Spring 31st, 506 A.V.
Afternoon, 13th bell.
Afternoon, 13th bell.
Loken stood before the event horizon of a surface of water that everyone in Alvadas had to cross before entering The Sunken Conundrum. Loken stood with his hands crossed as he lifted on to softly stroke at his chin. The very concept of an illusion defied all logic. "In and of itself, there has to be some pattern that led to its existence." It was a musing statement that verbally expressed as a tool to perpetuate his his line of thought. He reached out with the same hand he had been stroking his chin with to brush his fingertips along the surface of the illusory water.
"It feels real." He then set his backpack down to retrieve his water skin from it. He then started to experiment with it by pouring some water into one of his palms to take the sensation of water to memory, then pressed his dry hand against the Illusion. They both felt exactly the same. As he held his waterskin up, he stared at the liquid container. "Is it possible to use this building as a water source?" He reached out in attempt to fill up his waterskin, but stopped once he noticed the head librarian standing one foot away from him on the other side of the waters edge.
"Mr Loken, I'm not going to tell you again. Given your studious nature, I understand that you are a curious man. However, please refrain from trying to do... that."
Hinrane Morcer said absently while trying to both point at his waterskin with one hand as her other precariously juggled a stack of seven books. Loken retracted the waterskin then stored it back into his backpack. "As you wish, Miss Morcer." Loken smiled at the librarian as she took a few steps back to allow him entrance. The Ano Cultist crossed the threshold into the building, then had to take a moment to reacclimate himself to the buoyancy of the water and feeling of weightlessness that enveloped him.
"As always, I'm an hear to study alone. But should you see a young girl named Penny, can you please direct her to me. I am acting as her tutor." The Head Librarian gave him a polite nod, clearly giving him her own sign of approval in regards to helping develop a new generation of readers. That was when Loken started to notice the sensation of breathing naturally transition from his nose to the gills along his rib cage.
"Education above all, Mister Loken. Do you require any assistance in regards towards finding study material today?" Loken had a vague idea about what he wanted to study, but took a moment to contemplate a verity of topics. "I wish to understand how 'The Body' works. If you could point me to books relating to medicine, anatomy, building strength. Likewise, ways to make medicine out of plants."
At the mention of anatomy, Miss Morcer handed him one of the books that she was holding. "As it so happens, I have a book detailing the anatomy of 'Man' right here." She then motioned her head towards the back of the library. "You will find various other scrolls and books relating to various medical topics in that area." Loken opened book in his hand to glace at the first page, then turned to where she had directed. "Thank you. Should you require aid, feel free to call upon me."
In a strange twist of roles, Loken offered the Head Librarian his aid as a sign of respect. He then gave her a small nod of his head, which she returned before she elegantly swimming away. "Study well, Mister Loken. She said over her shoulder as she vanished around a bookshelf.
Since Loken decided to learn about the human body, he glanced down at his own body, looking over where his black leather armor protected. He then opened and closed his free hand as he tried to understand the science behind swimming. He kicked up off of the ground to send himself up halfway between the floor and the ceiling. He then looked at the ground to see himself sinking back down. "Obviously, weight in water causes one to sink."
Loken started to have memories of when the teachers at The Librum of Ahnatep would shock him away from his slumber when he was a young student, he send him and various other groups of children to sit within the small ramshackle rafts tied to the deadly rock along the base of the Librum. Loken remembered that he had no clue how to swim and was saved by other students when ever he fell into the ocean. It was all a test to lean to sleep peacefully on the rafts, which was not an easy thing to do after nearly drowning. But he managed to do it.
Loken clawed out at the water to pull at it to gain forward momentum, which aided by his kicking legs, rocketed him forward towards his directed destination. It took him a while to find the right books, using his free hand to grasp the bookshelves to guide himself forwards without even touching the ground. As his eyes ran over various topics all starting with the letter 'M', he paused once he found a book titled 'Medicine, the art of caring for the body.' Loken nodded slowly to himself when he read over who authored the book, it simply stated 'by a collective of academic at University of Zeltiva'. The first page of the book listed a series of names of people who worked on it, all sporting the lofty titles of 'professor'.
Now armed with his two books, Loken swam over towards a small study area where he quickly set the books down on a table to ready his study area. He removed the tiger hook sword from the weapons harness on his back to lay it flat on the table. After that, he geometrically lined his open journal up next to the medical book, then above the medical book set the anatomy book. In between his sword and journal rested his quill and in. He then pulled at the chain around his neck to pull free the silver holy symbol from where it hid behind his armor.
As the silver scales of Gnora were revealed, it acted as a sign of ultimate focus as he floated down into a chair to began to reading over the first chapter of the medical book.
Nano WC: 1079