On Borrowed Time {
halfjalar:
Students are not the only ones meant to gain new knowledge here. Professors, too, should broaden their horizons and grow their true potential with the help of one another.
Seteth’s words ring in Azelle’s ears as he quietly takes a vacant seat near the front of the classroom to attend Professor Roth’s lecture. Though the proposed topic seems utterly unfamiliar and confusing to him, he figures perhaps that is the whole point of this activity, and his curiosity had indeed been piqued.
Besides - for one such as him, who had lost contact with the concept of time to the point of barely telling day from night anymore, such a discussion could perhaps serve as a step forward in the correct direction.
And so, he listens. As Lukas draws out the foreign mechanism, Azelle quickly produces a near perfect copy in his notebook. Spoken words seem to fly through the air right into his pen, not losing their way even for the briefest of moments; taking notes was, after all, the only thing his hand did for Naga knows how long - (or perhaps not even she does) - and the practice certainly proves itself useful at a time like this.
For in spite of all the careful attention he pays to everything Professor Roth says, Azelle is still uncertain just how much he comprehends. How much can someone as lost to time as himself comprehend of this to begin with? He will certainly need to re-read all his notes later. Regardless of his perplexity, however, the topic is admittedly fascinating: a system of gears that can be used to measure and predict the motion of the sun and the moon? Certainly not an idea familiar to him in the slightest.
(He briefly wonders if such a device would be interesting to anyone in his homeland. He is not sure about that. Perhaps to an astronomer, but he has never really met any… What role does astronomy play in Jugdral, anyway?)
(… Besides, Arvis said that most people in position of power seemed too interested in having the correct blood, holding on to their power at all cost and collecting taxes and riches to pay attention to anything else.)
The Professor produces two small devices and Azelle’s attention is fully drawn to the lecture once again. He freezes for a moment as Lukas smiles widely, and yet somewhat… bizarrely; though the Mage has not yet gotten to know Professor Roth all that well, he certainly has not yet seen him show this kind of facial expression before. It would appear that different people react differently when speaking of something they are truly interested in.
Not that Azelle disagrees, as he too is riveted by the prospect of a device blessed with divine intervention. He has heard already about the idea of weapons venerated in such a manner, and he cannot help but wonder if this would be a similar concept. So when the Professor offers a chance for questions, the Mage takes it.
“That is fascinating”, he comments to buy himself a few extra seconds to formulate the question in his head. “… Have you seen this device used in practice? Is this divine blessing something that is merely believed, or rather a confirmed fact?”
Blessed is the man who learns more to find that he knows less, for he has been moved to the pivot point of wisdom. Lukas rolled the chalk in his hands, dusting his fingers pallid while gears in his head clicked. He gleaned students of interest, of whom had struck up a silent pact in interest of the unorthodox— eyes lit to dance. Others permeated an air of morbid indifference, bordering on tear-worthy languor. And a single profile who had an astute eye to him, and a chilling reputation that preceded him. But, when they were before each other in a classroom, were they not simply human?
It took no sense of the past to wonder… exactly how did time manipulation play into their lives so far? Were they all provisional play-pieces to some greater plot, or was it all conceptually derivative at the end of the day? Lukas awaited a question like that the entire lecture, and while it took Professor Azelle some time to chew on it, the inquiry laid an important argument bare. Was there any proof?
“Thank you, Professor Azelle.” It would be unmannerly to leave the man without proper address. Lukas tilted his head to wholly acknowledge him, as he clearly had an entire set of notes gathered for the occasion. “While I have seen the instrument in passing and have heard of its powers from Silque of Valentia’s Novis Island, there is no way for me to confirm its practiced use.”
To which, of course, garnered a level of skepticism that scattered amongst the students. The unsettled prattling crackled like fireworks, yet left Lukas entirely at ease. He raised his hand to placate such concerns, quelling stroked fires with his bare palms. “But this is not to say the instrument has never been used.”
He draws a checkerboard, implicating an army moving forward towards another— rudimentary drawings, but clear enough for his students to envision a savage battle. “Now imagine, if our Future King had become ensnared in a stalemate, he would have no choice but to either admit defeat or use this blessing of the Goddess.”
“If, in which case, he uses Mila’s Turnwheel, the clock would be turned back to a prior moment in battle.” Lukas’ chalk repeated the same diagram, in a less dire moment of strife. “So any soldiers untouched by this blessing would simply have their memories overwritten.”
“The idea of this class is simple.” Lukas met his gaze carefully, taking in the man’s tussled, scarlet locks that cascaded over his brow. Simple enough for the most theoretically immeasurable depths of time. “It is entirely conceptual, yet is intended to open up discussion for something beyond the battlefield. Incipient grassroots, so to speak. We learn from articles of the future for the same reasons we learn from history.”
“To understand is to know better. To skim one’s hand on a flame and to never repeat the same burns.”
