Chapter 4

In a small cave hidden within tall trees and large vegetation, Kalex opened his eyes. “Where the Nurdle sack am I?” he mumbled. Through the opening of the cave, the morning fog was gently moving in and out. The fog seemed to gather near an odd pedestal a rod or two away from the entrance and Kalex couldn’t help but watch the display with curiosity.

Deciding to investigate, Kalex attempted to let out a wisp of his presence towards the pedestal and failed. “Why is it so slow? I can feel my presence is mostly intact but it feels like it doesn’t want to move.” Kalex mumbled, “Maybe it’s because of this tiny body, I can’t even look down to see my toes!”

Off to the side of the cave sat Lyla staring dumbfoundedly at the infant. At first, she expected a lot of crying from the child as he was only a little over a day old but what she heard sent chills down her spine. She thought the child was just chittering random garble, typical baby noises, but listening to the cadence made it seem like he was speaking in sentences. She could not understand the words but this child was definitely speaking. Not wanting to interrupt the sight she was seeing, she continued to watch.

Finally, after many attempts, Kalex was able to get a grasp on his presence. With it filling his body and circulating as it should, he felt much better. His thoughts started to clear and his movements more coordinated. With much more effort than he thought he would need, he successfully sat upright. Although keeping his head from rolling around was another story.

“Alright, time to figure out where I am, looks like I’m in a weird cave and I’m laying in a bed of… what is this? Dry grass? I really hope this is dry grass.” Rolling over onto all fours, Kalex attempted to push himself up and stand. After a few tries and a sore forehead, he made it upright only to be greeted with a gasp from one of the corners of the cave.

Sitting to the side of the cave draped in shadow was the woman who had saved Kalex from the pain he experienced after he sent the open command to his storage cube, and she looked terrified. As an attempt to make a proper introduction, Kalex put both hands on his thighs to keep his balance and bowed deeply in gratitude. “My name is Kalex Wounder and it would be a pleasure to know the name of who saved me from the armored man and provided me safety.” Bowing deeper and speaking loudly to express his sincerity. “I am in your debt.”

With her mouth wide open with an expression of shock, Lyla stared at this baby covered in scars bowing to her and mumbling something in a language she could only decipher as odd squeaks and guttural grunts. Not knowing what to do, she stood unmoving until the child looked up at her with emerald eyes that shined with a new intensity.

Flinching, Lyla did the first thing she could think of and raised her hand in greeting. “Hello,” was all she could get out without stuttering too much. Pointing to herself. “my name is Lyla.” Moving her hand from herself and holding it out in the direction of Kalex, she asked. “What’s your name? Wait, you’re a baby, do you even have a name yet?”

It was Kalex’s turn to look astonished. She responded to him in a language he couldn’t even start to figure out. She did point to herself and say a word that could’ve been a name. “Let’s give this a shot.” he pointed to himself. “Kalex.” Her eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead as he pointed to her. “Lyla.”

Like a dam collapsing, questions flooded out of Lyla. Who had ever seen a baby do the things Kalex had just done? Her fervent questions came to a halt as Kalex held his hand up in a motion universally seen as a notice to stop. “I can’t understand anything you’re saying and I know you can’t understand anything that’s coming out of my mouth. Give me a moment to get my bearings and figure out what’s going on with my presence.” Kalex sat down immediately, closed his eyes, and began to feel the cycle of his presence through his body.

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Luckily, it had heeded his call better than when he’d first woken up but the sluggishness was cause for worry. Slowly over the next ten or so units, Kalex was able to extend his presence outside of his body. The first thing he saw was the scars. Horrified by the crisscrossing lines covering his body, he let out a yelp that caught the attention of his cave-mate.

Lyla moved over to Kalex quickly and gathered him in her arms before remembering that he wasn’t just another baby. In her arms, Kalex feverishly grasped at the scars he could reach with his short arms. Seeing this, Lyla pulled energy from her spark and sent it to aid Kalex's qualms. From the moment Lyla saw Kalex lying on the steps of the town center, she knew his wounds weren’t simple injuries. Something about them resonated with her and she needed to find out more about them.

In their escape from Fulrog, she had sent a very small amount of energy from her spark to the child's scars, not expecting much to happen. To her surprise, Kalex had stopped his weeping and had fallen asleep. A telltale sign of a healing soul wound, although the fact that the scars were on the outside was something she didn’t have an explanation for. Figuring it out became a priority as it had a chance to help her learn more about the soul and in turn, bring her skills to new levels.

The sense of disgust at the scars on his body left Kalex as he felt a wave of soothing energy waft over his entire body. Thinking aloud he said to himself. “I really need to figure out what she’s saying because what in Diat is happening right now? It’s like her presence is changing and soothing the nagging pain from these scars.” Kalex looked directly at Lyla and gave his best smile. "I can’t wait to speak with you and properly thank you for everything you’ve done."

"That’s it! I have a translator in my cube!" Kalex thought to himself with a pensive look. "Well, I had one. Looks like I’ll have to make a new one." With the healing he was receiving from Lyla, Kalex was able to finally project his presence into the outside world, and what he saw nearly made him faint with happiness.

Whenever Kalex expanded his presence to cover an area when he was on Diat, he would get vague impressions of the things around him. With help from his Lexidex and a lot of experience, he could generally figure out what was in his surroundings. Having the ability to see outside of oneself was a large reason as to why Seers were persecuted. When he looked in this new world with his presence he was essentially blinded by the sheer amount of feedback he was getting from his surroundings, with Lyla being an especially bright beacon.

Sorting through this information was a task he was not expecting. He could do it with enough effort but at times like this, he wished he had his Lexidex with him. With a flex of this willpower and a splitting headache that was soon eradicated by Lyla’s soothing presence, Kalex was able to identify most of what he was seeing.

Like Diat, everything here had a presence, even the stone that made up the cave he found himself in. The truly amazing aspect of these presences was that they were multiple times stronger than what he had ever seen and felt. In his old life, he was an artificer who used things from nature to make his various creations. A reason why his inventions were so sought after was due to their efficiency and ease of use.

Kalex’s secret in making items was to use the natural presence that was inherently in everything to boost efficacy and longevity. Most things created on Diat were void of any of the base components' natural presence, as the process of creating things was brutish with no care taken for the objects used to create the item. When Kalex started making things, he noticed that if the balance of the object's internal structure was damaged or not maintained, it would quickly dissolve, leaving an empty vessel. His process took many thousands of units of experimentation to become perfect in his craft. The act of maintaining the natural presence and bolstering it with his own while keeping the project balanced became an art only he was capable of on Diat.

Kalex didn’t do as much as he could with the things he made due to the shaky nature of the object’s native presence, but in this new world, that didn’t seem like it’d be a problem.