After they were done with breakfast, Satoshi went with Mulah, he was going to visit a fellow researcher colleague of his that he got acquainted with during one of his visits to Asira. While there, Mulah was also planning to meet and get acquainted with other fellow researchers that were stationed in the Palace Museum.
"This is just a courtesy visit. Since we often need help from other academia in our field, it is generally a good practice to do this from time to time. We never know which connection is gonna be helpful in our next breakthrough." Mulah said.
The Palace Museum complex was located in the center of Golden Ayodhya inner city. It took quite a vast area of the inner city and was surrounded with tall ivory white walls that went around the entire perimeter of the city. There were forts located at each of its cardinal points that also function as main access gates.
Satoshi saw the ivory white wall and one of these forts the first time he got into the inner city, but he never really went to visit.
Mulah took Satoshi on a personal transport shuttle, there were just the two of them. These kinds of personal transport shuttle, while not rare, were also not common. Most of them were powered by a decaying reactive element that has gone past its half-life. While it could be considered a waste, power companies had found a way to manufacture reaction fuse constructs that could transform this kind of energy and put it into the power unit of these vehicles.
This particular shuttle they were in was not powered by this kind of power unit, instead it utilized an energy that was created by the force that water molecules produced when they got deconstructed and reconstructed back in perpetual cycle. So while it was considerably more expensive, it was also much safer than the alternative, thus Mulah preferred this one more.
These kinds of vehicles were limited in supply and were highly regulated by the authorities. Unless one were extremely rich, or held great sway of power, one wouldn't be able to own these personally. Instead, they had to rent it from the authorities at such an astonishing price for a certain period of time. Even Mulah had to rent this one. Thus, this kind of personal shuttle slowly became some kind of status symbol.
When the personal shuttle they were in approached the fort, the gate guards directly opened the gate for them. While other visitors that came without one, must wait for a little bit and went into a little procedure before allowed entry. These kinds of privileges came with "owning" one of these personal shuttles.
The inner part of the wall was not as Satoshi thought. It was mostly empty fields with a few buildings scattered here and there. At the center of the field there were two giant trees standing side by side. Their proportions were baffling.
Mulah and Satoshi must go through a series of smaller gates to get where they were going. As they got deeper and deeper, the security got tighter and tighter. At the last checkpoint they even got searched and Mulah had to show his Imperial Descendants medallion.
The two of them finally arrived at their destination. It was a fast area teemed with buildings, a stark contrast to the one they saw first when they came in. There was a magnificent central building with a great reception hall and wings that spanned on each of its sides. Looking deeper inside, there were also many clusters of buildings with smaller halls, pavilions, towers, and even what looked like residential areas.
"What do you think?" Mulah asked Satoshi, for some reason he looked somehow proud at this point.
"It is definitely something," Satoshi answered.
"The great hall and the wings are what is publicly known as the Palace Museum. The "real museum" is located deeper inside. That's where the good stuff is, and that's where we are going." Mulah explained
It looked like the guards at one of the gates they went through before had notified someone of Mulah's arrival, because almost as soon as they arrived there was a representative ready to receive them.
"You must be Elder Mulah of Xinjia-kor's Imperial Descendant Hall of Research. My name is Kirgio and I'm here to guide you." The man politely introduced himself to Mulah and Satoshi.
The man looked no older than Satoshi with golden brown skin and medium physique. He didn't look buff, but had a broad shoulder and was well built. His face was almost perfectly symmetrical with a bold set of brows and clear eyes. Satoshi never met someone that looked like Kirgio before but Satoshi knew Kirgio would be considered handsome anywhere.
"Thank you so much for that, otherwise we would get lost here, hahaha." Mulah joked. "This is my brother Satoshi, an Aspirant under my tutelage."
"Greetings, brother Satoshi, as an Aspirant myself, I must say you are very lucky to have such a renowned person as Elder Mulah as your mentor." Kirgio said to Satoshi,on his face a faint look of envy.
"Brother Kirgio is too polite. To become designated Aspirant in the Palace Museum complex you must have great achievement yourself" Satoshi returned the greetings.
Kirgio smiled at Satoshi and said to the two of them, "Let's come inside, the elders are waiting for you. Since this is your first visit, I'll give a few introductions of the museum while we walk."
The three of them took a different route than those of regular visitors. They took a side entrance that would directly lead them to the inner parts of the Palace Museum. There were a lot more people here than Satoshi thought there would be. Judging from their distinct clothes they were students, disciples, and even elders. There were even one or two teachers that Satoshi saw.
The rank of seniority in the academia community can be divided into six tiers. It began at the lowest with Aspirant, people that are yet to be accepted into the community. They have to prove themselves to possess the discipline of an academia, hunger for knowledge, the willingness to uphold the honor and virtuous values of their profession, to have the ability to properly seek and receive guidance, and the willingness to be helpful.
Once they have proven all of this they will be sworn into a community and have the rank of a Student. That's when their true academia journey would begin.
At the very top, were the rank of Grand Masters. Those were the ones that have achieved full mastery in a certain field and have gained undoubtable recognition of their peers and juniors. They stood at the very pinnacle of influence, together among the likes of kings and emperors.
It took a very long time for one to achieve such heights. There was even a saying, for ordinary folks even three life times wouldn't be enough to become Grand Master! Not just time, it also required a tremendous amount of resources, support, right circumstances, and fortuitous encounters, aside from the obvious relentless personal effort, dedication, and sacrifice.
It was very rare for someone from the human race to reach the rank of Grand Master, due to their more limited lifespans. In the whole Terra-Esterna Supercontinent there were only two Grand Masters from the human race, one Martial Grandmaster from the province of Sulus, and another Grand Master Sorcerer from the province of Dai.
As Kirgio explained many things along their journey, Satoshi got a clearer understanding why Mulah referred to this place as the "real palace museum". Historically speaking, the Palace Museum had no relation with the Imperial Family from the Third Era whatsoever. Instead, they were remnants of a small local kingdom of what would become part of Istindi in the future.
The ancestors of the ones that established this kingdom reached its peak glory at the very beginning of the Second Era. Two hundred years later, even speaking by Second Era standard, the local kingdom was mostly just a husk of its former glory. It was even absorbed into a democratic state that gave it special privileges to exist.
But like any kind of royal or imperial dynasty, even if their power and riches had gone away there was something of great value they still possess: the imperial records! This Palace Museum in particular, albeit small, held one of the most intact imperial records of the Second Era. They even had some precious records that dated back to the First Era!
Thus, many academia from across the world gathered here to peruse these records and conduct research.
This expatriate academia and scholars slowly became over-abundant in the Golden Ayodhya district. Over time, they took in personal Aspirants to tutor, raised Students and Disciples, even families.
That was why Aspirants from all over the supercontinent began to flock to Golden Ayodhya, to the point that the various academies, institutes, and schools decided to establish their branch in the district.
"There are currently more than 200 students, 34 disciples, 18 elders, and 3 teachers living in the compound. There is also rumor that there is a Martial Master staying in the compound to study long lost martial arts while safeguarding the compound, but we are not sure." Kirgio explained.
"Most of the scholars that live here come from the provinces of Terra-Esterna, but there are also some from other continents. Most of those expatriates come from Asira of Afar-Asira, as you would expect, but there were also a few from Ruspp."
"I was told, at one point of time we even housed some Elves Disciples and a couple Masters from Eyriin! Can you believe that? I would love to see one of them." Kirgio got very excited when he got to this point.
"Oh, some representatives of the Dwarfs nation that is affiliated with Dai also visited one time, but luckily it was during a different period of time than the Elves. Otherwise, how awkward would that be, huh? Hahaha."
The intense racial tension of Elves and Dwarves had been a well known subject since Folkien's descendants managed to finish and published his work, "The Phylogeny of Species", during the Imperial Family rule of the Third Era. To this day, it was still regarded as the most groundbreaking and influential in the effort to understand how we became what we are today.
Thus, its place has never been lost as one of the most valuable books in the Imperial Descendants Hall of Knowledge.
"The furthest ones, aside from me, come from the Andea territory." Kirgio continued.
"Where did you come from?" Satoshi couldn't help but ask?
Kirgio looked at Satoshi, "Me? I come from Nevas Kingdom at the behest of the Human King."
—
"Mulah! Hahaha! Come here you punk!" A clear sound of laughter broke out as soon as Mulah and Satoshi entered the common hall. It came from a beautiful woman in a bright court dress and a simple outer scholar robe.
"Sepphira!" Mulah exclaimed back, "You haven't aged a day since last I saw you!"
"Hahaha stop it you punk, I know you are married and have children. Your words won't work on me."
"I'm really just stating the fact." Mulah reconfirmed.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, of course I believe you. Anyway, who did you get here?" the woman named Sepphira asked Mulah while looking at Satoshi.
"Sepphira, let me introduce you, this is the Aspirant I have mentioned in one of my letters, Satoshi." Mulah said to Sepphira. He then turned to Satoshi and said, "Satoshi, this is the world renowned, most beautiful, endless grace, the one and only, Witch of Karachmet, Teacher Sepphira."
"What witch, you punk!" Sepphira jokingly sent Mulah an angry glare.
"Greetings Teacher Sepphira, thank you for being patient with this one's antics." Satoshi greeted Sepphira while sending a jab at Mulah.
"Hahaha, it's fine, he isn't so bad after all. Are you the Satoshi that used the Dismay Broadway to scam money out of people?" Sepphira asked Satoshi.
Satoshi was startled by the question, "I'm not sure what Mulah has been telling you, but you shouldn't believe anything he says. He is full of lies."
"Hey, I also complimented you multiple times, are those lies too?" Mulah defended.
"Those are true, the rest are complete fabrications." Satoshi claimed.
"Hahaha, so you really have what it takes to deal with his antics after all. Oh, you can take your leave Kirgio, thank you for escorting them." They didn't realize that Kirgio had been standing there all this time, only after Sepphira mentioned it that they did realize.
"Don't mention it, Teacher Sepphira. Elder Mulah, brother Satoshi, I'll take my leave now. Don't hesitate to look for me if you ever visit the palace again in the future." Kirgio gave a slight bow and took his leave.
Mulah looked as Kirgio left until he could no longer see him before saying, "Is it really okay to keep someone the Human King sent this close to those records?"
Sepphira sighed and said, "We had no choice. The Human King's reach went beyond what we expected, we were pressured to the point we could offer any retort to reject his request. If we push too much, we risk presenting our-self as being impartial and biased, which in turn, open ourselves for much more direct retaliation and open schemes."
"So for now, we can only be diplomatic about it." She ended.
"To be able to assert that kind of pressure on an academia community consisting of joint forces of various powers, he must really be one hell of a guy, huh?" Mulah said.
"So the rumor about a Martial Master being here is really just that? A rumor?" Satoshi asked Sepphira.
Sepphira flinched when he heard Satoshi's question but she quickly contained it, "How do you know it's just a rumor?
"Well, I mean, if said Martial Master is really here then it won't be regarded as a mere rumor. He, or she, only needs to make their presence known and anyone would no longer speculate. The only reason it stays a rumor is because, for some reason, the Martial Master is undisposed to perpetually remain here at the moment, but would be able to offer assistance in a short notice. So instead of maintaining the illusion that he is constantly in the compound, which will obviously be easily broken, it is better to present it as a rumor. After all, nothing makes people more reluctant to make a move than an uncertain potential threat, right?" Satoshi explained his conjecture.
Sepphira and Mulah stared at Satoshi in silent.
"Hahahahaha! This punk is amusing! You should be careful with what you say lest you get slapped one day!" Sepphira exploded in laughter, neither confirming or denying the conjecture.
Satoshi was startled by the sudden threat. "You really have the rare talent of inviting trouble upon yourself," Mulah said to him.
"Anyway, you said there's something important you need my help with. Speak, what do you need?" Sepphira asked Mulah and practically ended the topic about the rumor.
Mulah almost forgot he had a particular purpose in this visit if Sepphira didn't ask him. "That's right! So in short, I need to borrow your Evil-eye."
—
Satoshi split off from Mulah and Sepphira, they looked like they had something important to talk about and he didn't want to be a bother, so he excused himself. He began looking around the common hall. Although not as large as the great fall out front, it was still quite spacious.
It had an open floor plan with different areas for different purposes. There were multiple seating areas with several tables and chairs where many students could be seen engaging in quiet discussion or fiery debate.
Further off to the side there was a smaller seating area that looked quite a bit more luxurious, it even got a dedicated pantry and bar next to it. Several middle aged people were seated in this seating area, either casually reading something or just enjoying their coffee while making small talk.
Satoshi went over a board on the wall, there were many papers posted on it all in different hand-writings. On top of the board, there were big bold letters: Inquiry Board - Magic Concepts.
There were several of this board within this hall, every single one was full with questions, requests, and inquiries. They were divided into many topics, from general inquiry, to more specific ones such as this one.
Magic concepts, alchemy, bio-alchemy, phylogeny, fabrication, refinement, numeracy, astronomy, runes and inscriptions, enchantment, and many-many more. It looked like there was a board for every branch of study you could think of. There were even rare ones such as celestial/immortal bodies, universal treasures, cosmic paleontology, and mythical deities.
Satoshi was reading these boards as he walked. Some of the questions and inquiries he found really interesting and spurred different sets of conjectures in his mind. He didn't take long on any of them and just casually scanned over them, only stopping a bit on some he found interesting.
Satoshi stopped when he found a name he notices one of those notes, it was Kirgio's and it was posted on the Cosmic Paleontology section.:
- - -
Subject: Proofs on the existence of "Earth Mother"
I am researching a topic about the conception of Earth and living organisms. I've read the introduction of Gaia Theory and found several conjectures and hypotheses about the existence of something regarded as "Earth Mother".
I am convinced that the term is more than an abstract concept, figure of speech, or euphemism. I believe that there is more than enough evidence to support the hypothesis that the "Earth Mother '' is an actual living entity with its own consciousness.
Looking for fellow academia that might have proofs or any kind of lead to support this hypothesis, or even better, clues on where one could find such kind of existence.
- Aspirant Kirgio
- - -
Satoshi found this inquiry interesting, since from what was written, Kirgio seemed fully convinced that this so-called "Earth Mother" truly existed. Satoshi himself was familiar with the Gaia Theory and the concept of "Earth Mother" that Kirgio mentioned.
The idea of a nurturing existence such that of a mother that gave birth and looked after all living beings has been a very prevalent theme in almost every culture. It went back even to the First Era, but to this time, none had been able to prove that it was more than an abstract concept, a philosophical idea.
Satoshi continued to look around, to see if there were more interesting inquiries, that was when he saw another inquiry by Kirgio. This one was on a board about Mythical Deities.
- - -
Subject: Proofs on the existence of the Bestial Siblings
I'm looking for proofs on the existence, and clues for the locations of Bestial Siblings, especially the Mythical Shadow. Any kind of clues will be appreciated.
- Aspirant Kirgio
- - -
That was another inquiry that drew Satoshi's interest.
"This guy's way of thinking is really interesting. He seemed very sure of his inquiries, like he knows for sure these things truly exist and he only needs to find the clues to locate them. Didn't they debunk the rumor about the Mythical Shadow long ago?"
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