Chương 46: Calamitous Research

Unfathomably varied though they are, Calamities have been the subject of everything from fanciful children's tales to the basis for governments to even the primary motivation for things such as the Accords. In rare cases, a few Calamities were even used as the backbone of magical academies. This is in large part because of the academic fascination that Calamities inspire. A Pure Manifestation of a manasoul in reality is almost never tenable, and it is these Pure Manifestations that lead to the rise of Calamities.

Yet, that hasn't stopped researchers from hunting the secrets of such manifestations, for there does exist proof of their success. After all, Incarnations are the successful, ascended form of Pure Manifestations. Chapter 12, Meditations on Manifestations, Simuragh T. The High Academ looked tremendously dubious of Ryland's claims. He couldn't blame the fellow for being sceptical, of course, but at the same time, he wasn't lying. As such, Ryland continued holding his hand out somewhat imperiously.

Sighing, the High Academ finally handed Ryland the Glyphtech scroll. Ryland had used such Glyphtech before. Despite his travels keeping him away from society more often than not, he wasn't a complete neanderthal when it came to technology. As such, he had no trouble locating all the Glyphic dials and options he needed to modify the scroll's time filter. He set the search period back to a time when he himself was in the academy, making a strange window pop up in the scroll.

It seemed they needed appropriate credentials to access the restricted information.

"Just because there might be some old paper or other," the old man said.

"Doesn't mean you've proven anything! Especially when you can't even open it." Ryland cast his Glyph of Identity. The scroll flashed as it scanned the Glyph that was shining brightly enough to nearly rival the light above, while also blasting them all with severe pressure and a burst of wind. Then the scroll blinked and showed a new list of published work. Old published work. From before the Accords. Ryland dispelled his Glyph and set the search criteria again.

He smiled as he pointed at the new lists of papers, handing the scroll back to the High Academ, whose eyes had turned as round as snowballs.

"This… this Alloyed Colossus …" He opened one of the first papers and read through the abstract.

"Wait, why is your name attached to these papers? Did you come up with this idea? But no, you're not the primary author. Then what...?"

"Oh, right," Ryland said.

"My only contribution was bringing in materials from other Realms."

"Other Realms?" The old Academ stared at Ryland nonplussed.

"Were you in charge of logistics or something?"

"Of a sort." Ryland held out his palms, where his Soul Glyph of Rift popped up and snapped into an actual rift. The Academ's already-wide eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his orbits.

"As I said, other Realms. I just helped bring the idea to fruition, but I certainly can't claim it was my idea."

"No. Impossible! This is my work. This is mine —" He quickly realized his voice was growing a little too shrill and contained himself.

"Research this old…" he continued muttering.

"How can this exist? How did you even gain access? How were you even present back then...?" Alendra shook her head sadly, like she was consoling someone over the death of a close relative.

"There's no point in asking him anything, sir. His answers are just going to make you tear your hair out."

"Ah, you seem familiar with this phenomenon."

"I am, unfortunately." Alendra's eyes glinted.

"Sir, you wouldn't mind if I took a look at those old archives on the scroll, would you? I think I spotted something that might interest you." The High Academ was walking away, looking for all the world like Ryland had just stolen his favourite pet goat.

"Certainly, why not. Come. I'm just a little…"

"Believe me, I know sir."

"How could he…?"

"Yes, exactly…" Their words faded as they walked off together. Kendren exchanged a quick look with Ryland.

"Did you just inadvertently help Alendra find her mentor?" Honestly, Ryland wasn't even sure how to begin to decipher the end of their little meeting.

"…it would seem so."

"By being an inscrutable, impossible bastard?"

"It… would seem so?" Kendren burst out laughing. Ryland almost felt like joining him, but the impulse to shake his head was too strong.

"My, my," a new voice said. Ryland and a laughing Kendren turned to find Sint drawing close, a taller, older woman following close on her heels.

"Sorry, I'm late," Sint said, glancing first at Ryland and then at the High Academ next to her.

"But I've brought my mentor." The woman accompanying Sint inclined her head at Ryland, which made her thick glasses shift forward enough that she had to push it back with a ringed finger. Her frizzy golden-orange hair bobbed like a cloud that had come alive whenever her head moved.

"Greetings, Ryland," she said.

"It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I am High Academ Tyra, Head of the Department of Herbology and Potions." Ryland was impressed. Sint hadn't just acquired any old mentor. She had managed to land the very head of her department. His thoughts were echoed by Kendren's wide-eyed reaction. She had practically scored gold.

"Likewise, High Academ," he said.

"A pleasure to finally meet you."

"Sint tells me a great deal about you, Ryland." Tyra's welcoming smile stretched wide in affability, which was a nice contrast to the other professor Ryland had just finished dealing with.

"Though all of that pale in the face of how you handled High Academ Soto." Kendren snorted, and even Sint looked like she was trying hard not to give in to amusement. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Please, you do me far too much credit, High Academ," Ryland said.

"I was merely being myself." Sint nodded.

"He's right, ma'am. Ryland absolutely was just being himself." Ryland looked at her in mild confusion. She had made that sound insulting somehow. Tyra laughed, her bushy hair shaking in mirth.

"I had a feeling this would be entertaining. I must apologize for taking this long to meet you. A different project had taken up the majority of my time—supervising the thesis of an apprentice who's graduating soon—and since it had gotten late, I thought why not meet formally at the seminar."

"Please, I was in no hurry," Ryland said.

"I had full faith in Sint arranging our meeting. Eventually."

"See, Sint." Tyra elbowed her new protégé.

"He's not that enigmatic." Ryland shook his head with a small sigh.

"Rather sad that I've been labelled an enigma, when I take great pains to try and be frank and open with everyone." Kendren nodded in between taking sips of a drink he had acquired from somewhere.

"That's true. He really does try to be honest. To a fault!" Sint ducked her head, strands of her mane escaping her cowl.

"High Academ, that was supposed to be private." Tyra laughed.

"It's alright. I get the sense our supposedly enigmatic friend here is a tremendously controlled individual." Her shrewd dark eyes held Ryland's own.

"He gives me the impression of one who can't allow himself to become overly… impassioned." She had a point there. And she had arrived at it after only just meeting him. Ryland straightened just a bit. It would seem he was dealing with a decidedly intelligent individual. Not that he was implying everyone else he had been interacting with for a while now were dumb. It was just that Tyra appeared to possess a very cutting intellect.

"You'd be correct, High Academ," Ryland said quietly.

"I'm glad to see you are honest."

"In the effort of true frankness… it's less a matter of being honest and more that I have no use for lies." That garnered a very different reaction from everyone present. Kendren stopped drinking. Sint had that old tension about her again, like she had just received a reminder of whatever it was that made her act wary around Ryland all the time. Even Tyra visibly reevaluated whatever stance she had come to this meeting with.

"Well, that's certainly illuminating," she said.

"Nevertheless, I'm glad we can have this open chat." Ryland smiled brightly.

"Me too. Certainly an improvement over my last High Academ." Tyra laughed. Though, the affability she had come in with earlier didn't fully return. They had to pause their conversation for a bit after that. There was a small announcement from the Academ leading the seminar about the arrival of refreshments. As the trays bearing food and new drinks floated among the throngs of attendees, Ryland and his companions went about getting some plates and glasses for themselves.

"So," Tyra said, munching on a cucumber with glowing blue veins.

"Sint said you're capable of getting basically anything I want? Anything at all?"

"Well… I can't get anything from the past." Ryland paused mid-bite, his cream puff held precariously between his teeth.

"Not without a great deal of trouble. And getting things from the future is basically impossible. But anything in the present is fair game." It was Tyra's turn to pause mid-bite.

"I hadn't even considered the axis of time." Someone muttered something about Ryland being Ryland but he was unfortunately unable to pick out who it was.

"But yes, no worries," Tyra said after her cucumber was finished.

"I have a list of things and they're all thankfully from the present. Or, they should be available in the present, as far as I'm aware."

"Allow me to take a look, if you would." The tall, bushy-haired High Academ handed Ryland a short page. He went through it before looking up.

"Some of these are going to be rather dangerous," he said. Tyra's dark eyes glimmered like that just made it all the better.

"Ah, it seems Sint wasn't exaggerating your capabilities."

"If anything, she was probably understating them." Tyra laughed as Sint gaped a little.

"Bringing in resources and ingredients from across the vast expanse of the Realms—and not just the Accorded ones—is an understatement of your prowess?"

"It's certainly far from the full length and breadth of my capabilities." The High Academ wasn't the only one shaking her head disbelievingly.

"I'll be happy to get started," Ryland said.

"But doing so here might pose… issues."

"Indeed. How about we wait till the end of the seminar and then I can take you to a more secluded area where we should get some privacy?"

"That sounds perfectly acceptable to me." They didn't need to wait for very long until the seminar was done. The refreshments were one of the last stages of the event, and with it winding down, all that was left were a few final speeches from the Academs in charge of organizing the seminar. Like the rest of the event, the end was generalized too.

They received reminders to get going on their research as soon as possible, to take advantage of the various resources and assistance Arcoryx Academy could provide, and to forge a strong bond with their mentors, all while ensuring they carried out their various duties such as teaching or whatever other jobs they held. That made Ryland briefly wonder what exact classes the others were taking. What courses were Alendra, Kendren, and Sint learning this semester?

Was Sint teaching a class or was she a full-time research assistant under High Academ Tyra? What exactly was Kendren's relationship with his mentor? And what was Alendra negotiating with that poor old man she had just wrapped around her finger?

"And remember," said the High Academ acting as the chair of the seminar.

"Magic duels resume for this semester in two weeks! As ever, the graduate students are expected to kickstart the duels. I expect great displays of magical prowess as well as professionalism, sportsmanship, and camaraderie from all of you! May Fate favour you all!" Ryland pursed his lips. He had almost forgotten about the duels, despite Viren having reminded him when he had challenged his bully to one. And now, it seemed his student body would be the ones starting things off. Hmm.

That hadn't been how it worked back during his first time at Arcoryx. While duels of magic were an integral part of one's education experience at the academy, instilled during the heyday of the Realmbreaker Wars and the subsequent need for preparedness against Living Mana, they were for regular students. Graduate students, having already received their primary education in magic, were spared the need for it. Or they had been, during Ryland's time. Not so now, it seemed.

With the final formalities taken care of, the seminar had turned into a free-for-all get-together. Students and Academs could now mingle or go and do whatever they wished, either within the hall or without. A lot of them were taking advantage of the opportunity to shake hands and establish connections, as if they hadn't been doing so already through the entire seminar. Ryland supposed there were a lot of people attending.

The most enterprising extroverts would probably not be satisfied till they had taken full advantage of the occasion. Which probably explained why Ryland's ambushers chose that moment to arrive.

"Now that it's over," High Academ Tyra was saying.

"We can—""Aha!" High Academ Sedian appeared to pounce on High Academ Tyra out of thin air.

"Another thief! First, I had to fend off Marvainn. Now I've got to tackle you too, Tyra?" Tyra turned to her colleague with her eyebrows climbing into her forehead.

"I'm sorry… tackle me?" Marvainn arrived before Sedian could explain herself, huffing a little like he had chased her across the entire hall. Ryland figured there might just be some truth to that.

"Don't be too offended, Tyra. You know what Sedian is like." That made Sedian glare her lone eye at Marvainn.

"You're one to talk, after trying to commit daylight robbery. I should call the authorities on both of you."

"I'm sorry," Tyra said, raising both hands for calm.

"But what in all the Realms is going on here?" Ryland noted that a small crowd was gathering. Two graduate students had followed in Sedian's wake, looking very conflicted. No doubt, they felt like they had to support their mentor. But on the other hand, they probably didn't want to oppose other High Academs. Marvainn had a similar entourage, consisting of a younger Academ and another graduate student. One whom Ryland recognized and was recognized by in turn—Linsby.

"…and that's why I should be first in line in acquiring Ryland's collaboration," Sedian was saying. Ryland had honestly not been paying attention.

"Clearly, you need to back off, Tyra." High Academ Tyra did no such thing.

"Well, we're not really collaborating so much as we're making a little deal. Tit for tat. That sort of thing." Sedian stared. Even Marvainn gave Tyra a dubious look.

"That is literally the definition of collaboration, Tyra. What do you take me for? No one is collaborating out of the goodness of their hearts. At the very least, you expect your name on the resulting publication if you've contributed somewhat, don't you?"

"Well, yes," Tyra said, not missing a beat despite being called out.

"But why don't we ask Ryland who he'd prefer to work with?"

"Pish. He hasn't even decided what kind of research he intends to perform. How will he know who he ought to work for—er, I mean, collaborate with."

"Actually, I have decided my direction of research," Ryland said. The throngs were finally leaving. Ryland and the rest of them had joined the exit stream, but they all came to a stop at his little announcement. Sint's ears perked up, Kendren looked up sharply, Linsby and Marvainn exchanged looks, while the other two High Academs momentarily stopped breathing.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Alendra said, apparently having returned to the group at an apparently opportune moment.

"What in all the Realms are you going to research?" Ryland smiled. For some reason, whatever they saw on his face sent odd reactions running across their faces.

"Ah, I'm going to research Calamities."