The Day of Scholars (2)

Cyrus found himself sitting in the seat of a lecture hall once more, except around him were even less students than were normally in the Mors department. Even if he added them all up and multiplied them by two, the number would not even reach half of the smallest department in the school.

Idly spinning his mask in hand, Cyrus thought

"It seems that not many understand the true value of this class, what a shame for them."

Soon there was no time for such idle thoughts and movements, as a wizened old man entered the room at a slow pace. Looking like he would keel over at any moment, the old man made his way to behind the podium at a pace akin to the crawling of an infant.

His eyes were glazed over, his hair long turned a snow white from age, and his skin wrinkled and filled with spots.

With slow movements and shaky hands, he reached for a pocket attached to his belt and pulled out a pair of thick wooden rimmed glasses that was similar to the first ever designs of such a tool ever created.

Placing them upon his face, he cleared his throat and took a deep breathe.

"The study of the mind. The mind, psyche. Those who study such a thing all wish for the same thing…" began the old man, his entire person fast becoming animated and his eyes shining bright.

"We wish to describe each and every mental process carefully, so that we may assign meaning to it.

We wish to explain each and every mental process carefully, so that we may enlighten our minds of the truth of the world.

We wish to predict each and every mental process carefully, so that we can start to master reality itself.

And finally, we wish to change each and every mental process, so that we can bend reality to our will.

I am Sigmund Boyd, Grand Scholar in service of the Empire and one of the top minds in this field of study" ended the old man, having finished his introduction.

He then walked away from his podium and stalked towards the one and only row of students who showed up for the lesson, walking in front of the first one from the left and making his way down.

"But before I can teach you how to become your own master, how to free yourselves from the chains of your own mind. First I must teach you how to think properly…" began the old man, but stopped short as a snicker rang out from one of the students.

Walking over and in front of the student, the old man looked down at him with a gaze full of pity.

"You think you understand how to think? Foolish and blind. Answer me this then, oh wise one: You are walking down the street and a man bumps into you, he is sweating profusely with rapid breathing and a red face to boot. He looks at you for a moment, and shouts "Watch where you are going fool" while angrily stomping away continuing his run where many other people were bumped into and some even knocked down. What can you say about the man's character?" questioned Sigmund.

The student immediately answered, not even requiring to think for a moment.

"He is obviously rude and impatient, the proof is as bright as day."

Sigmund simply laughed in mockery,

"Wrong. The true answer is that there is no answer, you cannot make a judgement of the man's true character based on such a simple interaction. Why? Because the character of an individual results either from internal or external causes, and to make a sure judgement you must be able to separate the two. External causes can cause an otherwise kind and polite man to change radically in a short time, what if the man's wife just died and he was making his way to the funeral? What if he was late for work due to having to nurse a sick child, but hurrying so that he could arrive on time and have enough money to pay for the child's treatment? The only people who would make a judgement of the man's character in such a situation are those who do not know how to think: Fools"

The old man scoffed while walking back to his podium.

"The entirety of what I explained is known as the fundamental attribution error, all documented in the writings I penned and that are currently housed in every Scholar's den in the Empire. Now… to teach you to think is simple. Just understand the following and we will all be on a level playing field:

First, remove your ego from the discovery of the world around you. Your highest aim should be to uncover the truth of the world, to puzzle out the mysteries that remain hidden to us.

Secondly, recognize that each and every person is seeing the world in a biased manner. How we feel, our experiences, and even our own thinking can limit us from seeing what is truly in front of us. I think my example from earlier was clear proof of this.

Thirdly, entertain thoughts and ideas that run contrary to what you believe or think you know. Act as if everything you believe to be guaranteed and assured could possibly be entirely wrong, doubt everything.

Fourthly, be open to nuanced ways of thinking. That is, not everything will immediately be clear and simple. How can you expect to boil down this complex world into its most basic forms so easily?

Lastly, accept change. Humans have moved forward since day one, and anyone who stopped progressing died off. Why is the Empire so strong? Why is the Empire still standing, while so many others fall to the winds of time like the now destroyed kingdom of Persae below our southern border? Because they refuse to change, to grow, to adapt."

Having finished his speech, he pulled out a stack of documents from under the podium and placed it on the wood of the podium.

"Pass it out" ordered the man to the air in front of him, causing more than one student to wonder if he had suddenly gone senile.

Much to everyone's surprise, however, the shadow of the professor twisted and trembled. Slowly raising from the depths were two men wearing heavy dark hooded cloaks, all of their skin covered from head to toe.

"Yes Grand Scholar" said the two figures as they bowed slightly, with shadowy appendages extending from their body and picking up the documents.

Walking over to the students, the conjured hands left one on each of the students' desks. Every time they neared one of the students, however, their face would turn white and their breathing shallow. The stench of death emanated from these two men, so thick that most of these untested students could barely resist shivering.

All, except one of course.

"Now who are these people? Such masters of the Mors domain, but they do not appear to be members of the Umbral Order. What other faction would be able to foster such people then? And in service to a scholar…it seems once again that things are not as simple as they initially seemed" thought Cyrus, completely immune to the pressure that the servants clad in darkness emanated by way of simply existing.

"That which each of you has in your possession is a carefully crafted guide on how to orient your thinking properly, so that you may not be blind to the world around you no longer. Even though I have outlined everything today, it is far more complex than that. Both your mind and body must be completely in sync and once this is so…everything becomes clear. You are dismissed" ended Sigmund, who began walking towards the door the moment he abruptly ended the class.

Sounds of confusion and discontent were immediately heard, pausing Sigmund's steps.

"You have complaints of how short the class is? Foolish welps, do you not understand the value of what you now hold? Look at it first, then try to complain. Maybe if you are lucky you will understand it by next week" sneered Sigmund, as he quickly lost his luster once more and his steps went from smooth and confident to slow and rigid.

The students did as they were told, including Cyrus, and read that which they were given.

All that could be heard was deafening silence, and the deflation of ego's in real time.

"There are two main sections, divided into "Cognitive" and "Behavioral". Each listing seven methods of how to properly orient one's thoughts and actions together to properly interpret the world. How fascinating and how complex, but why do I feel that there is something more this?" wondered Cyrus as he, like all the other students, became engrossed in reading and interpreting the information they were given.

There they remained, at first skeptical of the claims of the scholar, but each and every one of them remained unmoving from their seats as they took in the information they were given. Not moving all the way up until half an hour after the maximum duration for a class to run, where by then most of them had long exceeded their mental capacity for information acquisition.