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Oh, now you feel remorse for your reckless hall-running, eh Jude? Well, it’s too late. Immediately prostrate yourself in front of the nearest hall monitor and you might see the sun again before your next birthday.

“You sure you have time for this? Don’t you have residency training with Professor Haus?”

I could make so many jokes about a doctor named “Haus,” but I’ll spare you from them. Mostly because I never watched that show.

“Don’t worry about that. You’re in a rush too, aren’t you?”

”Thanks again! You better get moving, too!”

“Crap, I’m gonna be late!”

We could head straight there, or we could engage in some thinly veiled plot set-up courtesy of our friendly neighborhood NPCs.

Yep, seems totally logical, no reason for that to not be the case. Maxwell is actually something of a recurring character in the Tales series, like most of the summons. For reference, here’s a picture of Maxwell from Tales of Symphonia:

He’s got more of a Fu Manchu vibe than I remembered but the basic concept is on point.

An ancient sage named Kresnik, eh? Well, whatever. Let’s leave Talim Medical School and head over to where Haus is waiting for us.

But first, let’s do some more talking!

It’s really handy when random people in the starting town seem just as new to the rules of their fantasy universe as you are.

This isn’t foreshadowing or anything, it’s just a detail of the setting I actually find kind of neat even if the jargon is a bit insufferable. But that’s enough of that. Heading into the reception area…

What’re you looking at, punk?

“Well, look who decided to show up.”

“Worry not, lad. Now, keep this between us, but I’ve been asked to help down at the lab. Top-secret research, they say!”

“A request from Orda Palace? Wow!”

“I need you to keep an eye on things until I get back. You can handle it, lad. Only patients with appointments will be coming in today.”

“Oh, right. I need you to sign my class-credit form.”

“Your graduation thesis is coming along, I presume?”

“More or less. I should have the first draft complete by Ignis.”

“After all, I’m planning to make you my top assistant after you graduate.”

“I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“So much for an easy day.”

Heading over to the next area…

Well, fuck. Looks like you got the short end of it, eh Jude? Is it too late to just quit med school?

“Okay, you’re good to go. It’s funny, though. There’s been a real epidemic of channeling failures today.”

Welp, “mana lobe” might just be the dumbest fantasy term I’ve heard since “fonon,” though this one still has the advantage in that it doesn’t get repeated in every single sentence for the rest of the game.

“I’m not really sure. I was able to draw out mana like usual, but then, it was like the spirits ran off or something.”

“Like they were gone, huh?”

“Anyway, thanks Doc. At least I can get back to work. It’s my wife’s birthday, too. Now I don’t have to worry about letting her down.”

“Serves you right for agreeing to stand in, if you ask me.”

“I guess with the amount of mana at his disposal, treating ten people isn’t any different from treating one.”

“He’s spent so much time developing his mana lobe that it’s skewed his perspective.”

“Why? Did something happen?

“We’ve just been told he’s been chosen for the Howe Prize!”

“What? Wow! Research Honors don’t get any bigger than that!”

“They want to see him right away, but he didn’t tell anyone where he was going.”

Oh, jeez, man. That is not a flattering look for you. What is it with Tales protagonists and gaudy coats?

And that’s Jude’s shift done. Not gonna lie, for a brief moment I was hoping this would turn into a new Trauma Center game. Tell me Fantasy Trauma Center wouldn’t own.

Heading back outside, we see another brief scene.

Instead of doing that, we’re going to head back to the area where we started.

Jude seems to notice two of his classmates having a conversation.

“But doesn’t he plan to apply for a job here?”

“Yeah, on Professor Haus’ recommendation. He’s gonna be the Prof’s number-one assistant. Honestly, I’m kind of jealous.”

“I guess that’s what he gets for flaunting the whole nice-guy routine.”

“That’s a pretty cynical way to put it.”

“But honestly, don’t you agree?”

“Well, I guess at times it does kind of seem like he’s just doing a nice-guy act.”

“Right? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, either. But I know exactly what you mean.”

I mean, yeah, people talk about you behind your back, dude. That’s what you get for eavesdropping.

My cruel mockery of Jude aside, that was a Sub Event, an optional cutscene that in many cases expands on the characters or story. A lot of them are also missable. We’ll be seeing as many of them as possible.

Over in the Central Plaza, there’s a store and a save point. We don’t need to buy anything, though, so we’ll continue ahead to the next area, where another event waits.