Mane looked at Indra with a hint of suspicion in his clear blue eyes. Just a while ago, Indra was arguing that Mane didn't need to hide his identity as a scholar. This was the first time Mane had witnessed the god going against Ananse's wishes. Although they had only just met, Mane believed that Indra admired Ananse. So for him to go against her will meant that he was utterly sure of what he was saying.
However, after Ananse had refuted his claims that Mane wasn't really in any danger from the gods, he didn't argue back. Logically, that would be the next course of argument for anyone who wanted to get their message across. But Mane felt that there was something wrong. His reasoning was simple. When Ananse had denied Indra's confident claims that Mane wasn't in any real danger, Indra's expression had remained the same. However, just a few moments after that, Indra seemed to have suddenly received enlightenment. And he didn't bother to say anything more.
"That was telepathy, wasn't it" Mane asked as he suddenly realized why Indra was silent?
"You truly are worthy to pursue the path of scholars. Your brain runs at a very impressive pace." Ananse didn't deny his claim, rather confirming the blonde haired boy's thoughts.
"It is nothing" Mane scratched his head with a silly smile on his face. Normally, when someone praised his intellect he would think nothing of it. But it was different when the one lauding his achievements was a Sensor God- a being at the peak of scholars. It was the same as a physicist getting to meet Sir Albert Einstein. And not only did they get to meet their legend, but their legend actually praised their intellect. They would be ecstatic.
Suddenly Mane's expression changed as he asked, "What technique have you given me"? He realized to his utmost disbelief that once he understood the reason behind Indra's silence, his strength as a scholar had increased slightly. It was a minuscule increase, one that no one would pay attention to. However, Mane was a scholar now, and every minute increment would be felt by the boy. His senses were incredibly heightened.
"You can slowly digest all the information you took into your brain when you return. For now, there is something else that I want to speak to you about." Ananse didn't bother to provide Mane with an answer. All the answers he needed concerning the scholar manual he was studying had already been imprinted into his brain. He just hadn't taken the time to sort them out. Once he was out of Indra's alternate world, he would be able to find the information he sought.
However, Mane was bound to be disappointed with the answers he was going to get. Ananse knew what the boy wanted from her. He wanted to ask whether he would keep growing by just answering questions and seeing things that others did not. After all, he guessed that she used telepathy, and that alone had given him a small increase in strength. The minuscule addition to his power would merely amount to less than a hundredth of his scholar abilities, but it was an increase none the less. Currently, the blonde haired boy may be thinking that he would be able to grow quickly with a manual such as this one.
He wasn't wrong. He would be able to grow quickly. After all, it was a manual that she used, and had improved over the course of her life. It was bound to be an impressive manual. But this speed was in relation to the speed of studying the path of scholars. Otherwise, any other person would categorize the speed of growth as slow. After all, if it were that easy, there would be many scholars running around the universe. This was why she knew that Mane was bound to face disappointment once he realized the truth. The manual he was studying was the 'Seeker Manual'. It was a peak grade scholar technique that wouldn't lose to any other wielding manuals. It had one distinct factor. Just like all other scholar manuals, the more you understood of the world, the greater the strength you would gain. But the Seeker Manual took this principle to the extreme. Unlike other manuals, this peak manual didn't just transform mysteries solved into strength, but it also transformed concessions into strength. The best explanation for this would be what had just happened. Mane had realized that it was likely that Ananse had communicated with Indra via telepathy- a skill possessed by the most talented of scholars. And so his strength had grown.
However, unlike what Mane thought, he wasn't accurate in his deduction. Not the part about the telepathy. He was spot on about that. He wasn't right in believing that the small increment had come from realizing the means of communication that the two gods used. The reason his strength had increased ever so slightly was because Ananse had confessed that it was indeed true. Had she lied that that wasn't the case, Mane wouldn't have gotten that extra bit of energy. So it wasn't just a matter of getting some simple questions right, but having the other person admit that you were indeed right.
It was a bizarre technique, especially since other scholar manuals didn't work this way. For most manuals, you only experienced an increase in strength upon correctly finding out the truth to some strange happenings around. The more complex the mystery, the more energy you gain. However, high class manuals gave more energy than lower class ones. Even if two scholars solved a similar mystery in the same way, the one using a high class manual would receive more energy than the one using the lower class manual. It was the same with all other wielding manuals.
Mane turned a tad more serious when he realized that they were finally getting to the problem of the day. He was thankful that the two gods- Ananse especially- had given him so much information; information that not even his maters had disclosed to him, not that they knew. And although he still wasn't sure what it was that a Supreme did, he did have a fair idea to what he was meant to do. It was better than having no idea. But from Ananse's words, he knew that she was finally willing to let him know why she had sought him out. He was finally going to find out what it was that the goddess wanted from him.
"Do you know anything about God Academies" Ananse asked, although she already knew the answer to her question.
"God Academies? No, I haven't the slightest idea." Mane shook his head to imply that he had no idea about these so called God Academies. But from the name, he could infer one or two things.
"Well they are learning institutions, much like the one you currently attend. However, they aren't as feckless as the Wielder Academy you attend" Ananse stated nonchalantly.
Mane smiled bitterly when he heard her words. How was it his fault that the Wielder Academy was so weak? After all, Zandor was, and still is, a small planet with very limited resources. Although for some strange reason there was an abundance of edict and chaos in Zandor, it didn't change the fact that the wielding manuals of this tiny planet were all low grade and amounted to nothing much. To a goddess like Ananse, Zandor is incredibly weak, more so its academies. But to the inhabitants of Zandor who didn't know much about the vastness of the universe, the Wielding Academy was a prestigious place.
"God Academies are educational institutes that house several talents from across the universe. They are called God Academies because they are the greatest learning institutions that our universe has to offer. They have the best resources in the cosmos, and are the best places for young talents to hone their skills. They produce several ascenders, and are the starting points for many gods. Till date, most of these academies house some of the children of the gods."