for, but then, this is the real world now. She needs a tool that functions. 

"Please describe to me the likely properties of a tool made from adamantine and jade."

"THERE ARE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, CHILD. RUNEWORK. SPIRITWORK. CANTRIPS. CRAFTING TECHNIQUE. BUT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, IT IS THE CLASSIC COMPOSITION OF A WARDEN'S TOOL."

Lily tilts her head, nods. 

"It sounds suitable, with my limited knowledge."