Chapter 02

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Knocked unconscious from over exerting himself, his mind was left to wander into the realm of dreams. He found himself observing a familiar scene from above, like a bird slowly soaring in the sky. It was a continuation of a dream he had before, bringing him back to his past life.

He watched the dream version of his former life, walking next to the two people he had once considered his nearest and dearest friends. It all looked so real, but somehow he knew that if he were to reach out it would vanish before him.

One of the pair walking next to Henry turned to him with a smile. “How’s your project going, Henry?” he asked, his voice echoing up to Finn's ethereal vantage point.

Finn recognized the boy as Melvin, a friend from his past life who was always bright, charismatic, and a joy to be around. Melvin's vibrant personality sharply contrasted with how Finn remembered himself as Henry – quieter, more reserved, and often carrying a somber air.

In this dream, Finn was a silent onlooker, witnessing his past life unfold. He felt a strange mix of nostalgia and detachment as he watched his younger self interact with friends, a tragic reminder of the life he once lived.

Henry, looking around with a playful glint in his eyes, boasted confidently, “You’ll find out when I get first place, yeah?”

Melvin, with his usual bravado, retorted, “Oh, so that’s how it is? I’ll be sure to remind you of those words when they announce the great Melvin as the victor of the science fair.”

The girl next to Melvin chimed in, her voice tinged with friendly challenge, “I think you're both overlooking something, boys.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” Melvin asked, eyebrows raised.

With a confident smirk, she replied, “Reckon I'm the sharpest inventor in all of Brisbane, mates.”

Watching this familiar scene, Finn couldn't help but smile, despite the surreal nature of the dream. The memory of Chloe Baxter, sharp-minded and confident, filled him with a sense of admiration and melancholy. He had always been sure she would go on to achieve great things after they had all graduated.

The trio's banter and laughter echoed in Finn's mind as they made their way to school, embodying a carefree time he could no longer return to. The dream, vibrant and full of life, slowly began to fade, and Finn felt himself being pulled back to his new reality.

As the dream dissolved, Finn found himself waking up, the cave's ambiance a stark contrast to the sunny streets of his past. The first thing he noticed was the warmth of a fire nearby, casting flickering shadows across the cave walls. His mind, still caught between dream and reality, raced as he recalled the violent fight.

Shaking away the remnants of his memory, Finn looked around frantically, searching for Elara, Toren, and the others. The first faces he recognized were Cadan, who had carried him to safety, and Branok and Kael, both bloodied but resilient. There was no sign of Elara and Toren, Lia, or Ariella.

Whispering with all the strength his young vocal cords could muster, Finn uttered, “Elara…” His voice wavered, filled with fear and uncertainty. As his eyes fell upon a makeshift casket, his heart sank, and he nearly toppled from his makeshift chair in distress. Tears welled up in his eyes, fear gripping his heart.

But then, like a calming breeze, Elara’s soothing voice reached his ears, washing away most of his worries. Her presence, reassuring and familiar, brought an immediate sense of relief to Finn's troubled mind.

Softly, in a tone that was both comforting and maternal, Elara spoke, her words a gentle murmur. “Finn, it's okay... shhh,” she cooed. Though Finn couldn't grasp every word due to his limited understanding of the language, the soothing resonance of her voice was enough to calm his racing heart.

As Finn's breathing steadied and his tears subsided, Elara did her best to gently explain the situation in terms he could understand. It seemed the figure in the casket was not one of their own but the enemy – the female attacker who had appeared to lead the assault. She reassured him that the others were safe, some standing guard while the rest were out gathering necessary supplies and materials.

In the safety of the cave, surrounded by the flickering firelight and the familiar faces of his newfound family, Finn's mind slowly began to process the events that had transpired.

A lingering realization dawned on him – amidst the chaos, he had somehow tapped into a well of power he didn't know he possessed. The magic had surged within him, raw and untamed, a force he had yet to understand or control.

This revelation sparked a new determination within Finn. He knew now more than ever that he would need to learn about magic, to harness and control it.

No longer did he want to be a mere bystander in such conflicts; he felt a burning need to understand the source of this power he could now fee within him. It felt natural like a part of himself, connected to the rest of the world.

But it also felt locked away. It was at this moment that he decided he would do whatever was necessary to fight alongside and protect those he had come to care for more than anything else in this new strange world.

Breaking away from these thoughts, Finn did his best to navigate around the cave. He could see Branok and Ariella, who were tinkering with a device that Finn had seen them working on often. He wandered over to the pair, adventuring dangerously as he wobbled to them, and over the obstacles befitting a toddler.

He climbed onto Branok’s lap, feeling compelled to do so by his strange (to his sensibilities) nature as a child once again. Sitting on the cheerful man’s lap he felt comfortable and safe, and Branok smiled down at Finn, giving a hearty laugh, although Finn could hear the echo of exhaustion from the battle in it.

Finn was happy that the interaction seemed to lift Branok’s spirits, if only by a little. Ariella also seemed to have lost some of the tension in her shoulders as she watched the pair. After a while, Finn decided to get up and adventure forth to find more of his people.

As Finn ventured, he eventually came across Lia, and the image of her shooting the arrow and the bloody image of the men’s head exploding flashed in his mind for a moment, but he shook it off. It was a reminder that this world was very real, this was not some video game he had been teleported into, and they weren’t some bits of code in a video game, but real, living people.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Finn was not so blind to believe that everyone deserved mercy, though. He felt strongly about most of the principals he had, but he also knew that he had never had to put those principals to the test, nor had he experienced half as many tribulations as many people in his former life. He knew that while he had led a depressing life for the majority, he wasn’t free of blame. He had brought much of that on himself, mistakes of youth that he never had the strength to resolve, or even prevent in the first place.

Finn’s expression must have given away his thoughts, because Lia squatted down to give him an awkward hug. Lia almost never hugged anyone, or even revealed her emotions, and Finn smiled, allowing the sour thoughts from another life drift into nothingness.

Finn and Lia ventured on together for a while, exploring the cave, listening to the cackling of the fire, the heavy rainfall, and the deep rolling thunder. After a while, they sat and watched the rain fall and the trees blowing wildly, and Finn reveled at the way magic was integrated into the nature of this world as he watched arcane bolts of force roar through the sky.

Rainbow colored bolts would shimmer across the sky, in a way that made Finn giggle with excitement. As he sat and watched for what must have been a couple hours, Finn bore witness as a bolt of natural lightning collided with an arcane shimmer, and he watched in bewilderment as the forces of nature collided and intertwined themselves, until they both flashed out of existence.

What remained was one glowing crystal that crackled and sparked with power as it fell from the sky. As he looked around him to see if anyone else had seen it. Lia was keen and observant, and Toren was on watch, plus the magical event was eye-catching and thunderous, so of course they had both seen it.

Finn turned to Lia and pointed, making a pleading “ahh?”, wishing he knew how to say what he was thinking, and she smiled, saying something he mostly interpreted as assent. She darted away, returning a short while later with the magical crystal in hand.

Lia knelt down, placing the magic item in Finn's tiny hand, and then turned to Toren. They exchanged words, and moments later Toren was chanting a spell on Lia, producing dry heat that quickly dried her off.

As Toren dried Lia off, Finn studied the magical item in his hand with avid fascination. The crystal was similar to the more plain looking crystal that could be extracted from slain magic beings, this crystal was semi-translucent, deep blue, with bolts of ultraviolet lightning weaving in and out of the crystal, it didn’t hurt to hold, but gave off a powerful sense of magic.

Finn stared at the item intently, transfixed. In his travels with his adoptive family, he had seen plenty of magical landscape, but nothing extraordinary, just pleasant views and occasional quick kills of magical beings. But the item he held felt like something on a scale he had never encountered before.

As the night wore on, Finn was in love with the magic crystal, watching the bolts fly around, in and out. He pondered his situation. With the cave providing a temporary respite from their journey, the magic crystal now floating around his head by some magic ritual that Toren had performed.

Finn laid on his back, contemplative, his thoughts a mix of wonder and resolve. The world, with all its mysteries and magic, was slowly opening up to him, and he was eager to embrace what lay ahead.

The experience in the cave had been a turning point for Finn, a catalyst that ignited a deeper curiosity and a stronger desire to be more than a passive observer in this enchanting world, and to explore all the wonders it had to offer him.

In the days that followed the attack, the team eventually resumed their travels, journeying towards their next destination. Throughout the trip, a palpable sense of caution hung over the group, each member alert and prepared for any potential dangers.

Fortunately, no further attacks occurred. Finn, meanwhile, dedicated himself to overcoming the barriers of communication that had frustrated him. His determination to speak was met with the challenge of a young child's vocal limitations.

Despite possessing the memories and intellectual capacity of an adult, Finn was navigating the complex process of developing the neural pathways necessary for speech, a task typically reserved for early childhood. This disconnect between his mature mind and his developing body created an unusual hurdle.

In typical language acquisition, a child's brain forms connections that facilitate the understanding and production of language. These connections, or neural pathways, are strengthened through repetition and practice. However, in Finn's case, his brain already held the knowledge and understanding of language from his past life, but the physical mechanisms needed for speech – the fine motor skills of the mouth, tongue, and vocal cords – would still need to play catch up.

Finn's attempts to speak were akin to a skilled musician trying to play an unfamiliar instrument. He knew what he wanted to say, but producing the sounds accurately was a different matter. Each time he tried to articulate a word, it was an exercise in connecting his advanced cognitive abilities with the still-developing coordination of his speech muscles.

This challenge was further compounded by the fact that he was learning to speak in an entirely new language, one with its own unique sounds and structures. It required Finn not only to master the physical aspects of speech but also to translate his thoughts from his native language into the new tongue of this world.

Despite these hurdles, Finn's strange situation also presented an advantage. His adult brain's capacity for complex thought and understanding allowed him to grasp linguistic concepts much quicker than a typical child. This accelerated cognitive comprehension, coupled with the natural plasticity of his young brain, positioned him on a fast track to overcoming these challenges.

With each passing day, the gap between his mental acuity and his physical ability to speak was gradually closing, paving the way for the emergence of a fluent speaker in both his original and new languages. Every attempt to form words in his native language resulted in sounds that were incomprehensible to his companions, who paid them little mind, dismissing them as the babbling of a toddler.

Finn's frustration, however, was soon alleviated by an innovative solution crafted by Ariella and Branok. They had created a remarkable device for him, a magical tablet that was both complex and elegant in design. Its function was similar to a tablet from his old world, but with enchanting capabilities unique to this magical world.

With a simple swipe, Finn could change the display, revealing images accompanied by Elara's voice articulating each word, followed by descriptive text and examples. The mix of technology and magic interwoven into this device were beyond Finn's complete understanding, yet he appreciated the obvious effort and care that had gone into its creation. It immediately became his most treasured tool, opening doors to learning and communication that were previously closed to him.

As Finn interacted with the tablet, he reflected on the time that had passed since his arrival in this world. Although he hadn't been keeping a meticulous count of the days, he estimated it to be around 2-3 years. Holding the tablet, which had quickly become an indispensable companion, he concentrated on a word that had captivated him from the moment he first heard it..

Pressing the icon on the tablet, he listened intently as Elara’s voice emanated from the device, her tone clear and melodious. She pronounced the word for “magic” in her native language, a word that sounded so different from the simple two-syllable word in English.

“Aerithal,” Elara’s voice echoed, “pronounced: Ay-ri-thal.”

The tablet screen displayed the word, alongside its pronunciation. Below it, a detailed definition appeared:

“Aerithal: A fundamental, pervasive force present throughout nature, regarded as the essence of life and the universe in the world. It's the inherent energy that flows through all living and non-living entities, manifesting as what is commonly known as magic, responsible for various natural phenomena and magical abilities. Aerithal embodies the interconnectedness of all elements within the natural world, often utilized in various forms of magic and mystical practices.”

Finn was astounded by the complexity and depth of the tablet's contents. He discovered that by tapping on certain words, interactive symbols appeared, allowing him to delve deeper into related topics. For instance, the word “Aerithal,” had a slight shimmer, and when tapped not only did it provide the word, an image, and a sample sentence, but it also expanded to offer a more detailed explanation.

The tablet revealed, “More information: Aerithal can take many forms. Due to its nature and the nature of our world, Aerithal is omnipresent. Ambient magic, a key aspect of Aerithal, varies in intensity across different geographical areas. This variance in magical energy is categorized in Ranks. For a detailed understanding of these tiers, refer to the section titled [Ranks].”

Finn paused, his mind swirling with the new information. The intricacies of magic were vast, and at times overwhelming. He took a moment to process what he had learned, feeling a mix of excitement and the daunting realization of how much there was to understand.

“Stick to the basics Finn”. He thought to himself.

As Finn and his companions approached the next village, he was immediately captivated by its unique charm and mystical ambiance. The village, of moderate size, bore a striking resemblance to a traditional Japanese village, harmoniously blended with enchanting, fantastical elements.

Surrounded by lush, gently rolling landscapes and serene rice paddies, the village was a picturesque scene of natural beauty and human artistry. The houses, constructed predominantly of wood, bore the distinct, elegant simplicity of traditional Japanese architecture. Their roofs, made of thatched straw, gracefully curved at the edges, reminiscent of ancient Japanese styles.

The main path through the village was lined with delicately crafted stone lanterns, providing a soft, ambient light that illuminated the way. These lanterns, along with the neatly trimmed bonsai trees and koi ponds that dotted the landscape, added a sense of tranquility and connection to nature.

At the heart of the village stood an impressive torii gate, marking the entrance to a small Shinto shrine, (although Finn wondered about who the shrine was dedicated to in this world). This sacred space, nestled among sakura trees, was a tranquil haven where villagers would often be seen offering prayers and paying respects to the gods.

The air was filled with the subtle scent of cherry blossoms and the gentle sounds of a bamboo water fountain. Villagers, dressed in a mix of traditional kimonos and modern attire, moved about with a quiet purpose, their demeanor reflecting a deep-rooted respect for their heritage and surroundings.

In open areas, children played, their laughter echoing softly, while elders gathered in teahouses, enjoying matcha and sharing stories. The village exuded a sense of peace and a deep bond with its cultural roots, with each element—from the neatly raked rock gardens to the flowing streams—carefully tended to preserve the harmony and beauty of the environment.

Finn was struck by the elegance and serenity of this village, a place where the ancient and the mystical seemed to intertwine seamlessly, creating a world that was both deeply rooted in tradition and alive with a magic all its own.

“I…Like…Here” Finn said, carefully pronouncing the words in his new language.