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Light trickled through the cabin roof, rays of sun barely blooming on the space below—morning mist swallowed it, leaving the cabin dim and slow to wake.
It was midday.
Most of the surrounding life was already wide awake and making their existence known. But one was still lying dormant, groaning like a creature dragged out from its hibernation.
Arion popped one eye out from the sheets, groaned, and hid once more.
Nnghh—
It had been a day since his venture away from home, he had taken the long way round back, giving the forests from hell a much wider berth.
But of course this world wasn't so benevolent, he still had his fair share of troubles getting back, encountering new, not-so-friendly creatures he had the privilege to see up close and also whilst battling the wilderness and the challenges it brought with it.
Now he was enjoying a long deserved lie in.
Until a two-headed tweeter managed to pry its head through the closed window shutters, inviting itself inside the cabin.
It flew and hopped about once, twice, then plopped itself on the end of the footboard.
TWEET~ TWEET~
…
TWEET~TWEET~
Arion's hand emerged out of the sheets, palm outstretched.
TWEET~ TWE—
The tweets cut short—blasted away, silenced permanently. A spinning staff snapped into his hand.
His head finally emerged, half asleep with hair even rougher and messier than usual. He glanced to where the bird had been only seconds ago, then scanned the room, finally setting on the slightly open shutters.
Hahh—Aahhhh… smck smck.
He yawned, smacking his lips while staring off into space.
"Why can't a man sleep in, peacefully?"
Would have been much better without those sleep-paralysis demons visiting me in my sleep.
He sighed, reluctant to escape his warm bed.
Standing up, he felt the effects of his recovery; most of the pain had gone, leaving only dull soreness behind.
He yawned again and stretched. Bruised muscle and skin pulsed with lingering memory—pain echoing faintly through healed flesh.
He wore just his robe, with only undergarments underneath, then came up to the front entrance. On the ground appeared what looked like flip-flops, a self-crafted pair.
The base was made from bamboo-like wood he'd discovered in the wild—heat from the plasma fight tempered it, giving it elastic strength. Bound with fibre and fur, it made for a decent flip-flop.
Its straps were made from reed-like plants, woven through and bonded together by what he could only recognise as sap—a by-product from collected wood, melted to bind it together.
After sliding into them, he turned to grab his leaf cup and another new addition, a toothbrush, a carefully crude, sculpted piece of wood with small bristle-like fibres from a local tree, all bonded with the heated sap-like substance.
Wonder if this world has toothpaste or if we're all just winging dental hygiene.
His eyes narrowed, deep in thought.
Unless everyone has white teeth and is naturally good-looking…
Now ready for the morn–afternoon, he unravelled the plank rope ladder and made his way over to the river.
…
Lounging whilst brushing his teeth, Arion enjoyed the less mind-boggling scene of the uphill flowing river.
But as he took in the river's flow, he caught slight movements in the river's centre, moving against the current.
"Sheems liuke wee hase a vishiter…"
Arion muttered whilst still brushing his teeth.
"Huh…"
Resonant Scanner.
Dense circulation of Vitalis magnetised the surrounding Essence, clinging to his form. Once amplified to its configured range, he snapped his Vitalis—releasing Luminary Essence in an invisible wave. The emission rolled outward like a single heartbeat, echoing off shapes around him until it seeped into the river's flow.
As it travelled, it hit something—big, wrapping slightly around its shape and snapping back like an elastic band.
The ping of essence returned, flowing into him, communicating with Vitalis. A visual with the exact shape of what it had hit, viewed as a pattern in his mind, the motion preserved as a blurred echo of noise.
Resonant Scanner, a new addition to his spell arsenal, now that it was finally configured enough, it fully passed his test. He could change the way it detected beings, either by movement, shape and Luminary or Vitalis signatures. Almost like an Earth sonar, less bulky kit; more intimate.
Interestingly… the water seemed to blur the image even more due to the flow. Of course, it's more dense than air, resulting in a noisier image.
Arion glanced exactly where he had received the noisy image. He could only describe it as having another visual sense, but less sensitive. A downgrade from a bat's echolocation, but still valuable.
The movement was more visible now, Arion knew it was there. Its underhanded sneak tactics were useless in front of this engineer of science and magic.
He shrugged, circulating Vitalis down his leg and into his foot, and as soon as it reached the bottom, he stomped his foot on the riverbank.
The sudden stomp prompted a burst of movement from the water, but the chilling frost was quicker, heat immediately parted in a path like a wave in front of him, a command from the ripple of Vitalis, an instruction to the Luminary.
It lashed into the water like vines of living frost. It snaked its way to where the large shape moved within.
A creature broke through the water, the waves shifted in an instant. Turning into ice, raining down onto the grass.
What emerged was a Marsh Drake, frozen like an iceberg, bobbing up and down in the water at the river's bank. Its large mouth was stretched open, sharp teeth lined its jaw.
"Too bad, buddy," Arion said as he nudged the iceberg with his foot, sending it floating back into the water.
He heard slight gurgles of groaning coming from within the ice as it bounced up and down.
It continued to make its journey, back up the river, pulled by the currents.
Arion just watched it float as he continued brushing his teeth.
A scaly lizard-like creature stood upon a rock, a spectator to the recent ordeal.
The creature glanced at him.
Arion's eyes darted toward it and back at the floating ice cube.
He glanced back, plopping his brush out of his mouth.
"What?" He said, as if feeling judged. "He tried me first. I know we all gotta eat, but I'm just not on the menu."
The creature blinked, then darted away.
These locals… rude I tell ya.
Once done he gurgled some water from his leaf cup, then spat it out.
Satisfied with his very late morning, Arion headed back toward the cabin, muttering to himself about water-interference readings.
Behind him, the river still glittered with the ice crystals he'd left behind.
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Arion pulled out the wooden chair sitting underneath the desk.
He placed a plate containing a mixture of boiled and fried fish, sliced and diced.
Next to it was a pile of what he could only describe as berries. After seeing the local birds feed on them ever since he arrived, he concluded they were safe to consume.
While eating late breakfast, he summoned his Grimoire from its shard, but instead of opening it, he sent his imprint into the shard, activating the Grimoire's shard codex.
Fulfilling his empty stomach's demands, he also entertained his eager mind.
…
Once finished, with a satisfied stomach and mind, he placed the Grimoire on the desk, flipping it to where he left off.
On the first page, he saw his very first entry; Signature Imprint, which he had written when he first claimed the Grimoire.
With many events and experiences in his mind, he placed his hand close to the page, hovering below the empty space of his previous entry.
Of course, the quill wasn't so easily summoned, only appropriate knowledge is accepted by this picky Grimoire. The only way to know is to mimic what he wants to write.
And so he did, as his hand danced over the page, the Grimoire pulsed in a somewhat positive reply.
The page breathed Essence and the quill materialised in its partner's hand.
The text glows as it forms like pure light on the page…
It's been about three weeks now…
…
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Field Entry:
Resonant Scanner — Acoustics / Utility
Dense circulation of Vitalis magnetised the surrounding Luminary Essence, clinging close to the skin before release.
A snap discharges the pulse—an invisible wave rolling outward like a heartbeat, wrapping around shapes, then recoiling back into him.
Each returning ping translated through Vitalis into a visual imprint: a blurred lattice of form and motion, alive for a breath before fading.
On Earth, sonar relies on reflected sound and mechanical receivers.
Here, Luminary resonance fuses with the returning echo, letting the wave speak back directly through Essence contact. Water distorts it, of course—denser medium, heavier noise—but even a muddy image beats blindness.
Science:
Vitalis modulation converts pressure differentials into harmonic feedback. Luminary coupling sustains resonance and transfers data through Essence bonds, allowing shape recognition by frequency coherence rather than amplitude alone.
In Layman Terms:
I built sonar that talks.
The waves hum, the Essence answers, and my head does the rest.
Maxim:"Sound finds truth, even in silence."