The decision did not take long to form. In the shape of a pale blue screen, an invitation appeared before Tobi.
[Party Invitation]
[Leader: Michael]
[Members:
— Michael]
[Accept Invitation?]
Tobi looked across the library.
Michael neither watched him nor waited for his decision. He stood by the same bookshelf he had since the beginning, his attention on the invisible system panel in front of him. Maybe he was just zoned out, looking at nothing.
Somehow that lack of pressure made accepting it all the easier.
'Accept.' The singular thought triggered the panel in front of Tobi to close.
It was gone for barely a second before another replaced it.
[Party Joined]
[Novice Party: Unnamed]
[Leader: Michael]
[Members:
— Michael
— Tobias]
[Capacity: 2/5]
[Party Functions Unavailable]
Tobi read through the information as it propagated beneath the names.
[Party Functions:
— Party Text Channel
— Reduced Damage Between Party Members
— Party Advancement
— Additional Functions Locked]
[Communication Range: Local]
[Maximum Members: 5]
The information was nearly identical to what he already knew, though seeing his own name attached to it made it feel different.
It didn't seem like much, but it was something. He was officially in a group, not even worthy of being called a party. They still needed one more.
Another name appeared beneath his before he could finish the thought.
[— Yousef]
[Capacity: 3/5]
[Party Functions Available]
Tobi glanced back up.
Yousef stood near Michael, his expression unchanged. If accepting the invitation meant anything to him, he did not show it.
Across the room, another series of decisions were made by Kian, Liam, and Kwame.
Kian didn't look at his invitation before he accepted it.
Liam stared at his considerably longer.
Kiki watched him. "You know staring at it isn't going to change it, right?"
"I'm thinking."
"You should try that more often."
Liam frowned at her before swiping his hand at the screen. Tobi made a mental note of this, unaware that the system allowed them to touch it.
A moment later, Kiki smiled.
The only person whose decision remained was Kwame's. At this point, it didn't matter which one he chose. Both parties had three members now. His head was still resting on his hand when something stirred him just enough. It was probably the blue light of an invitation.
His eyes opened just enough to read it. "Sure..." He accepted, and then he closed his eyes again.
Tobi wasn't quite sure whether he just trusted everyone that much or was too lazy to make a proper decision. It could have been both.
No one else was issued an invitation. It made no sense to pretend they were going to leave with the two parties just to fill in empty member space.
Another panel appeared before Tobi.
[Party Text Channel Enabled]
The message was smaller than the others. It appeared off to the corner of his vision, rather than the center. Translucent and unobtrusive enough, he could only see it when he focused on it.
A line of text appeared, pushing the previous message up.
[Michael: Testing.]
Tobi stared at it.
And another.
[Yousef: Tested.]
Tobi thought about responding. It wasn't obvious how to send a message, so he focused his thoughts on the panel instead.
'Can you see this?' The words spoken in his head began to be displayed in the party text channel.
[Tobias: Can you see this?]
Michael looked toward him.
[Michael: Yes.]
From across the room, Liam suddenly groaned.
"Why'd you send me a message?"
Kiki looked at him. "To see if it worked."
"You're standing right here."
"And now I know it works from right here."
"You already knew that."
"How would I know that?"
Liam looked toward Kian for support, attempting to utilize sibling rivalry to gain a verbal ally.
Kian avoided his eyes, looking around anywhere else. Only his voice met Liam. "I'm not getting involved."
"You always get involved!"
"I've learned from my past."
That earned a small laugh from Carlos. Whatever importance the gathering had carried earlier seemed to collapse immediately afterward.
Carlos stood shortly after laughing. "If we're done, I've got somewhere I'm supposed to be."
Vita followed after. "Me too."
Kostas was already halfway out of his chair.
"Oh, thank God."
People began filtering out almost immediately. The meeting that had taken over an hour to resolve ended in moments once everyone remembered the rest of Windhollow had things waiting for them.
Within a short while, the library returned to something normal.
Tobi considered leaving with everyone else.
The construction site came to mind first. Then he thought about the house.
Before he had left, the floor was nearly packed. There was little remaining besides finishing work. If he joined, the three of them would probably spend more time avoiding each other than working.
It was the first time in several days there wasn't somewhere he needed to be.
His eyes drifted toward the shelves in the library. That decided it.
Tobi returned to the section where he had found the books on resonance a couple of days ago.
"Resonance and The Body" was still where he had left it.
The muted-blue cover softened around the edges from years of handling. When he pulled it from the shelf, a faint layer of dust remained on the books beside it.
He carried it toward one of the tables and sat. The diagrams near the beginning were still familiar from the last time he read it.
The human body. Red and blue lines marking blood. Green pathways wound through everything else. That green was resonance.
He turned past the pages he had already read until the explanations became more practical.
The first section was disappointingly boring. It discussed breathing.
Tobi rested his cheek against his hand.
Apparently, the children had not been doing some simplified version of Vessel training. At least not exactly. It was the foundation for teaching the body to consciously recognize resonance.
Controlled breathing was generally the safest method for teaching that feeling. It wasn't meant to strengthen the Vessel directly, but to maintain awareness of resonance without relying on adrenaline.
Tobi recalled the flicker of warmth beneath his ribs.
He continued reading.
As awareness develops and reaches the point where resonance remains perceptible without deliberate attention, the practitioner will have finally awakened their Vessel. The exercises would change to purposefully holding resonance in specific portions of the body. The practitioner was meant to maintain a slow, steady circulation while breathing normally.
Another exercise combined resonance circulation with physical activity. Whether it was simply walking, moving weights, exercising, or even what appeared to be an alternative form of yoga.
Tobi sat up and looked at his own hands.
This sounded similar to what he was doing while assisting the house's construction. It wasn't deliberate, but it was really close to proper training.
The book described it as straining the Vessel while maintaining control when the body was already under pressure.
'Strange,' he thought as he flipped the page. There was a qualitative difference between managing the body with both physical and resonance strain and managing only one.
While scanning the new page, he saw many warnings. The word depletion showed up often.
It mostly warned of the complete emptying of resonance and the damage it could cause. Using most of it promoted recovery and adaptation. The book compared it to holding your breath versus only breathing after nearly dying of asphyxiation.
Another section described different environments. Areas with dense resonance forced the Vessel to work harder to maintain regular circulation. Experienced practitioners would use these areas for training purposes. However, the author also repeatedly warned against beginners doing so.
The Whisperwood came to Tobi's mind. The wind here took more than just someone's balance. It made them sluggish. It felt like witnessing a natural disaster. Or at least it did for the transmigrators.
Perhaps the villagers had long grown used to the pressure that would exhaust someone from Earth within hours.
'I wonder how Michael got so used to hunting so quickly...' The thought was going to be forgotten until Tobi remembered an important ability he had just gained.
[Tobi: Michael, how did you get used to the wind so quickly?]
While waiting for a reply, he continued reading. It was mostly more in-depth information explaining specific mechanisms and their effects. Sustained resonance reinforcement, gradual depletion, quick depletion, recovery, and a few other topics.
It was nice to see it roughly followed the same principle as most of the body. It grew by enduring and adapting.
It made sense.
Then Tobi reached a section that didn't make sense.
He read the paragraph once.
Then again, mumbling it aloud.
"Resonance within an inactive Vessel cannot be forced through desire alone. Attempting to force resonance into sudden motion will likely result in long-term disruption or damage rather than a true output if possible at all."
Tobi sat up straight and read the short paragraph the third time. How could that be true? That described most of the others' abilities. It even described his experience in sensing resonance.
He recalled sitting among the judgemental children, trying to learn what they already knew.
Then he wanted the resonance to move, and it did. It flared out into sudden motion. And he had done it repeatedly. Yeah, the last flare got a reaction out of him, but it didn't cause any noticeable damage.
Tobi turned back several pages, wondering if he had missed something.
Nothing.
He returned to the paragraph.
Maybe he was a one-in-a-million case... or maybe he had already injured something and didn't know. Both seemed possible.
It was probably just dumb luck. The instructor hadn't immediately stopped him or acted shocked like the impossible had happened. Her reaction had only shown concern.
Tobi rubbed his thumb along the edge of the page. 'I should ask Ms. Jewelle if my Vessel is okay.'
He continued reading, adding a visit to Ms. Jewelle to his plans for tomorrow.
The next paragraph began normally, explaining why resonance should not be forced outside of its circulatory patterns, as well as the permanent effects and pain it could cause.
The paragraph continued, mentioning an exception to this rule.