12 :: Intelligence

Honestly, Adam wasn't terribly surprised by Cogitan’s proposal. He didn't imagine he would be offered personal training in a dangerous art by the country's second in command without a promise of service. He was glad that Cogitan had been so forthright with him, and it was a good deal. Being in such a position may even help him find Nora. He had priorities though.

“I will be honest with you, sir. I intend to find a way home. My family is there waiting for me. I do not want to leave them forever. If I find a way home, I will take it,” Adam responded to Cogitan’s proposal gravely.

“I would fault you otherwise,” Cogitan retorted without a second’s hesitation. “I encourage you to search for a way home. The more we know about God’s formations, the better. I would allow you time for research, and I could even provide you with access to the restricted section of the city’s library to assist you with your endeavor. I only hope that if you are not successful by the time that I retire in a good twenty years or so, that you do a diligent job of filling my shoes.”

In twenty years, his family would have long forgotten him. He would have missed out on well over half of his little sister’s life. He would have spent over half of his own life in this world. In twenty years, Adam hoped to have fallen in love. Gotten married, even. If it took twenty years to get home, he did not expect that he would put off these goals. He would probably be settled into a comfortable life here in this world if that time came. In twenty years, there would be no point to him returning home.

With that matter settled, Adam’s thoughts returned to the matter of Cogitan. He seemed trustworthy. He wanted to trust him, but he didn't really know anything about him. He could very well be walking into a trap. In Adam’s mind though, he was already trapped. He was stuck in another world and completely powerless to do anything about it. This had the potential to give him the leverage he needed to accomplish his goals. It seemed that the worst case scenario consisted of him living a comfy life in one of the top positions in this country. It didn't seem so bad.

It was then that Adam realized that he knew nothing of the political status of this country. What was its size? It's population? Hell, what was its polity? He knew Altinius was some kind of chief ruler, but there was a big difference between, say, a constitutional monarch and a theocratic dictator, and Adam definitely knew where his preferences lied.

“Before I accept,” Adam began, “could you tell me a bit about your country? What kind of place is it… and what do you need my classmates to learn magic for?”

“Most certainly!” Cogitan exclaimed, ‘but I should first like to warn you that there is no way for one man to convey the nature of an entire state in one brief conversation,” he cautioned as he began a seemingly endless rant on the history and status of his country.

“In our country, we have one supreme ruler who is elected by a council of our elders. If the man elected is able to earn the blessing of our God, they will become king. As I'm sure you've realized, Altinius is our present king and I am a member of the Council.

Umbrian has always been a small country. There have been border skirmishes with the others in the past since our founding, but never anything on this scale. My country is at war. Ever since the other countries discovered that the religion we practice is different from theirs, there has been no end to the persecution that my people have faced. Many of our lands have been seized by the enemy. Many of our soldiers have fallen.

Facing a lack of trained soldiers, Umbrian has survived up to this point by utilizing the strength of our earth mages. We have created a network of walls to protect us. They extend from this city in layers, like fish scales. The districts closer to the center are primarily used for trading, while the ones further out are used for farming, ranching, and mining. We are satisfied with life within the walls, but they are also locking us in with the demons we have sealed. Should the seals weaken, we may very well face a massacre. It is for the purpose of strengthening these seals that your people were brought here.

Supporting the seals requires a deep understanding of the theories of magic. Our mages are needed to protect the country at the borders. Even if we did recall a few of our best, it is likely that they would ultimately lack the natural magical capacity to support the spell. We would potentially be wasting years and have nothing to show for it.

It was our God who told us to summon you. He appeared to Altinius in a vision and provided him the instructions. When Altinius awoke, he discovered a book inscribed with the spell diagrams necessary in his chambers. We are not like the demon worshippers outside our walls. We trust in the god that provides us with undeniable proof of his power. We built the formulas and they brought you to us. We would not force your people to join our own on the front lines and fight and die for this country that is not your own, but we did hope that you could assist us with our internal problems.”

At this point, Cogitan paused for a moment to catch his breath and take a sip from a goblet that had been on his desk before continuing.

“This, I believe is the extent of what I can convey to you through pure conversation. The rest, you shall have to observe for yourself. Do you not agree?” he queried. Adam nodded obediently. It would be difficult to trust somebody who believed their own words to contain supreme knowledge of any subject. Information should always be both relayed and consumed with a healthy sense of agnosticism. Adam was glad that Cogitan understood such a thing. It made him feel more and more like they would get along finely in the future. At Adam’s nod, Cogitan resumed speaking.

“Excellent!” he exclaimed, “Then before we end this meeting, I would like to present you with a test of sorts.” Hearing this, Adam blanched. He was still a bit nervous at the mention of examinations after failing his first one so miserably. “This office is entirely dependent upon intelligence. We live and breathe it. It is the only way that I can adequately make informed decisions concerning the future of this nation. For the most part, sources bring this information to us. Being a nation at war, we have many spies across enemy lines.

There is no need for you to be involved in anything so dangerous yet, but there are also times when I am required to gather information around town for myself. I am of the opinion that it is an extremely important skill to have. Not only is the gathering of intelligence important, but one must also be able to separate the diamonds from the stones. Not all information is useful. Curious, maybe, but not useful.

I am also aware that your trust in me has not yet been determined. It couldn’t be. We have only known each other for the better part of an hour. Therefore, I would like this first evaluated task to be one that benefits you and your peers.

Over the course of the next week, I would like you to collect as much information about this nation of Umbria as you can and condense it into a report that your classmates would find useful. I’m sure that they are as full of questions as you are, only they are in less of a position to do anything about it. You may make full use of the library, conduct informal interviews with the city’s residents, tour the city, or anything else that you can think of. Make full use of your resources. Write a report that will fully satisfy any of the questions your peers may raise.

During this period, you will not attend classes with your peers, so you can utilize your days to their utmost. We will inform your professors that you proved resistant to our testing methods and that further examination must be done before you can be placed within any specific elemental program. At the beginning of next week, your report will be issued to your classmates as an official briefing from our government. Your name will not be connected to it, so don’t worry about your peers discovering the unusual manner in which you spent your first week. Does this sound agreeable to you?”

This certainly seemed like a lot to do, but when Adam thought about it, he realized that this project would be able to completely satisfy his own curiosity. All he would need to do is investigate the questions that he, himself had, and follow them down whatever rabbit holes they led him to until he was satisfied. While this would also help his classmates, the immediate benefit that it would give him could not be ignored. This was a good project. It was also fair. This time, he was working for his classmates instead of Cogitan. It would make a good test run. While the scope of information was daunting, Adam was pleased.

“This sounds fantastic!” Adam replied enthusiastically.

“I’m glad you agree!” Cogitan proclaimed with a hint of relief. He had high hopes for Adam and had no intention of losing his interest this early on. “I will relay your appearance to the library guards so that they know to let you pass. Is there anything else that you will need from me?” he asked.

“I think I’ll be able to take things from here!” Adam answered confidently. His chest fluttered with the excitement caused by this new opportunity that had befallen him. If this went well, Adam could find himself in a very profitable position. He wanted this test to go well more than anything. He wanted to prove to himself that Cogitan was worthy of his trust. This was the path that could lead him home. He was sure of it.

“I think so too!” Cogitan smiled warmly. “You may now return!”

***

I am really, really, sorry about the brief, unannounced hiatus. School has proven to be more than I can handle without a little chemical help and I'm not really sure why I ever thought otherwise, as this is not an unfamiliar struggle. A couple of mind-shattering meltdowns later and I'm getting things back under control, but for the sake of being more likely to keep my promises, I'm going to cut the promised weekly chapters down to two until I'm completely back on track. There may be more depending on the week and my workload, but I feel better promising two for now.

As a side note, what kind of a writing class forces you to write the same paper five or six times, starting with a project proposal and then sequentially re-writing it with more and more information, but without plagiarizing yourself, until you shit out a 15 page long research paper? Am I the only one who thinks that this is completely asinine and a waste of both my effort and words? College is dumb. This research paper I'm writing is dumb. This professor is dumb. It's enough to drive anybody crazy.

Next chapter will be out by the end of the week. Those of you who are reading this, thank you so, so much for waiting, and as usual, please let me know what you think in the comments!