Ignoring the joyful cries behind him, the guy with long hair, a beautiful dark blue coat, and a black top hat walked through the auditorium with a relaxed air, ignoring the glances directed at him.
Those who had seen the performance yesterday were not too surprised, but a new detail in the young man's appearance caught their attention. They wondered if he were the son of a wealthy man.
Tired of his companion's chatter and persuasion to wear the top hat, Elion sat down by the window and relaxed. Noel sat down next to him as usual and pestered him until the lesson began, causing his eyebrows to furrow and his fingers to tap loudly on the table.
Finally, as they waited for the familiar old man to appear, Elion, who had already taken off his outer clothing, relaxed and began to listen to him halfheartedly.
"I didn't introduce myself last time, but it doesn't matter. You can call me whatever you like. I don't care," the old man said in a hoarse voice. He continued,
"Many people think they will seek answers to mysterious riddles, make discoveries, and conduct investigations. We can pretend to understand all this, give shape to the answers we have, and make all kinds of assumptions about the nature of mysterious phenomena. But the truth is, we know nothing." He paused, giving his students time to ponder his words.
The point is that what lies behind the veil of "mystery" is beyond human comprehension. For centuries, hundreds of thousands of great minds have tried to comprehend it, but all in vain. All we can do is describe phenomena with words, assign them numbers, and devise plans for possible defense. If we did not do even that, the world would go mad as it did before and simply destroy itself. In lectures and classes on the study of "Secrets," we will examine the experience of your predecessors. Based on that, you will draw your own conclusions and make plans. There is no guaranteed formula for understanding anything. Each seeker has their own path, and each seeker will either walk it or perish, the old man concluded.
The students remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
After pausing for a moment, the old man continued,
"We will begin the lecture by reading the first myth about the creation of a new humanity by the Wanderer Vessilius. Each of you will draw your own conclusions about what you hear and make your own guesses. It begins like this:
'Those who were once called humans were more like beasts. They were covered in the ashes of war, bathed in pools of their kin's blood, and ate their remains.
They were humans. They were animals.
Thousands of people slurped disgustingly as they devoured each other. Millions of black, smoldering bones of their own kind piled up underfoot.
These animals could not be satisfied, devouring each other.
A world deprived of light. A world steeped in darkness.
On that day, a stranger emerged from the flames of the past and the ashes of the present. He addressed his fellow creatures:
"I was where all colors shone. I was where all darkness thickened.
I saw everything and beheld nothing.
I became everything and was no one.
I am everywhere. I am nowhere.
I know everything. I saw the end that marked the beginning.
I know nothing.
We are all blind before *****.
People abandoned by the light.
People engulfed by darkness.
Stand beside me.
Forget yourselves.
Find yourselves.
Start from the end.
Reach out your hand.
"The first chapter is 'The End,'" the old man concluded.
—... The students just blinked, clearly not understanding what they had just heard.
Elion scratched his chin and thought calmly.
"Now, some of this man's titles are quite understandable. Wanderer, prophet, and sage definitely fit. I don't remember if there were any others, but it doesn't matter. It's obvious that it's difficult for someone to understand all these statements, especially considering the old man's words. However, based on Vessilius's words, one could infer that being human is a prerequisite for understanding, as is being non-human. To be both human and non-human. To know everything and nothing. I think hints of answers may appear when I study the "Secrets," not only my own but also those of others. So far, this is the only thing that roughly fits the conditions," the young man thought calmly, coming to at least some conclusion.
"You know, I've never liked reading stuff like this. It makes my head spin," said Noel, lying with her head on the desk.
"...
She stuck her tongue out at him in typical silence.
Then, the old man gave the students time to think about what they had heard. Then, he moved on to the main activity: sharing information about the investigation of several "Areas of Mystery" and asking the students to form their own judgments and plans for solving possible problems and phenomena. The students worked mainly in groups, discussing theoretical ideas among themselves. Elion glanced at the information and immediately rejected the idea, explaining, "Even judging by my feelings, Mystery is a completely different entity that I cannot yet fully comprehend. It's clear that the Realms of Mystery are closely related to this. Considering the old man's words and the myths, reducing everything to certain norms will only cause further confusion." The young man decided to spend the rest of the lecture enjoying the morning sun and trying not to react to his neighbor's constant attempts to joke with him, despite yesterday's strange situation.
A long time later, the old man listened to the final conclusions of several volunteers but said nothing about them.
"That's the end of the lesson. You can go to the training hall. Today, you will be divided into groups for each mentor. And yes, don't be surprised if they have strange abilities."
With that, the introductory lesson came to an end.