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"You cannot actually be thinking of using Delilah Briarwood's research in your thesis," Professor Calcyfer said, pressing his palms together as he inhaled sharply. "As you well should know, she was expelled from the Assembly for necromancy-"
"But her actual research is up to code," Marcella argued, pressing her pointer finger into the parchment hard enough that she vaguely worried about smearing the long-dried ink. Professor Calcyfer gave her a dry look, and Marcella quickly continued, "Before she was a necromancer, she was the Archmage of Antiquity, and her research in war magic, specifically in power surges, remains some of the most relevant in the field."
"She used that exact knowledge to fuel her pursuit of necromancy," Professor Calcyfer said, crossing his arms.
"Exactly! She used the same magical mechanism that channels magic to harvest life from her enemies, but instead of taking magic to regain magic as is legal, she instead took life to regain life." Marcella shook her head, thrusting the parchment forward once more. "It's all in here, how it's all the Law of Equivalent Exchange. In order to create anything, something of equal value must be first destroyed, and her research from 793 PD clearly states-"
"Where did you even find this research?" Professor Calcyfer asked. Exasperation colored his words now, and his brow was deeply furrowed, which was less than a good sign for Marcella. "Wasn't it all burned as herectical?"
"Well, you see-"
Professor Calcyfer's sigh reverbated deep in Marcella's bones. "Marcella," he began in the same tone of voice that told her when he was on the verge of retiring and taking his pension all the way off to the Menagerie Coast, "did you do anything illegal?"
"Reading isn't illegal," she said, jutting out her chin as she crossed her arms. "And if you know where to look, it turns out that the original copies of all theses remain in the Academy's Sciptorium, no matter their subject matter." She pushed her thesis and the accompanying sources across the desk once more. "So, no, I did nothing illegal, her research is helpful, and I want to do this."
Professor Calcyfer looked over the tops of his spectacles at her, something like curiosity now flickering in his eyes. "You hate necromancers."
"True," Marcella admitted baldly, "and I hate her. She's a despicable person who did terrible, awful things, and her research should be used to better the world, not worsen it, which I think I can help it do. I'm not saying that necromancy is a good thing, but her methods are clean and reported upon, and she proved that the principles are transient, and considering I'm trying to channel magic to power life to cure chronic diseases, I think if you will let me experiment with her methods, I will actually make a breakthrough." She blew out a long breath, blowing her bangs out of her face. "It's all in there, Professor C, and if you'll approve it, I think it'll work."
"Marcella-" Professor Calcyfer began before cutting himself off with another sigh, now rubbing his temples. Marcella held her breath, keeping her posture ram-rod straight as she waited. After what felt like an eternity had passed, Professor Calcyfer begrudingly reached for her thesis. "I'm making no promises," he warned, even as she grinned wide, "but I'll at the very least give you the benefit of the doubt and read this."
Marcella beamed at him. "You won't regret this, Professor!" she chirped.
"I probably will," he countered, already beginning to read, "and I can already see that you're going to need to refine this a lot more, not to mention that your penmanship is still atrocious." He began skimmg through. "But if it works, it works."
Chlorinosis was rare, but a brutal death. As far as Marcella could detect, it post-Calamity in origin, but it got its name from Vespin Chloras, after the depiction of his skinless face had found popularity. The methodical peeling of skin from bone was a painful death, but Marcella was sure that she could finally cure it.
If only she could get her ratios right.
"Drat," she cursed, scribbling over her latest attempt to make the math work. "This should be working." But the amount of magic currently needed to power enough life to reinvigorate health in one ill with Chlorinosis was more than she could cast in ten lifetimes, and the latest iteration of the formula still wasn't working.
"You'll get there," Professor Calcyfer said from over at his own desk, not looking up from grading essays. "Have you checked the purity of your residuum again?"
"Thrice now," she confirmed. Marcella's eyes darted from her paper before her back to her stack of sources. "Let me try something."
Professor Calcyfer hummed, still lost to his grading, as Marcella subtly began to thumb through Delilah Briarwood's research on necromancy once more. There was something in there, she was sure of it, but she couldn't remember exactly what.
Marcella started at the beginning and worked her way forward through all of Briarwood's research, looking at her own notes on all of the sources simultaneously. From the wizard's initial research on war magic to her scrawling notes on necromancy, Marcella went through every last scrap of parhcment she could find. The idea tugging at her mind was not in the pages on war magic but there, toward the last of Briarwood's notes, one of her last experiments before the wizard had fled for Tal'Dorei.
"Inured to Undeath…" Marcella read, murmuring the words out loud to herself with a slight shake of her head. "Of course. You cannot forget to control for the inherent weakening of the consitution, and if I can only channel the necrosis into energy, then the cure will stimulate the healing response." Marcella looked up at Professor Calcyfer, still elbows-deep in grading his papers. She pushed her glasses up her nose and squared her shoulders. "How do you feel about engaging in a bit of light criminal activity?"
Professor Calcyfer finally looked up then, but Marcella only grinned at him, even as he paled. "Marcella," he warned, "whatever you're thinking, no."
Marcella tapped her finger against her chin, considering for a moment. "Not yet, at least," she said. "Not yet."
Approximately three and a half weeks later, Marcella cracked it. Her theory was sound, she was sure of it, and all she needed now was a test subject. Unfortunately, necromancy was still technically illegal, and none of her known patients with Chlorinosis would sign up for an experimental study by a graduate student, nevermind a technically illegal one.
So, Marcella did the next best thing and infected herself.
She couldn't test her theory for the first week of infection, mostly because it didn't present until the second. The second week there was a rash most disregarded as dry skin, but it was the third week that her skin would begin to detach from her muscles and sinew, and in that third, precious week, Marcella would have to cure herself and quickly.
Marcella took well documented notes, of course she did. Dabbling in illegal magic in the Dwendalian Empire was rarely a good idea, especially if one didn't have the King or the Assembly fully behind them, but at least this way she could prove that she was right.
And she was right. It worked, her theory with Briarwood's research worked, and now, she was going to help so many people.
Once her rash disappeared, of course.
"I'm sorry, you what?" Professor Calcyfer bleated, his brow furrowing anxiously. Marcella opened her mouth to repeat herself, but Professor Calcyfer held up a hand, effectively silencing her. "No, I heard you, Marcella, what I cannot believe is you not only purposefully infected yourself and practiced actual necromnacy but also fully cured Chlorinosis." The professor sighed, rubbing his temples. "I don't know what to say," he admitted, slumping back in his chair.
"It was only a bit of light necromancy, and I am healed!" Marcella confirmed, showing off her arms, where not even the redness of her rash remained. Her chest puffed out as she waited for some acknowledgment of her accomplishment, but Professor Calcyfer reached into his desk and took a deep drink from his flask before rubbing the flat of his fist over his chest in a slow circle. "I did it," she confirmed, quieter now, as her shoulders slumped.
"Yes, you did," Professor Calcyfer managed with a long sigh. "You do know you need to present this to the board as part of your degree finalization, don't you?"
"Oh, I'm well aware!" Marcella chirped. "It was only a little bit of necromancy, and it's in the name of healing a terrible disease, so I'd like to see them take me on. Especially since I guess I'm a necromancer now."
Another heavy sigh, but Professor Calcyfer was smiling, if only slightly, now. "You're not a necromancer," he warned.
"Not a full one. Not yet!"