Tobi stepped away from the circle and followed the path toward the center of the village. His hand alternated between relaxed and clenched. He joined the latest and left the earliest. How embarrassing was that?
A group of children ran by, chasing one another through the road before being shouted at by an older woman. Further to his left, the half-finished house he helped work on stood quiet. No one was there.
The timber beams lay stacked on the ground, bundled together. 'I am glad to have gotten this rest day.' Tobi thought. After the previous day's work, of course, the other two men would want a break.
His stomach growled again.
The warehouse doors were wide open when he arrived.
Inside, baskets of vegetables and dried goods lined the walls. A few villagers moved quietly between shelves, organizing and restocking supplies.
One of them nodded toward him. Tobi mirrored the gesture.
The lady who nodded to him was expecting a child soon. He had listened to her worries about her teenage boy the previous night. Without thinking, he walked over, "Let me help you. I wouldn't want you to overwork yourself so far along."
He was already crouching, arms moving toward a crate holding four clay jars. Lifting with his legs, he raised one, "Where does this go?"
Lightly smacking his arm, the lady pointed to a spot on the shelf in the next motion. "I'm one tough gal, you don't have to lift nothing for me..." She said in a joking tone, "Thank you, young m-, Tobi."
"No worries, Ms. Beinn." He slid the jar onto the shelf, already getting ready to lift the next one.
...
A few moments later, he had helped move some of the heavier or inconvenient items. With the gift of a bowl and plate from Ms. Beinn, who also made the clay jars, he prepared a sandwich on the plate.
It was already better than eating each ingredient separately.
The first bite disappeared almost instantly. Only after the second piece did he slow down to breathe.
The warmth beneath his ribs flickered faintly again. Just enough to be noticeable.
Tobi stared into the sky thoughtfully. 'So that's resonance.'
Not mana, not something external, but a force from inside of him. Something that responded when he called for it.
He finished the sandwich and grabbed water from the fountain using the bowl. He poured the fountain water over his plate, clearing it of crumbs.
After waving goodbyes to Ms. Beinn and the others, he decided to return to the library. If the people of Windhollow trained like that every day, there was definitely a reason beyond exercise.
If there was some profound reason, it was definitely written down.
The doors to the library opened with a slow creak as Tobi pushed against the cold wood. Kiki and Kian were surprisingly gone. In their place were a few unfamiliar villagers scattered across the tables.
Tobi walked towards the shelves and scanned the spines looking for anything dealing with meditation, vessel, exercise... focus, intent, or even monsters. At the very least, he wanted to know how the meditation worked beyond breathing.
It didn't take long before he settled on a worn book with a muted-blue cover. It looked sun-tanned, the pages on the inside were yellow and brittle with age. In long-faded gold text that looked closer to gray, the title read out "The Body and Resonance." Two more books in a similar state were placed next to it, the only differences being that instead of body, they had the words mind and will, respectively.
Nodding to himself, Tobi grabbed the book and sat on the floor atop his blanket. The first page had a drawing of the human body, with red and blue lines flowing through the body, representing the blood flowing through the body.
The biggest difference was that it included a green pathway, too, that looped in upon itself. A quote was placed beneath it, in the nearly quiet room, Tobi muttered the quote, "Resonance is the degree to which a person can harmonize with the laws of the world."
Not that it made any sense as he read it again and again. 'Aren't I already harmonized with the world if I'm in it?'
His eyes reluctantly left the quote and moved over to the next page, which explained the vessel to be the body's agreement with power...
Reading quite slowly, time passed outside the library, and the sun began to set. Tobi quietly clasped the aged book shut and returned it to the shelf. Some of the other transmigrators had returned during this time. As the trees' shadows extended unnaturally, providing shade to Windhollow, Tobi decided to go for a walk.
A walk that just happened to have a warehouse of food at the end. It only took a couple of minutes for him to arrive at the warehouse. Myriads of people stood cooking different foods using the braziers again. This time, multiple rabbits were slow-cooked over charcoals.
This time, Tobi talked a little bit more, including himself in the conversations. Referencing things he had been told, trying and failing to explain his previous life, and even meeting the couple for whom he was building the house.
It felt like the ever-imposing awkwardness was fading, the moments no longer strung together for Tobi.
It was less like enduring each second and more like moving through them.
Conversations overlapped instead of isolating themselves. Laughter came easier, even when he didn't fully understand what sparked it. A man he met once or twice passed him a skewer without asking, and he accepted it without hesitation.
The rabbit was much better than expected.
The outside was crisp, slightly charred, while the inside remained tender and smoky. It wasn't seasoned heavily, but the flame-cooked taste carried enough flavor on its own. Tobi took another bite, slower this time, allowing himself to actually enjoy it.
Around him, the villagers spoke in passing threads.
"The wind hasn't been as loud today."
"Don't say that like it means anything."
"It usually does."
"Usually does not."
The words weren't directed at him, but he listened anyway.
A habit.
Across the fire, one of the men he had helped with construction yesterday leaned back against a crate, stretching his arms above his head. "Feels weird not working today," he muttered.
The other construction man chuckled. "You're the only one who would complain about rest."
"Not complaining. Just… feels off."
Tobi glanced toward them briefly.
The half-built house flashed in his mind. The stacked timber. The stillness.
So it wasn't just him noticing.
He didn't join the conversation across from him, but the thought settled quietly. It was different from home, where everyone was constantly struggling to keep up in a fast-moving world. But here, the world and people knew when to stop.
Tobi shifted slightly, adjusting his posture against the crate behind him. The familiar warmth beneath his ribs flickered again faintly.
He chose not to chase it this time.
He let it sit.
To his left, a woman laughed at something one of the children said. The same child immediately tried to repeat it louder, earning a light smack to the back of the head. 'It must not have been very appropriate.' Tobi thought to himself.
Carlos was also again, this time fully awake, though he looked like he dangled on the edge of unconsciousness. Vita sat straighter than before, her posture noticeably better. Kostas stretched his legs out in front of him, done with any form of sitting discipline for the day.
Normal.
It all felt… normal. Tobi exhaled slowly.
Not comfortable. Not yet.
After all, it was uncomfortable to feel so comfortable here. For the first time since arriving, he wasn't just observing the village. He was actively inside it.
The realization lacked any dramatic shifts, clarity, or changes. It was quiet in his head, understanding settling in.
The fire cracked softly. Michael added more wood.
Tobi didn't even notice his arrival.
Shadows stretched and shifted along the ground as the light lowered further, the edges of the village softening into the approaching dark.
Tobi took the last bite of his food and brushed his hands against one another lightly.
The warmth in his chest flickered once more.
Still faint and perfectly present.
He leaned back slightly, permitting his gaze to drift upward through the gaps in the trees.
For once, he didn't think about what came next.
He just sat there, admiring the stars. The moment lasted longer than expected.