"The Abandoner?" Indra asked doubtfully. It was hard to believe that the Supreme who had suddenly disappeared and had been given the tag, 'The Abandoner', was a master in three different fields.
"Call him whatever you will. He had his reasons for leaving." Ananse waved her hands nonchalantly. The Sixth Supreme was the most infamous of his race. He had abandoned his destiny and disappeared completely off the radar. No one knew where he went, or what he was doing. Because of his disappearance, the entire universe had descended into a period of turmoil. The gods of many heavens had gone against their rulers, seeking to establish themselves instead, due to the simple reason that the one who was meant keep them in check had abandoned the universe. Till date, there were still scars that remained from that tumultuous era. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th heavens were still in shambles, and all of these heavenly realms had no true rulers. That was why the battle to find the rulers of these realms was still ongoing. As a matter of fact, Indra was among the candidates shortlisted to succeed as ruler over the 3rd heaven.
"Why was the 6th Supreme called The Abandoner?" Mane asked. He didn't know much about his predecessors, so he wanted to learn as much as he could. He could tell from the moniker the Sixth Supreme had been given that he disappeared at some point when the universe needed him the most. But Ananse seemed to know much more than what everyone else did. He wanted to hear the truth from her.
"You are a scholar now. It wouldn't do you good to have all your questions answered for you." Ananse gave a smart reply.
"You mean that the reason I was able to breakthrough earlier was because I answered a question?" Mane asked. Till now, he still wasn't clear as to the reason he had grown so much as a scholar, when he had done basically nothing.
"A scholar doesn't improve simply by practicing. You practice your skills as a scholar to hone them. You have improved senses, so you must train so that you are able to use your skills to the best of your abilities. But if it comes to improving in levels and ranks, the only way to do so is by answering questions and mysteries that plague your mind." Ananse dutifully explained
"So you are saying that it was because I answered the earlier question that I broke through so quickly?" Mane nodded in understanding.
"Indeed. Otherwise you would have been stuck at the lowest level for a relatively long time." Ananse replied.
"But doesn't that mean that it is pretty simple to become a scholar? After all, all I have to do is to answer the questions that come my way correctly, and I would keep on improving in strength." Mane was a bit confused. If it was that simple, wouldn't it be a bit too easy to become a scholar? Plus, scholars had impressive skill and could even threaten gods when they are fully grown. For such an impressive path, shouldn't the process be much harder?
"If it were that simple, wouldn't you find scholars everywhere" Ananse smirked disdainfully? Mane blushed in embarrassment as he rubbed his nose.
"It doesn't just mean that you can answer any mediocre questions and get a breakthrough. You have to solve mysteries that boggle the minds of most. Even then, you would only progress a bit. For instance, if you solve a first grade mystery, the current you would breakthrough to the mid-stage of the beginner scholar level."
Ananse's explanation enlightened Mane, allowing him to finally understand why it was so difficult to become a scholar. Taking away the fact that the gods would kill any good scholar they found, it wasn't easy to embark on this path. After all, the gods would not just go around killing any and everyone who called themselves a scholar. Only if they had the potential to become a Scholar Emperor/Empress, would they pay any attention to you.
"But if that is the case, then how did I go straight from a scholar wannabe to a Beginner Scholar, without even stepping on the Trainee Scholar level? Are you saying that what I understood earlier was more than a simple mystery?" Mane wondered.
Logically, he should have gone from a nobody to a Trainee Scholar. Then he would strive for the peak of that level, before attempting to become a Beginner Scholar. But just by discovering a small loophole in a 'history lesson' he had skipped past the first stage and barged into the next stage.
"That is because you didn't answer a simple question. Can you think of anything that is of greater relevance than a first grade mystery?" Ananse smiled as she enquired.
Mane thought for a bit, and finally realized what it was. "It was one of the seven great mysteries, wasn't it" he gasped as it finally dawned on him that he had unwittingly provided the answers to one of the seven great mysteries.
Ananse didn't reply, but the smile she had on her face said it all. As for Indra, he finally understood why he couldn't hear a thing they were saying earlier. Turns out that the boy had comprehended one of the seven great mysteries of the universe. He felt that it was a shame that he couldn't hear what it was. But his gains weren't all bad. He had been given a history lesson he had never heard of before, and at least he knew what this mystery was about; it was related to the Origin King.
As for how scholars grew, he already knew that. Every god knew that much at least. This was why there were academies that allowed students to embark upon the scholar path, yet the gods turned a blind eye to them. After all, to the gods it didn't matter how many wanted to be scholars. Eventually many of them would realize the sheer difficulty of the path and would give up. They would be regretful that they had picked a path that led to a dead end when there were other options available. Plus in the last millions of years, there had only been one person who successfully became a Scholar Empress. And even this wasn't publicly known. Indra had only found out because Ananse had allowed him to. The Absolute Queen was the only one thus far.
"I don't think it is necessary for Mane to hide his identity as a scholar. No one would pay that much attention to him unless he can become a Scholar King." Unlike Ananse, Indra didn't believe that Mane should hide his identity. In his books, the only way the gods would pay attention to him was if he proved that he could become a threat.
"You have forgotten that there are already a few gods staring at him from the shadows. He cannot afford to take such a risk. Once they realize that he is embarking upon this path, they would see him as a threat." Ananse explained
Of course Indra hadn't forgotten about Shiva and Seth. But Seth wasn't actively concentrating on Mane because he only regarded the boy as a talented nobody. Shiva was the only one truly watching the boy. But as long as Mane was given the right artefact, he would be able to hide from the unwanted spies Shiva would send his way. As long as Mane trained on another world, he would be none the wiser. After all, the reason Ananse was here was to recommend an Academy outside of Zandor to Mane. They had gotten off track a bit, but that was still the main issue. However, before he could argue with Ananse, she sent him a telepathic message.
The message said, "Don't forget the prophecy. Once the boy reveals that he is a scholar, they would believe that the prophecy is a hundred percent true"
These words were enough to shut Indra up.