Inside a one-room hut, Reiji sat on the wooden floor, eyes roaming around the inside structure of the room. "A comfortable place."
Glancing backward, he spotted a bed filled with soft white animal hair that acted as a mattress.
"I guess this would help," Reiji remarked, "it's a good place to pause and reflect on the things I've experienced so far."
Reiji walked over to the bed, sat down with his legs crossed, and leaned forward before losing himself into deep thought.
"It looks like I'm in a different dimension. The diagram… could it be a gateway to a realm apart from what we know? The symbols in it, 'new journey', huh?"
Reiji fidgeted with his hands, contemplating as he pressed them to his lips. "The letter, eerily enough, could it be that father is also stuck in this world?"
"Maybe, I can see him again…"
His introspection was interrupted by the growl of his stomach, so he stood up and picked up the meat that was on the ground.
He sat again, this time close to the central hearth, and placed the meat near the small spark of ember that was left in the pit. Then he started eating.
Though he was physically moving, all his attention was in his thoughts. "There are words swirling in my head, pulsating, begging to be spoken."
"Vitalis Vedere."
"Materiae Artifex."
Reiji drank the water, finished his meal, and went back to bed.
As he sat lost in thought, the room gradually darkened, with only the fading light from the windows remaining.
With darkness falling, Reiji began to notice his surroundings again. "The night and day cycle seems normal, but the stars peeking in through the windows are a lot more than the usual ones on Earth."
"When did I get my hands free?" he wondered. "That little girl is really mysterious. I'd bet she's not her real age – physically–"
And with that, Reiji's first day in Paragonia drew to a close. He drifted into slumber, exhausted by the endless questions and uncertainties that had swirled in his mind.
The morning came, and the little girl and Bobbin returned, slamming the door open and rattling the whole hut as they entered.
Reiji turned his head towards them and said, "That's not a good way to greet someone in the morning, little girl."
The little girl stared blankly at Reiji and asked, "What are you doing?"
"There, that's what you lack. Emotion – or, if you will, 'flavor' – just like the meat your pet slammed into my mouth. So, to start, have this dish I made from whatever edible-looking things I found in this small room and the leftover meat from yesterday."
Both the little girl and Bobbin stood still just looking at Reiji without any reaction.
"Hey, Bobbin. Catch!" Reiji threw a piece of meat towards Bobbin. It bounced off of Bobbin's fur with a soft thud, and the giant rabbit turned to the little girl.
"Okay, so you want to play it like this." Reiji grinned.
"I guess he's still in sho–"
All of a sudden, the little girl's mouth was stuffed with meat halting her from speaking.
"Behold, Reiji's Special No. 1 – bon appétit!"
Her eyes widened in surprise, eyebrows arched in confusion. Her hands rose halfway, frozen in a fruitless attempt to react to Reiji's swift approach. Then, the flavor of his Special No. 1 exploded on her taste buds, and her expression slowly melted into a look of delight.
She tumbled to her knees, her hands instinctively flying to her cheeks as she let out a silent, internal squeal of pleasure.
"Here you go, Bobbin." He tossed another piece, and Bobbin snatched it out of the air with paws, popping it straight into his mouth.
Bobbin dropped on its back, lying flat on the wooden floor. Eyes glazing over with satisfaction and mouth drooled in anticipation of more.
She tried to compose herself, brushing off the amusement, and asked, "What was that? How did you make that thing?"
"These small disk-shaped harvests and that violet bulb over there have a similar flavor profile to a famous ingredient from where I came from. Although there's nuance in its taste, the juicy, high-quality meat complements it perfectly."
"Those are Rocallini and Cipombole, and we use them for a lot of things except cooking. Don't lie to me."
Reiji curved half of his lips, thinking, "This must be uncultivated onion and garlic, it looks unpleasant as it is, no wonder no one tried to use it for cooking."
"And besides," she continued, "it tastes horrible. Bobbin nearly died and couldn't eat for three whole days after trying them. What did you really do?"
"I could teach you, but first, show some respect and use honorifics. Maybe 'sir' for starters?"
She frowned and began chanting, "Sekhemu Netjeri, shemsu Ani sagkot kawsara. Halekin!" ("Hasten")
In counter reaction, Reiji began chanting his own, "Corpo si illumina, shinsen o terasu. Vitalis Vedere."
"She got pissed," Reiji thought to himself.
Her body began to glow with a yellowish-white light, while Reiji's average build rapidly expanded into a compound, dense volume.
"Bobbin!" She shouted, and in a blink of an eye, she vanished right before Reiji's eyes. Following her disappearance, Bobbin let out a deafening shriek that made Reiji clutch his ears, which immediately began to bleed.
"The buzzing ring was all I could hear. The pain was severe, too," Reiji spoke while lifting the little girl by the back of her shift, suspending her mid-air. "But I learned just this morning that I have an ability that recovers any of my internal or external damage over time."
Reiji turned downward and calmly said, "Thank you, Bobbin. For being so cooperative," as he lightly pressed him to the ground with his foot.
That was the view after Reiji dashed outside the hut, avoiding Bobbin's deafening shriek, while aiming to get close to the little girl.
Bobbin quickly reacted after Reiji passed by, chasing after him to defend the little girl. But, Reiji countered it by spinning to avoid its grappling takedown and gently pressed his right foot onto its shoulder as soon as Bobbin fell on the ground.
"You're no longer shaking, and it looks like you can finally hear us." The little girl responded.
"How can I not? This guy's voice just blew out my eardrums. But yes, I can hear you now, still faintly."
The little girl looked up at the sky and said, "It's almost past noon, you've been holding us in this position for hours, are you a freak– Sir?"
"Lesson one: that's not how you talk to someone you call sir. Lesson two: I'll let you down, but if you do anything funny again, we'll end up in a more serious scenario."
"That's what I've been saying, you made a point. And besides, I'm a Luminari Illusionist. I know my limits."
"Luminari?" Reiji asked as he put her down and let go of Bobbin. "What does that mean?
"Why don't we sit by the fire inside my hideout while we talk, sir?" she suggested.
"Good idea," Reiji responded, and quickly headed back inside the hut. "She called this her hideout?" he thought. "She's starting to show her childlike side, huh?"
"Come on, Bobbin. Drama's over. You can get up now." The two followed suit.
As soon as they all settled, Reiji started the conversation and asked, "So, Luminari. Who are you really, and why did Bobbin attack me in the first place?
She sighed and said, "Alright, first off, my name isn't Luminari. It's how I classify my magical capabilities. My name is Tatiana, and like you, I'm an outsider in this land."