Expanded Horizons: Beyond the Blue

Hoarding Knowledge: Chapter One

Alden squinted at the page before him as if scrunching his face and appearing upset would somehow make it speak actual words to him. The pages practically crumbled to dust at the mere presence of hands nearby, moldy and smudged and illegible at parts as a result. Old tomes almost all shared the same set of issues.

With a defeated sigh, he put the torn page back in its place in the dusty old book and sat back. Years of study to learn the Mohrnighan language and atempt to learn the ancient ways of the first intelligent species in the world, and still so little progress. Their ancient tomes were as rare as they themselves were, though this hardly surprised any scholar considering they once resided in tundras, volcanic regions, or, supposedly, somewhere at sea. Some claimed to encounter the "icicle" variety, but such reports had little evidence to stand on.

Alden stood up and gingerly took the tome back to its pedestal and placed it into its glass case. He looked longingly at it, desperate to know more. The Mohrnighans had invented practical magic at some point, and as fascinating as their cultures were at times, Alden only obsessed himself over discovering how they did it. How had they figured out how to manipulate the world around them? What were the forces they used? If he could figure that out, could he advance it beyond, and define the yet undefined?

"Someday," Alden whispered to himself. "Someday, I will unravel you, and I will know what this world is."

He walked away from the pedestal, resigned to figuring it out later. He had learned as a young student that no research was worth doing while sleepy or hungry. Memory retention and cognitive function diminished too much and wasted too much valuable time, and it was already pretty late in the evening for him.

Alden walked through the halls of the university as silently as possible. He hated to attract attention from students or professors, especially after a less-than-successful session. When the university offered him a teaching position, he initially denied it, and then another four times. Only when they told him they had resources to help him with his personal research did he conceded and come to teach.

Along the walls, the school painted many murals to commemorate successful pursuits of knowledge. To his right, Alden could see the story of the university founder encountering the Behemoth in some foreign land and asking it three great questions. Alden couldn't remember what they were, because frankly, they just weren't really that great. Alden asked better questions of his students when he ran into them at lunch.

"Professor!" a voice cried out from behind, causing Alden to jump.

He turned around to see one of his prime students walking briskly in his direction. Thomas of Veinersville, a well-to-do student with a proper work ethic and academic priorities. While more energetic than Alden would like, his enthusiasm definitely helped to attract more students to his research teams.

"Ah, Thomas," Alden greeted with a small smile. "How have your studies been?"

"I'm afraid I have trouble with translation, professor," Thomas confessed. "But, based on the words I do know, combined with several incomplete maps put together, I believe I have extrapolated the location of some ancient ruins to explore."

"Truly?!" Alden exclaimed, albeit reservedly. "This is excellent news! Please, tell me everything." Alden took his student by the shoulder and guided him through the hallways.

They passed more murals along the walls, students who discovered naturally-occurring magical objects, wrote down the oral history of nomadic tribes, all manner of endeavors Alden had little care for. The knowledge of some tribes oral history, likely exaggerated over countless years, held little use. And knowledge is power only when useful, after all.

The duo entered an empty study lounge and took seats by a fireplace after Alden snapped his fingers and the logs began to smolder. Before long, a crackling fire flushed the room in an orange glow.

"Tell me, Thomas, what have you discovered?" Alden asked.

"Professor, I believe I have located some ruins, but not just any ruins," Thomas explained. "I believe these ruins may be relevant to the ancient religion of the Mohrnighans."

Excitement brimmed in Alden's eyes. This went well beyond the culture of this ancient society, it went to the core of what their society was. If this ruin had significance to what they believed to create the world, what they believed to cause things to be, it could lead to what brought them to be able to use and create magic. The practically limitless potential had Alden's heart racing already.

"Where is it?" he asked impatiently. After a long day of little progress in his own endeavor, he was eager to find out what awaited him from his student.

"It is on the isle of Koorse, the closest island of Vaporis to Stratis," Thomas began. "The ruin is centrally located in the ashlands of the island, where there appear to be quite the sulfur fields. The volcano may also be erupting, as reports I looked into from three months ago indicate toxic gas rising from the ground. The journey may be difficult, and the school..."

Alden already knew what he was going to say. Expeditions that endangered student lives were rarely permitted, and only when the greatest of precautions were taken. However, those expeditions almost always involved monster hazards, not geographic dangers. It would certainly be a great deal easier to cope with using spells for breathable air than a Strigivolp or a Pale.

"Leave that to me," Alden dismissed. "I know how to work these people, and I know how to deal with any land hazards we may run into. Your only job to worry about is getting an expeditionary team together."

"Aye, will do, professor," Thomas replied. "Who knows? Maybe you'll get a mural after this."

Alden shook his head dismissively with a smile and waved his student off, encouraging him to go and get some sleep. The coming days, however many it took, would take great effort and planning. This was Alden's greatest skill at the university; not teaching, not studying, but bending the faculty to make his research trips happen.

This trip would undoubtedly prove invaluable to gaining the knowledge he needed. And there was not a thing he would let stop him in his pursuit of knowledge.