We walk in extended silence for a few minutes, my embarrassment at the situation silencing me. All the while, AshenLeaf seems wholly satisfied with her position. To pass the time, I think about some things Alrick had discussed. ‘One thing Alrick stressed a lot was the importance of sensing both order and chaos when trying to sense magic. The nugget he mentioned about the Dichotomy of Knowledge was insightful. He spoke on how the storage of knowledge comes from Order, yet discovering that knowledge almost always requires the study of chaos. As such, there would be no knowledge to learn without the chaos from which it was born. In the same vein, it is chaos that, when not contained, will destroy knowledge in all its forms like a greedy black hole. It makes sense. We’ve learned in the real world how complete order is a situation where nothing happens, as will happen in the heat death of the universe. On the flip side, we’ve learned that complete chaos would not allow complexity either, as can be seen in how radiation causes cancer, killing life. Life is the result of a balance between the two forces!’
As my thought process moves away from the embarrassment earlier, and toward the magic I’d learned, my mind calms. Slowly my back straightens and my head rises. My change in posture, even when hidden by my indistinct nature, causes AshenLeaf to look over at me with her head tilted.
“What’s going on in that cute little head of yours?”
*Eep* “Huuh,” I take a breath, “I was just thinking about something that Alrick had talked about during his class,” I say bravely.
“Oh yeah, what about it had you so deep in thought.”
“I was pondering the intricacies of his dialogue in regard to the importance of both achieving and comprehending the equilibrium between order and chaos, as well as the consequences of lacking a proper understanding when pursuing harmony.” I declare with utmost poise and a suitable degree of pompousness.
*giggle* “Most intriguing, professor Plus, what discoveries have you made in your explorations of the philosophy of Order and Chaos. Further, have you developed any Hypotheses regarding the field to help propel further research and enlighten the masses,” she replies, playing along.
“Most indubitably, In fact, I have formulated a hypothesis that the greatest difference between our realm and this one is in the equilibrium state of Order and Chaos. In our realm, the equilibrium is such that order reigns supreme. For this reason, chaos only exists in the eddies of the overwhelming flow of order. Conversely, in this realm, Chaos edges out the lead, but, not greatly. This unique state of equilibrium allows beings that are capable of locally tilting the balance the ability to enforce order on chaos, allowing for the use of what the natives call magic.” I reveal with pride.
“Well Professor Plus, your findings are truly extraor- *giggle* - extraordinary, I, AshenLeaf, Head of Research, shall, with all due haste *gigg- laugh* I’m sorry, I can’t *wheeze* I’ve run out of pompous words,” she says as she wipes a tear from her eye.
“Fear not, my dear colleague, your honorable sacrifice” *AshenLead dies of laughter* “Will not be soon forgotten. When I publish my Paper, I shall enshrine your dying words such that the world will remember you: ‘ *wheeze* I ran out of pompous words, Haaahhh!’. Truly words to inspire a generation!”
Unfortunately, Plus was unable to complete his paper as he too had caught the deadly sickness that had taken the Briliant AshenLeaf from this world. Only seconds after Ashenleafs dying words, the deceiving sounds of raucous laughter escaped his lips as well, disguising the final moments of such a great man as ones of pure bliss and enjoyment. It even forced his face to reveal a rare smile that had been seemingly lost to him.
They both fell to the ground wheezing, unable to breathe, yet their hands never parted, showing the true dedication of colleagues in research!
----------------------------------------
Once we both finally stop laughing, I am a tad lightheaded, but a wide smile crosses my face, not that it's visible. When I sit up, AshenLeaf follows, looking at me while radiating happiness, as I likely am as well. I tilt my head at her, curious to see what she’ll say.
“That was fun. What made you decide to play up the snootiness?” she says, amused.
“Well, you asked me what I was thinking about, and I wanted to break the ice for myself a bit. I’d say it was quite effective.”
“True, you were stewing in embarrassment for a decent while. By the way, what you said actually made some sense. Is that really what you were thinking about?”
“To an extent, what I was thinking about was more mundane, so I decided to ramp it up when you asked about conclusions. I’m pretty good at thinking on my feet.”
“You don’t say. What led you to your hypothesis, oh great and wise professor?” she teases.
“Oh stop, Miss Head of Research AshenLeaf. I was initially thinking about Alrick’s points on the Dichotomy of Knowledge and related it to how life, too, is born from a balance between order and chaos. I supported this with examples like The Heat Death of the Universe for ultimate order and how cancer kills us as an example of excess chaos. Didn't think of anything for ultimate chaos, might be because of our universe swaying far more toward Order… though now that I think about it, the beginning of the universe where it was too hot for anything to form is a decent example, if a bit too abstract.”
“Well, I can definitely see why you were able to outdo me in snooty intellectual; it’s not too far from how you talk when you try to sound smart! *giggle* But yeah, that makes some sense. Cancer is a good example, as it is the result of something going wrong in the systems that keep us alive, be it the result of radiation or random chance. I can see what you're getting at with tying ultimate chaos to the beginning of the universe. I’m just not sure if it’s a perfect fit, though it’s likely as good as we can get if you are right about our universe being overwhelmed by order. What were you getting at with chaos in the eddies of order?”
“It’s from a video I watched a while ago, don’t remember where. Basically they talked about how the universe is continuously moving to a state of complete order as it expands. The result of this would be that, due to entropy, all things that exist will be spread evenly through infinite space, making it so no atom would ever come into contact with another, meaning nothing would ever happen. The idea is this: Since the Big Bang, the universe has been moving in that direction continuously. However, just like a mountain stream flowing to the sea, sometimes there can be obstacles, like a rock in the middle of a river, where some of the flow can slow or even break off into eddies and interfere with the greater flow. Yet the eddies actually serve to bring the stagnant water back into the flow. For an example at the human scale: Every method we have to produce energy moves the universe closer to order, be it burning fossil fuels, fission (breaking bigger atoms into smaller ones), or fusion (fusing smaller atoms into bigger ones) as all these methods work to bring the universe to a neutral energy state of 100% Iron of even heat distribution… I feel like that wasn’t really basic… uhh… the reason that all human activity brings out more order is because of the loss of the stored energy, chaos, in the form of heat. A perfectly efficient system would have no heat loss, thus maintaining its complexity.”
“So what you’re saying is that eddies are places in the flow where excess energy is stored, which is equivalent to chaos, and that the eddies will then radiate the energy in the form of heat, equalizing the region's energy to that of the surroundings, thus clearing the chaotic element.”
“Yes, that, God, why can’t I just simplify like that!” I complain.
“Well professor, it’s the job of the researcher to discover; it’s the job of marketing to make the research comprehensible for the public. As the head of Research, I need to market to our university when asking for funding,” She declares regally.
“You realize that simultaneously makes complete sense and yet explains nothing,” I said, monotone.
“Well, I guess that's a mystery that you’ll just have to figure out *Tee Hee*,” she says teasingly.
“Yeah, yeah, let's get going, or we may never leave this tunnel.”
“Sure,” she says cheerily, jumping to her feet, pulling me with the hand that I forgot she was still holding.
“Soooo… What’s your favorite color?” I ask as we begin to trod along again.
“Ooh, that’s a hard one. I quite like the purple of sunsets,” she considers, “but I also quite like the vibrant greens of the forests in spring. What about you?”
“Why’d you have to give so much detail,” I complain, internally deciding to play a game of one-up-mans-ship, “now I feel lame just saying blue. I guess I feel the strongest connection to the sparkling blue of the pond deep in the woods, as well as the verdant green of many tree’s around it. If I were to search my soul, I would also say that I’m drawn to the contrast of the deep pink of the core of the star-shaped flowers and the midnight purple of their extremity as they float in the sparkling blue pond.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Oh, creative, I can play this game too,” she replies, grinning, “I’m partial to the deeply saturated reds, oranges, and purples of the sunset as they overlook the mid-night blue of the mountain range that impedes them from expressing their full brilliance. I think that the shaded green of trees that narrow the view from the rich, chestnut table overlooking the small pond with richly colored sakura flowers floating atop, and the occasional view of koi fish with their deep orange scales contrasting the striking white. All the while, a pale beauty sits at the table overlooking the view, dressed in a midnight-blue Kimono decorated with the striking red of tiger lilies, the enchanting violet of the iris, and the calming white of jasmine. Her hair, black as night, flows down her back as she tilts her head, exposing her slender neck, as she takes a sip from the sky-blue porcelain cup decorated with various flowers and filled with a rich black tea with white steam arising from the top.”
“Ahh, I see. That is certainly quite the scene. While I am quite partial, myself, to the sparkling blue of a pond deep in the forest, surrounded by the verdant green of tall trees that only allow for a single beam of light down to light the pond. And I’m still delighted by the wonderful addition of the contrast of colors from the star-shaped flower as the white water of the small waterfall causes them to stir. Certainly, I’m still drawn to the woman's elegance as her head surfaces, revealing her tan skin, lean yet muscular physique, and dark brown hair that turns to gold as you move toward the tips under the sun's light. Yet I think there is a color that draws me more,” I say with a gleam in my eyes
“Do tell,” she encourages, intrigued.
“Well, I think that while there is certainly strength lent to a color harmonized with many others around it to enhance its allure, I think there is strength in highlighting contrast as well, perhaps even a greater strength than harmony. I feel particularly drawn to the rich colors of the orange and red of a mango, deep in the forest in the dead of night, held in a pond surrounded by tall trees, with only space for the bright beam of the moon, along with a small collection of stars, to be reflected in the surface of the pond, backlighting in greyscale the black haired pale beauty with a lean yet toned physique, her body only partially above the water, the rest shaded by the ripples from the quiet waterfall in the background, with her black hair fanning around her. In her hand lay the vibrant red and orange mango, as a droplet of water falls down from its glistening surface, and she takes a bite from it, allowing the vibrant orange juice to flow down her cheeks as the light of the moon reflects through her glowing yellow, cat-like eyes.”
“That is indeed quite striking,” she allows, “but not enough, for I am drawn to the color…”
After some more trades of different scenes with the excuse of describing a single color, AshenLeaf redirects the conversation.
“That is indeed quite the impression,” she allows, “Alas, before I respond, I want to see if the intersection coming up is the lobby or if we have more walking ahead of us.”
I look forward to see that there is indeed an intersection ahead. In fact, now that I’m not focused on painting a scene in my mind and describing it, there is certainly the sound of chatter and motion coming from ahead as well. Not to mention that there is clearly a lot of light coming from around the corner. When we reach it, to the right is what looks like a street like the one we're on, but with a number of connections to it. To the left appears a massive marketplace with many people moving from stand to stand. In the center is a tall tree, nearly reaching the apex of the nearly 5-story ceiling of the room. Between the branches of the Tree are fairy lights that span great distances and make up the majority of the lighting. The entrance we’re at is risen above the ground level and has a path down to the marketplace. In the center of the market is a square clearing with the Tree and an ample empty space with people and tables to sit at by the looks of it.
As we begin to move toward the path down to the marketplace, I ask, “Sooo… are you still in school, or are you working?”
“Hmm… I’ll let you get away with changing the subject… I’m in college, going into my sophomore year. How about you?”
“You are truly gracious, your majesty,” I say in mock reverence while bowing, “That's neat. I’ll be in college starting in the fall.”
She swats at me before saying, “That’s good. We’ll be on a similar schedule then when school starts, so we’ll probably be able to play together.”
“Good point, I hadn’t thought of that. Do you know if this game has any friend request mechanism? Cause at this point, I haven’t seen a menu… wait, how do I log out?” I ask before becoming confused.
“Uhh… System log out,” she said before 3 seconds later saying, “No… It seems that saying system allows you to make commands, at least for logging out.”
“System send friend request to AshenLeaf.”
[...]
“I take it that the system didn’t respond,” she asks.
“That would be an accurate guess. There is probably a way to do it. Maybe it’s not unlocked?”
“Maybe, we can ask around the marketplace.”
After that, we discuss details of our lives without being too invasive. I mention that I do cross country and track. AshenLeaf notes that she plays volleyball at school but has an archery hobby.
“Oh, I like volleyball too, though I don’t play at school. As for my hopes for the future… well, I want to learn about AI, so I’m relevant and can get a job, but beyond that, the future seems dull to me,” I relay with a substantial amount of melancholy.
“Hey, don’t think like that. Just because the future seems blurry now doesn’t mean it won’t clear up later. Right now, I’m studying engineering in college. Sure, from the US perspective, it seems meaningless, but if I take my studies abroad and try to develop solutions for problems in less privileged places, I can change the lives of hundreds or even thousands. The same can be said of computers. I mean, look at this game. It could give people without the ability to walk, move, or see that ability again. That’s miraculous!”
“Yeah, you’re right, it’s just I’ve had a tough year and don’t have many people to talk to… and now I’m giving out my life story to someone I met 30 minutes ago,” I say, shaking my head.
“I think we really bonded over the past half hour. Besides, what’s the harm? I’m more than happy to be a shoulder to cry on for my new friend in need. I won’t judge you for not having a perfect life. I certainly don’t. You’re your own little loveable person, and I love you for it,” she says as she brings me into a warm, comfortable embrace. I hadn’t noticed before, but she is a few inches taller than me, enough that I can easily snuggle into the crook of her shoulder. She pulls us to the side of the path and sits us down. All the while, she rubs my back and holds me close.
If there were tears, it would have been impossible to tell due to the indistinct nature of our character models.
----------------------------------------
Entering the market a little while later, we find it is still bustling. Most of it is made of one-story stone buildings with complex make-ups of protuberances and indents. Most of the design comes from the varied perspectives of the building, the product, and the lighting that work in concert to make each one unique.
I see an intriguing stall that sells stone bead necklaces. The old lady running the booth has a kindness to her features that makes her stall stick out to me. I pull AshenLeaf along with me to the stall, it is only 50 feet away on the right side of the road, but it is a crowded street. After a bit of maneuvering, shuffling, and a bit of shoving, we are there.
“Hello, we were wondering if you could tell us a little about how this whole place works?” I ask as kindly as I can.
“Well, I can tell you some, young traveler, but anything more than the basics would require you to buy a neckless off me, which I doubt you can do given that you’re new.”
“Well, anything will be better than what we know now. So I’ll appreciate anything you can tell us.”
“Well, young traveler, this place is the lobby, the area we’re in now is the central market. It is where you can buy and sell most things you will find or need on an adventure. In the central square is the Guild, Arena, and Auction, as well as a collection of restaurants. The second ring is mostly made of crafters to sell off stuff for adventuring and buy specific materials. And the third ring is mostly made up of bulk buyers for everything else you’ll find, as well as those who sell trinkets that most won’t understand the importance of, like me. Of course, there aren’t any hard rules for this. It’s just how the market works. Anything else will cost you.”
“Thank you very much for your help. What is the hidden purpose of the beads?”
“I’m glad you asked. Each bead can be enchanted with single-use spells that, when activated, will break the bead. They can’t be all that powerful, but in a pinch, they can make all the difference.”
“I see your point. Useful, but niche. Maybe I’ll come back if I find myself wanting one,” I say as we leave the stand.
“I think we should go to the central square and check out the guild, yeah?” I ask
“Yeah, probably for the best, and they may have some more information for us.”
With a plan in mind, we walk toward the center, which means moving around the ring till we meet a road directly to the center. After a few minutes of walking where we see a multitude of indistinct figures unloading an assortment of carcasses, random plant matter, and a large pile of dirt in one instance, we find a thoroughfare to the center. It takes another 5 minutes to pass through the three rings and make it to the central square. From there, we saw many one-story buildings selling food, an entrance to a coliseum, a fancy building decorated in black and gold, and a rather plain 3-story stone building with wood accents and a large double-door entryway.
“So I’m rather confident that that one is the Guild, don’t you think,” I ask while pointing to the plain 3-story building nearly directly across the way.
“I’d say that’s a rather good guess. Let’s get going,” AshenLeaf says as she pulls me along toward the guild.
Four paces from the front door AshenLeaf turns to me and asks, “By the way, have you noticed that all the shades have neutral voices that make it hard to place anything on them, from nationality to ethnicity to even gender?”
“Huh, oh, now that you mention it, yeah. I had wondered why your voice was so neutral but just shrugged it off.”
“Yeah, same, didn’t seem important. Anyway, let's go in,” she says as she pushes open the wide wooden double doors of the guild.