"Oh, hey there Bridge! Mord! We are over here. You really took your time dropping the
luggage," Viera waves to Bridge and Mord, who seem to be heading towards Zedoh, the
ancient city, in search of them.
They approached. Jocelyn teleported and scared Bridge from behind, making her retreat into
her hair. Viera, even though she is basically flying, is left behind as she decides to float
towards them slowly. Vesper is strolling alongside Rosalind, conversing with her as they
walk.
"Oh partner, how has the tour been? Hope you kept our reader up to date," the Male
Narrator asked.
"Yeah, yeah, let's not hold up the action and get to the group reunion," the Female Narrator
snaps.
Vesper comforts Bridge. "Hey, Bridge, calm down. Jocelyn isn't going to hurt you. Breathe
and let down your hair. You'll only encourage her, you know, hiding like this."
As Jocelyn is laughing maniacally, rolling on the ground, "Shrub! Shrub! She made out a tall
grass getting small, she shrubbed!"
Vesper uses her foot to catch some sand on the ground to kick towards Jocelyn. Jocelyn
teleports out of it immediately.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it, but I really can't stop laughing," she says, her laugh
becoming louder and more crazed.
"Ah, fits of laughter when there is no joke. The queen won't like this," Vesper says
disappointedly, shaking her head as she helps Bridge up.
Jocelyn's laughs stopped immediately. "The queen... ah, I see the joke really wasn't funny."
Jocelyn gets up and starts to apologize to Bridge by putting out some party tricks, like
making water gush out from nowhere and juggling.
"Wow, that's just cruel of her using her teleportation like that," the Female Narrator calls out.
Bridge stops hiding. "I'm fine, I just got a bit scared. I wasn't crying or anything," she lies.
"Let's move on. You guys were heading for the zoo, right?"
"Yeah, we were heading towards Creature Studies, Public Zoo," Vesper relays, heading back
to her position beside Rosalind.
Rosalind tries to mouth out something but stops until she gets an encouraging look from
Viera. "Hey Jocelyn," she tries to call Jocelyn. "How does your teleport work? Do you just
disappear and appear as you see fit, or is there some kind of secret to it?"
Jocelyn's face immediately lights up. The mask covering her eyes could not hide the
excitement in her eyes, as one could see it even with the mask on. "Oh, you really want to know? Well, it first happened when one of my sisters left me in the
sky. I was sure I was falling to my doom, but it was still crazy. The feeling of falling awakened
something in me. I wanted to experience the feeling forever. So, when I was about to hit the
ground, it just happened; I was back up in the sky. And then it turned into a loop of me falling
and just teleporting. So, my sisters helped me out before I ran out of Vim. Amazing, right?"
Jocelyn rattles excitedly as she repeatedly teleports around Rosalind, slowing the whole
group down as they approach the zoo.
Mord sighs. "I think she wants you to explain how it functions. Like, is it a technique, skill, or
spell?" he levels, trying to make Jocelyn understand the question better.
"Oh, like what Ikos it is? Well, that's complicated. I'm not sure her teeny column could take it,
you know?" Jocelyn says solemnly as she uses her hand to form a box shape measuring the
size of Rosalind's head from a distance.
This made everyone burst into laughter, even Rosalind, leaving Jocelyn confused.
"Well, if you want to know, I have three major teleporting Ikos," Jocelyn begins, opening up
her pink Codex.
Name: Jocelyn Valjubi Viveca
Sex: Female
Specie: Enhanced human (wonderlandian)
Role: 731st Inheritor of the Jester of Hearts
Vim Capacity: Deep
Vim Density: Adamant
Index: Trickster, Adept Fighter, Jester, Teleporter, #########, Valjubi.
Vorpaljolt: the step that arrived before it left; (Technique/ Prism/ [HIDDEN]) - Movement
micro-teleportation.
brilligfoot: the road that swallowed the walker; (Skill/ Chorus/ [HIDDEN]) - Precise spatial
relocation.
Wings of the 11th Card (Spell/ Prism/ [HIDDEN]) - Absolute spatial barrier.
"Oh wow," Rosalind blurts out, then she immediately puts her fingers on her mouth. "I didn't
expect you to have such amazing stats. You have a Chorus cadence on one of your Ikos,
and Prism on two. Wow." Rosalind fans herself with her arms as she begins to sweat.
Rosalind stared at the glowing projection of the Codex floating above Jocelyn's palm. Her
eyes darted across terms like Adamant, Prism, and HIDDEN in her index.
"Pause. Look at her face. Poor Rosalind is currently experiencing a total system crash," the
Female Narrator worries.
"To be fair, looking at Jocelyn's stats is like trying to read a blueprint for a nuclear reactor
written in bright pink. Let's help the princess out—and the readers—before the action
resumes," the Male Narrator says, his voice surging with excitement. "Let's be quick with it, let's go! First, like we've said before, the Ikos. That's the 'how' of the
magic works. Simply put, abilities. And Jocelyn's using three main flavors here: Spells,
Techniques, and Skills," the Female Narrator prattles quickly.
"Spells are your classic 'input equals output' magic. You chant, you draw a circle, or you
wave your hands, and bam—immediate result. It's the 'Press A to Jump' of the magic world,"
the Male Narrator elaborates calmly.
"Techniques are more demanding. You can't just think of them; you have to move. Hand
signs, instruments, or specific physical motions—like Jocelyn's Glitch Step—are the trigger.
If you can't move, the technique doesn't happen. It's like your 10 combo move in a fighter
game," the Female Narrator continues.
"Then you have skills. These are the scary ones because they're automatic. No activation,
no chanting, no dancing around. They just work and can't be interrupted. It's like
breathing—you don't think about it, you just do it," the Male Narrator adds, barely holding
excitement.
"Now, the fuel: Vim. This is the energy in your tank. It has two stats: Capacity and Density,"
the Female Narrator scoffs.
"Capacity is just how much you have. It goes from Shallow (Vados) up to Infinite. Jocelyn is
sitting at Deep (Derin), which is quite a small amount in relation to her other stats. How does
she manage such powerful Ikos with a Vim capacity of Derin? Mmm?" the Male Narrator
ponders.
"That would be her Density. Capacity is the size of the tank; Density is the octane of the
fuel," the Female Narrator replies, quickly trying to speed up the explanation.
"Exactly. Higher density means your punches hit harder and your spells cost less. Jocelyn is
rated Adamant. That's level 12 out of 15! Most people are lucky to be at Glimmer or Ripple.
Her Vim is so thick it basically acts as armor," the Male Narrator throws in, matching her
pace.
"And then there's Cadence. That's your level of understanding. It starts at Whisper and goes
up to Anthem," the Female Narrator hastily elaborates.
"Think of it as how much you understand a subject. From Echo to Visage, is like just starting
a course to being a professor in it. The more you understand, the better it gets and more
useful it becomes," the Male Narrator paces slowly, trying to slow things down.
"Jocelyn has Prism-level understanding for her core teleports. At that level, the quality of the
Ikos will be hard to prepare against."
"But wait, look at the bottom of her Codex," the Male Narrator reasons, successfully slowing
the conversation. "Aside from the #########, which I can already guess by counting the
number of letters hidden in the word, she also has HIDDEN?" "I have a theory. Usually, a Codex shows the Danger Level of every Iko—from Dust up to
Apocalyptic."
"You think she's hiding them?"
"I think those 'HIDDEN' are the danger ratings for her abilities. If the information was public
access, many would be terrified of her."
"Dark. I like it. Anyway, Princess Rosalind is starting to look conscious again," the Male
Narrator states.
"Oh goody. Finally," the Female Narrator chirps.
The world blurred back into motion.
Jocelyn waves her hand in front of Rosalind's face. "So if you're awake, these are my three
main Ikos that allow me to teleport," Jocelyn begins explaining. "This one, Vorpaljolt, is a
Technique. It can only teleport me to places I can see or hear in a single sequence of
motion, such as a single punch or kick."
She then demonstrates. She throws a sudden, rapid punch right toward Rosalind's face.
Vesper lunges forward, stretching her arms to stop her, but Jocelyn teleports mid-swing. She
reappears instantly beside Viera, her fist still traveling in the exact same punching motion.
The impact lands, causing Viera's fiery form to dissipate around the area Jocelyn punched.
"I thought my head was gone!" Rosalind gasps, eyes wide with genuine panic for a split
second before the realization hits her.
"Oh, I think I understand it now," she finally speaks. "It felt like my head was about to get
blown off, but I understand now. The Vorpaljolt was like a glitch, forcing herself through
space. The brilligfoot, on the other hand, was like her skipping through space, warping reality
to change her place and position across different points in space," she said excitedly,
jumping towards Vesper.
"That was incredible, scary, but a truly fascinating experience! But Vesper, you were about to
cast a spell just now. Now that I think about it, I can't peek at your Codex. Why's that? You
didn't have that when we were little. Could you let me see your Codex?" Rosalind presses
Vesper all of a sudden.
Vesper, confused, steps back away from the excited Rosalind. "I don't think I can show you
that... maybe later," Vesper beseeches.
"Oh, okay then. What about you, Bridge, Viera, Mord? Will you all be willing to demonstrate
your Ikos in front of me?" Rosalind inquires.
"We really need to pick up the pace," Viera calls out, flames flickering with urgency. "We're
already running behind schedule for the zoo, and Augusta will have our heads if we waste
any more time here." "She's right," Bridge adds, her hair still slightly bristling from the scare. "We can't afford to
linger. The tour route is tight, and we still have a lot of ground to cover before the day ends."
"We should really walk faster then. Time is not by our side. We are already close to the zoo,
so let's head in," Mord drones.
They arrived at the Nyamachawi Public Zoological Gardens, the only fully public zoo in Glen
Hearthstone Atheneum, managed by the great Faculty of Creature Studies: Arcanum
Nyama, the College of the Goddess of Earth, the Creator and Preserver of Life, Nyama G
Dunyha.
Vesper throws her arms high up in the air as they approach the entrance of the zoo, which is
packed with people going in and out.
"Wow, the gate is really huge, and the zoo itself must be large. I can't seem to see any end
to it, and look at the crowd. I must say, compared to everywhere we've been, this place is by
far the most crowded," Rosalind says, stopping to examine the entrance. "But I haven't
heard of this goddess you speak of before. Is she still alive, or maybe she's niche, perhaps?
Nnnaama, you called it? I'm not sure I got it. Why is a whole faculty named after her?"
"It's Nyama, iNg-ya-ma. It's easier to say by saying 'Binge A Yam ah,' you know," Jocelyn
explains, suddenly appearing in front of everyone, floating slowly towards the crowd, her
fingers on her mouth forcing the edges of her mouth to pass her nose somehow.
"Jocelyn, you—!" Viera screams, zooming towards Jocelyn, her surroundings heating up as
she passes Rosalind, who shrieks at the sudden increase in temperature around her.
"Don't worry, Miss Rosalind, I'll answer your questions," Bridge assures Rosalind, her hair
forming the shape of a stage like it wants to tell a story. "Nyama Dunyha, the one the Faculty
of Creature Studies was named after, was a student here about more than 10,000 years
ago." Her hair shifts into the form of a figure in a dark cloak. "The exact number isn't really
known. She was a famous summoner, a plant mage among many other things. She was also
an Inheritor of Gaya, the Earth Goddess, and a Singlus Inheritor at that." The hair figures
take the shapes of plants changing into different colors as the cloaked figure becomes
metallic. "If you are familiar with history books, she is usually called the Black Gold
Paragon."
Bridge explains, her hair finishing their performance, making a visual representation of all of
Bridge's explanations.
"That was quite the show put out. I loved how the hair got darker to show that Nyama
Dunyha was a darker shade, and the little purple lights that were popping out mimicking an
eye were also splendid," the Male Narrator shrieks.
"Pipe down," the Female Narrator interrupts the excited Male Narrator. "Though I have to
admit the hair is quite cute. Now, a Singlus Inheritor is quite rare, but in a large institution like
Glen Hearthstone Atheneum, it could be common."
"An Inheritor who has inherited a character across all stories and appearances in fiction is a
Singlus Inheritor. She must have been really momentous for her to have been called a
Paragon," the Male Narrator adds.
"Rumors are that she is still alive and is on a secret list in the Death & Mortality Commission
base west of Glen Hearthstone."
"Wow, this is really stimulating," Rosalind said, her fingers shaking from excitement. "I have
actually read about the Black Gold Paragon! The one who built a green civilization in the
parts of the 1001 Deserts, fought against Mineral conglomerates, and headed A Storm of
Sand Wyverns—that Paragon! Wow, I never knew she was a student of Hearthstone. That's
really amazing. What other powerful historical figures came from this school?" she asks. "Well, that's all part of the fun. If we give it all to you, it ruins the excitement of finding out by
yourself," Viera says to a sulking Jocelyn behind her.
"Hmm, but there are some that we can show you. Come on, let's head in," Vesper says,
grabbing Rosalind by the shoulder and pulling her towards a bunch of teleporter machines.
"Hmm, before we use it, I think I should explain how they work to you so that you can get
familiar with it. We've used it before, but no one really explained how they work, right?"
Vesper asks as she arrives at the teleporters alongside Rosalind, with Viera behind them.
"We call these Silver-Slips. These are made by Reflect Tech; they are the part of the
organization that handles all tech in Hearthstone Atheneum. Unlike Jocelyn's teleportation,
this one actually moves you by transporting you through the mirror dimension. See this?"
Vesper says, putting her arms in the air. All of a sudden, as if an invisible curtain was there,
she pulls it open. "You see, in order to save money, they invented these Silver-Slips that
make use of the fact that light can be reflected and transmitted through different mirrors by
passing through the mirror dimension, Verity—the one the magic mirror on the wall from our
stories manages."
"What I'm grabbing is a light capsule that forms around us the moment we step onto this
circle, the moment we input where we are going. Like this," she taps onto the air and a
sudden window appears. "Well, for Silver-Slips like this—can you see?" She signals
Rosalind to get closer. "This is a location-specific Silver-Slip, allowing you to only teleport to
locations around Nyamachawi gardens. Usually, we are supposed to get a pass before
teleporting into the zoo, but don't worry, Bridge will get us those passes. So it's like operating
a phone screen. You were really excited about the Black Gold Paragon, so let's go to the
Desert biome. So this is the biome, and off we go," she says, clicking on the green.
The light surrounding them brightens up, shimmering. In a flash, once the light calms down
and becomes invisible again, the people on it have disappeared into the mirror dimension,
Verity. There, they travel through a tube in a capsule moving at close to light speed, coming
out from a mirror with a magic inscription on it and passing through another inscribed mirror.
"Wow, that's quite the system. Well, in a world like Hiraeth, different methods of teleportation
isn't quite a shock. Jocelyn's most common method of teleportation is changing her position
and placement across space and reality; this one is just using a different dimension that
allows for a faster means of travel, such as light," the Female Narrator analyzes curiously as
Vesper and Rosalind arrive at their location: a tiled road in the middle of a desert, totally out
of place.
"Wow, I haven't gotten used to the teleportation thing, like a lot of things you've been
showing me. And is this a desert? I thought you said we were in a zoo. And what is with the
tiles right in the middle of the desert?"
"Oh, that's because this is actually a desert resort with a bit of aesthetic, Young Miss," a girl
says.
"Oh!" Rosalind shrieks at the sight of the girl in front of her, slowly and cautiously retreating
behind Vesper, grabbing her clothes.
"Oh, Rosalind, this is Zookeeper Naima Tannous. Naima for short. She is in the same class
as me, and she is also part of the tour guide club like many of the others we've met before.
Don't mind her look, she isn't going to bite you."
Naima Tannous was a short girl in a green forest scout uniform with a hat. The girl
possessed animal features: slight orange fur with black spots, a tail, claws, a black line like
tattooed tears marked on her face, a big nose, and snakes curling on her neck and
shoulders. "Hi, I'm Naima. I'm also part of the Tour guide club, though I've been stationed here. I'm a cheetah demi-human, Inheritor of the crying cheetah parable," she says,
stretching her arm upward towards Rosalind.
"Oh, I'm Aurora Rosalind Seraphina Valory, Snow White. The Inheritor of Snow White from
the Grimm tales' Snow White. You are one of the first actual demi-humans that I've seen in
my life."
"Oh, I get it, don't worry. And if you are worried about the snakes, they are all trained and
won't bite. And if you've noticed, we are in the middle of a desert, but we really aren't.
Actually, let me show you." She approaches the edges of the tiles, then stretches her arm
into the air, which disappears.
"Wow, intriguing," Rosalind says, beginning to peek at Naima's Codex.
Naima suddenly snarls at Rosalind, spooking her a little. Before Rosalind could respond,
Vesper taps her shoulder, then points towards the other end of the tiles directly opposite
Naima. "That's not what you should be looking at, Rosalind. Look over there, that's what she
is trying to show you," Vesper says, calming the situation, pointing at an arm coming out of
nowhere, floating in thin air. It was Naima's arm that disappeared; it was appearing directly
opposite her, waving at Rosalind.
"Okay, is this another teleportation? I'm getting confused," Rosalind questions, turning
towards Vesper.
"No, this is a space manipulation spell," Viera replies, cutting off Vesper before she could
answer. "It's a spell that cuts off a certain region from others. It simply partitions places into
different spaces that can either stand alone or connect to others. This one is a two-way spell.
Watch," Viera says as she floats towards the edge of the tile road, going through it and
coming out directly opposite from the other end. "You see, anything on this road can't enter
the desert, and anything in the desert can't enter this road," she explains.
"It would be easier for you by using some Vim on your eye to try looking at the edges of the
road," Vesper advises Rosalind. "And don't try checking out a stranger's Codex like that.
Some find it offensive, you know."
Rosalind listens, sending some Vim into her eyes as she closes them to focus. Once she
opened them, she could see the wavy walls that were at the two sides at the end of the tile
road. "Exhilarating!" she exclaims, admiring the ocean-like wall that separated the desert
from them. She begins walking, looking around in awe, but as she kept on turning, her eyes
caught on something that was staring intensely at her with red eyes.
"Wha—!" Rosalind silently gasps as she tries to muffle her scream, moving back and tripping
on her own feet, about to fall.
"Well, Miss Rosalind, you should be careful. Tiles are quite slippery," warns Mord, who
waves his wand, casting a spell that creates a wind cushion, breaking Rosalind's fall as he,
Bridge, and Jocelyn appear out of the Silver-Slip.
"Wow, those were really fast reflexes, Mord. Though I thought you weren't going to let her fall
at all," Vesper teases Mord.
"Well, it was all I could come up with from the short glance into the future my astronomer
Ikos gives me every once in a while," Mord shrugs.
"Well, Rosalind, sorry for the scare," Vesper apologizes, lifting Rosalind up. "This creature
that is staring intently at us is a Sand Wyvern. This whole section is actually the Sand
Wyvern section, and as you can notice, is quite empty."
"Wow, an actual Sand Wyvern!" Rosalind screams as she approaches the lizard-like,
Savannah Gold winged creature that once startled her before with a newfound curiosity. Her Everyone was shocked at the sudden behavior of Rosalind, who had been acting slightly
sheepish most of the tour. "Wow, look at its scales, its golden texture!" Rosalind admires,
nearly falling as she tries to rest on the wave-like walls, forgetting that she would just pass
through them.
Hrueeeeegh!
The Sand Wyvern curiously observes Rosalind, who was quite close to it.
"Is it evaluating me as a meal? Why couldn't I see it before? Is it male or female? Oh wait,
don't tell me it's actually one of the Sand Wyverns under the Black Gold Paragon's
command!"
A sudden burst of laughter erupts at Rosalind's sudden excitement. "Well, I guess we've
cracked her shell," Jocelyn jokes.
"Well, as Vesper was saying, you can see there aren't a lot of people around these parts.
This is because this part is actually reserved for students of high school and higher being
guided by our club. And this whole section has been set to only be viewed by people who
can at least use Vim on their sight. It must have taken a while for your sight to fully adapt to
the masking. Sorry. And this is Jude; he isn't a Sand Wyvern from over 10,000 years ago, I
hope you can do with him. And no, he is not evaluating you for his next meal," Naima
assures, approaching Rosalind, who was ogling at the sight of the huge creature, trying to
stroke it, though her arm kept on going through the wall and never quite reaching Jude,
letting out a disappointing grunt every time she fails.
"I think Jude here is just shocked by your reaction. Most people would have shit their pants,"
Naima chuckles. "Metaphorically, of course." Her chuckle becomes awkward after the
sudden deflection.
Jude suddenly growls, then runs away, passing through the wall and appearing directly
opposite the other end, making everyone turn towards the other side and the large group of
Sand Wyverns that Jude seems to be approaching.
"Oh, that's a Storm," Naima says.
"Storm? Like a herd?" Rosalind inquires.
"Yeah, like a herd. We call a herd of Wyverns Storms mostly, though some of them are
called plagues and other stuff, but that's for later," Naima replies as she takes off the hat she
was wearing. The snakes suddenly enter it and disappear.
"Oh, what's that? A pocket dimension or another teleporter? Though I hope it's not a
teleporter," Rosalind asks.
"Well, it isn't, but kind of is," Naima replies solemnly. "The hat acts as an opening to a pocket
dimension. You see, our various parts of this uniform are connected to a pocket dimension
created and managed by a head of Department in Arcanum Nyama," she says as she
stretches her hand to show Rosalind her hat. A clear portal showing some kind of store
appeared in the small opening in the hat.
"Wow, that's really amazing. This is all amazing, it far surpasses the zenith of my
imaginations of how Glen Hearthstone would be."
"Well, that's good to hear," a sudden voice from nowhere praises. It wasn't Naima, of course.
Adejare Fashola.
"Ughh, not her again," the Female Narrator sighs.