Apex of the World

World of Knowledge

Knowledge is not inherently good or bad. How you utilize it causes its intentions to sway.

He believed this passionately for most of his life. He was logical from the start, focusing on finding the answers he required and how to find them. He longed to use this Knowledge for himself, to use it in a way that would bring happiness and joy to the world. It was neither good nor bad on its own, but he was believed he fell into the former category, and all that he touched seemed to feel that pull as well.

Knowledge was never inherently good or bad, but sometimes, the response to it did lean towards one direction or another.

Koushiro stood outside a door as he heard whispers from the people within. He heard something he knew he wasn't meant to, and his answer was to turn his back on the ones who he called family. Perhaps it was because he felt betrayed. Maybe he was simply shocked. There was no way of saying for sure, as he didn't even understand his thoughts on the matter. What he did comprehend was that he was drifting away subconsciously, and guilt had a grip on his heart despite his inaction to stop it.

He brought his pursuit of Knowledge to summer camp and settled down in a corner with his laptop. He continued to search for the intelligence he sought, making notes and murmuring under his breath but never quite reaching full enlightenment. Still, he let his quest press on.

His curiosity was both a boon and a bane when he was pulled into a world of danger and data. He sat on the floor of an abandoned factory and typed a thousand different syllables with hopes it would lead to something. He searched for Knowledge in another world, even if he was fumbling around in the dark while on a quest for answers.

This time, his Knowledge brought smiles and salvation. He was pulled into companionship with a peculiar bug before he knew what was happening, and it acted as a temporary distraction from his search for the truth.

It may have been a distraction, but it was one he was happy to have.

He didn't realize how much he was keeping in until someone was there to coax it out of him. He hadn't understood how desperately he was longing for friendship until he had one there with him. He was surprised by how much he changed when someone actually put the time in to get to know him, and he wouldn't trade it for the world.

He sacrificed his own individuality in his pursuit of something more, but it was that familiar robotic creature that dragged him back into the light. The loss of his other friends set him on a downward spiral, one he wasn't sure he would be able to come back to, and his search for Knowledge became the only thing that grounded him. It was all he had when the rest of the world had seemingly fallen away, and in the end, it was his downfall.

Knowledge cannot be inherently good or bad, but it can impact him in a positive or negative way.

Even years later, he thought back on how he had no idea what he would have done if his companion hadn't been there to rescue him from himself. Knowledge had led him down a dark path, and it wasn't until after he was corrected that he started towards the light again. How could something so incredible, so driving to him, be twisted and beautiful at the same time?

Knowledge had shaped him for as long as he could remember. It had struck down all he had known when he learned the truth of his origins. It had shaped his future when he was sucked into another realm of simultaneous war and love. It had gifted him a purpose when he didn't think he had one. It was dazzling and gorgeous yet fanged and untamed, and he was infatuated with it.

He wasn't sure if he would ever find the answers that he had spent so long searching for. The world bathed in data that had changed him still had many unresolved truths. There was too much to find out for him to take it all in during his short life. Some wondered what the point of his search was if it was endless. He wouldn't ever be able to learn all he was curious about due to the fragility and fleeting nature.

Some answers might have been out of his reach, but he was still infatuated with the concept. After spending so many years obsessed with all there was to learn, he was unable to go back to the way he had been before.

In a way, he didn't want to do so either. Koushiro had made a name for himself under this concept, and he had figured out who the person he wanted to be was as a result. He had been shaped by his pursuit of Knowledge. It brought him countless hours of joy along the way.

Plus, it was one thing he shared with his partner. They had connected over their insatiable curiosity, and even when they were worlds apart, he felt connected to his digital friend through this simple trait of his. They reached out for one another as they walked towards the future and the Knowledge it held.

Knowledge was neither good nor bad, but the influences it had on people could have a specific leaning.

For him, the leaning was towards positivity and light. It had forged him into a suitable human being, a passionate friend, and a member of the family he had once drifted away from. It connected the rogue pieces of his heart and bound them with a secure glue made of purple light.

Knowledge could not be inherently friend nor foe, but every aspect of it could extend outwards towards the spectrum of morality, and for him, it changed his life for the better. 

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This chapter was definitely based off Cyrus Albright from Octopath Traveler I have no self restraint

-Digital