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Topaz gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as if to say "it is what it is". "There's a bit of risk in anything worth doing, the way I always saw it. Even in the smallest of things. I try not to take any unnecessary risks, but if I, or people in general, held back all the time, nothing would progress or be discovered." They had gotten to a section of the path where it split in several directions, taking you to either the building further out, the main building, or the areas in between. Before she led Mytrax down the in between path, she put a leg forward and gave the cobbled stones a few taps with her hoof.

"I can also say that it helps that I'm pretty fit. I probably don't look it," she said with a laugh, glancing down at her sensible sweater and skirt, "but I've got one hell of a kick. I'm not so bad with a punch either. I've never taken fighting lessons or anything, but I walk a lot, and climb. During summer I help with the rebuilding of Hyperes, so that builds muscle as well."

Since she'd brought up some of what she did, Topaz decided to segue the conversation into Mytrax's question. "That's one of the places I frequent, the older parts of Hyperes that haven't been repaired. I'm also in town pretty often. You can get food at the cafeteria on campus, but I like to keep some snacks in my dorm that either don't require cooking or only need a little prep, just in case I want something to eat at a late hour but don't want to go wandering outside to see if there's any places still open. There is a common spot where you can cook food, since most of the dorms don't have anything like a kitchen, but they can get crowded."

"Unless you're working on architecture or something similar they won't have you doing design or anything like that. Mostly it's just grunt work that they need," Topaz said with a gentle chuckle. "You look pretty tough, so I'm sure they could put you to use if you wanted to apply for a part-time job in the summer. It's a good way to earn some spending cash if you don't have any other prospects lined up."

She hummed thoughtfully as she considered the first question Mytrax had asked her. "I'm always open to learning. The main problem is I travel around a lot, so it was tough to maintain any kind of regular routine. I don't travel quite as much at present, but it's still difficult to find anyone who is flexible enough to work with a less-than-consistent schedule. A lot of what I know is self-taught, or a few moves here and there that I pick up from people I've met."

Topaz chuckled. "True enough, though usually travel pretty light when I'm gone. I'd get home to several lessons and have to do a lot of practicing in order to catch up!" Well, unless she save things to her mobile device. There was no way she could receive lessons while out traveling though, since not even the best of technology could reach some of the places she went.

"That would be nice though. If I did start getting serious about learning self defense techniques, it would be nice to have someone I could practice with." She gave Mytrax another looking-over, taking note of the way she moved and her actual physique. "I'll probably have to learn fast. You look like you know your way around more than defensive fighting." She tapped a hoof thoughtfully against the ground as they walked. "Maybe I can find something to do with leg work. I have some tough legs."

Topaz just laughed and gave a very conspiratorial wink. "I dunno, you've only met me when I'm on my best behavior. I'm a bit of a ruffian when it comes to asking questions; I leave no stone unturned!" She shook her head, still grinning. "It's a trait of my race, I think. We're all some kind of hard-headed and stubborn. I could certainly tell you stories about Baphomet who are plenty into fighting." Her face took on a slightly more serious note. "Every race has some dust in the corners and a pile of unwashed laundry somewhere. I never saw much point in pretending otherwise.

But," she said, taking on a cheery note again, "I won't bore you with my anthropological ramblings! I'm supposed to be showing you around the university. I'll show you around some of the open-air classrooms. We've got a pretty good view of the coast." And thus the tour continued, with Topaz feeling far more comfortable now than she had at the start. It was nice to meet new people!