The course is called 'Modern Science for Beginners: From Atoms to Astronomy.' Some kind souls in Encoy were very upset at the thought of newcomers arriving here with little to no knowledge of the very subjects that they and their peers dedicate their lives to. They are very passionate about helping even a student with no knowledge gain at least a working idea of what is known about the universe.
Giangio prickles slightly at those words; "for beginners." He was one of the more accomplished Alchemists in Arche Abbey, the mysterious island fortress not far from Krat. The Alchemists of the Isle were a little obsessed with physical appearance, and strength especially, more than ever in their later days when Simon Manus took over. All Giangio had to compete with them were his sharp mind and skilled hands... and he did. It could really start to threaten his pride if he let it. Losing being good at the one thing he was good at.
But a true scholar would be overjoyed, not depressed and egotistical, to find a huge trove of new information. And so, humbly and step by step, he does his best to walk the way of that true scholar and learn what he can. If he could make impressive things with only the knowledge of the 1800s, what could he make with the knowledge of centuries beyond that?
Today's class was challenging for him. The instructor had a lot to say about space. A lot of it was sensible enough, but he still had a lot of questions, most of them sounding something like: how in the world can you know that? He has a sinking feeling, as well, that the development of the sciences in his own world may have been stunted by the Alchemists' religious underpinnings and pursuit of things like sleeping gods and immortality. And all the money they poured into commissioning giant statues of snakes. He has a lot of questions he could ask, but asking them out loud makes him sound uneducated. And he is uneducated, which is the worst part! So he only took detailed notes and identified some ideas to research more about on his own. Perhaps he'll ask the professor about some things directly during office hours.
Today's class was surely challenging for everybody else, too, unfortunately. Giangio's variant of the petrification disease is flaring up from the stress of needing to adapt to a new place very suddenly. And so he kind of. Spent the whole lecture coughing.
He turned to the student next to him several times to apologize quietly. It's hard to get a read on the man, though! He's very tall, and the way he concentrates on a lecture makes it hard to tell if he's... actually very interested in learning about space, or quietly plotting murder in case his neighbor's sickness isn't fatal.
Class ends, and Giangio runs to catch up with the giant... gentle or otherwise.
"Heyy, I'm really sorry for all that racket," he says with an easy smile, and a tone that manages to sound more friendly than desperate despite conveying 'don't kill me' at its core. "I'll sit in the back next time! I-i-it's hard enough to keep up when I attend all the sessions, so I can't afford to fall behind.. I-I-I hope you can forgive me!"
Wincing at the thought of giving the man a proper chance to respond and being scolded or even intimidated, he can't help but try and force the conversation on. Quick, what should he talk about? Class??
"Sooo... space... it's really big, isn't it? A-ha ha..."