Page 23: Searching for a forest and Vita level explained
(Oliver First-Person Narrative)
(Explanation of Vita levels)
BZZZ—
I nearly dropped the phone when it vibrated in my hand. The sound startled me more than it should've. My heart jumped like something had finally remembered I was out here.
The screen lit up, the heat making it hard to see, but the words were clear enough under a bold glowing banner:
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SYSTEMS GUIDE 📱
[Location Update]
You are a few miles away from a forest...
→ Stonebark Expanse 📲
A local forest with a Vita Density of 500,000.
This is a standard ecosystem: trees, rivers, lakes, flora, and fauna. Moderate Vita flow.
Note: Forests with higher Vita (10,000,000+) may feature rapid plant growth, unnatural expansion of water, and aggressive biodiversity.
---
I blinked, rereading it twice.
"A forest?" I whispered.
I looked up again—still grasslands, still sun, still heat. But... if the system was right, I wasn't aimless after all. A few miles more and I'd hit Stonebark Expanse. Not one of those dangerous high-Vita places, but a regular one. Still enough Vita to breathe better. To rest. Maybe even refill on water that didn't feel like soup.
Something about the name made my chest feel lighter. Stonebark Expanse. It sounded solid. Real. Like a place you could find yourself in instead of just losing your mind.
I gripped the phone tighter, the screen already dimming from the sun and low battery.
"Alright," I muttered to myself, adjusting my bag, "finally, a direction."
It wasn't a town. It wasn't glory.
But it was something.
And right now, that was everything.
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(Third-Person Narrative)
An hour later, Oliver finally reached the edge of the forest.
He stood at the boundary between grassland and shade, his breath shallow, shirt clinging to his back, and legs aching from the relentless heat and distance. The sun still blazed behind him, but the air here was cooler, kissed by the scent of damp earth and leaves.
Before him rose the Stonebark Expanse.
It looked... ordinary.
No towering vines or glowing flowers. No mystical fog. Just a forest. Tall trees with thick, grayish bark—solid and weathered—cast a blanket of shade over the forest floor. Ferns poked up in the undergrowth, and soft patches of moss clung to rocks. The ground was uneven, tangled with roots and fallen branches, and the sounds of birds and insects hummed through the trees.
A small trail split through the woods ahead, narrow and mostly untouched. Somewhere deeper in, water trickled—maybe a stream, maybe a lake.
Oliver took a step forward, boots crunching dry leaves beneath him. The air felt different here. He could feel the Vita now—faint and steady—flowing through the trees like a heartbeat. Not overwhelming, but present. Alive.
His bracelet warmed slightly against his wrist. Still quiet. Still no glow. But maybe it was listening now.
Oliver looked up at the canopy, then at the path ahead.
The journey was far from over, but for the first time all day… it felt like he had arrived somewhere.
Not a destination.
But a beginning.
(Third-Person Explanation)
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Oliver stepped under the shade of the trees, letting the cool, forest air settle over his shoulders. His body was still sore from the walk, but the pressure in his chest had eased. The light filtering through the leaves shimmered faintly, carrying traces of Vita in every movement.
Out of curiosity—and maybe to distract himself from the burning in his legs—he pulled out his phone again. Still low battery, but the system interface flickered to life.
He navigated through the dusty menus until he found it:
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Personal Status – Vita Reading 📚
User: Oliver
Current Vita Level: 6,143 Units
(Average Human Baseline: ~5,700 Units)
Note: Moderate Vita levels detected. Subject has slight metaphysical training and early attunement. Potential for stable growth.
---
Oliver stared at the number for a moment.
6,143.
It wasn't much above average… but it was still above.
Just enough to make him feel like maybe he was meant for something a little different. All that quiet training, channeling Vita to cool his hands, trickle water, or just calm his thoughts—it added up.
He thumbed the screen thoughtfully.
"Guess I'm not totally hopeless."
Somewhere deep in the forest, a bird cried, and the wind shifted.
The forest was waiting.
And maybe, so was something inside him.
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Certainly! Here's a long Chapter 1 in third-person narrative, introducing Oliver's first steps as a Traveler, along with a natural integration of the Vita system, the environment, and the foundational tone of the world.
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Chapter : The Road of No Return
(Third-Person Narrative explanation)
The world had grown quiet—uncomfortably so.
After nearly two hours of walking beneath a merciless Lux, Oliver stood at the edge of something ancient and untouched: a forest that spread outward like a sleeping beast. The trees loomed, not in a menacing way, but with age, rooted deep in earth and time. A place where things lasted.
This was Stonebark Expanse.
He didn't know what he expected when the system buzzed on his phone earlier, alerting him to its presence. A burst of color? A magical shimmer? Maybe something loud and dramatic. But instead, he was met with a forest that looked… ordinary.
Yet that was the beauty of it.
From a Traveler's perspective—someone trained, or even half-trained like Oliver—it wasn't about how things looked. It was about how things felt. And this forest, despite its plain appearance, pulsed quietly with Vita.
That was the foundation of everything in this world: Vita, the metaphysical essence that flowed through all living things. It wasn't just energy—it was life, potential, will, memory. It breathed in forests, shimmered through rivers, and coiled like instincts in wild creatures. It even hummed quietly in humans.
Most average people in the system carried around 5,700 units of Vita. Enough for basic survival and maybe the occasional accidental spark of magic or intuition. But Oliver, though barely trained, had just enough extra to matter: 6,143 units, according to the system guide. A little above average. A little less ordinary.
Just like this forest.
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Stonebark Expanse registered at 500,000 Vita—not particularly high compared to ancient woods or divine sanctuaries, but still enough to make the air feel alive. The trees here were measured not in years, but in Vita Density. One towering oak-like specimen nearby glowed faintly in the scanner, clocking in at 10,420 Vita. That meant it was likely well over two centuries old, its bark hardened with generations of accumulated energy.
Nearby, a small bird zipped through the air, briefly landing on a low branch before vanishing deeper into the canopy. Oliver instinctively tapped his scanner again:
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[Field Scan – Local Lifeform Detected]
Species: Azure- Warbler (Azure = Blues)
Vita: 3,218 Units
Status: Stable | Passive | Highly Adaptive
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Animals, too, had Vita measurements. Predators and beasts often spiked higher—sometimes unpredictably. And that didn't even include corrupted creatures, twisted by rogue flows or infected zones.
Oliver tucked his phone away, letting his hand rest on the golden bracelet around his wrist. It was smooth, still cold from the night air, and silent as always. A gift from the Black Tortoise, one of the Four Great Spirits tied to the core of the world. The bracelet hadn't activated since he received it. Maybe he didn't meet the requirements yet. Maybe it was waiting.
Or maybe, Oliver thought bitterly, it's just broken.
He pushed the thought away and stepped forward into the forest.
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The temperature dropped instantly. Shade blanketed the path. Moss squished under his boots. Ferns brushed his legs. For the first time since leaving the road, he didn't feel like he was being roasted alive. The trail ahead dipped slightly, revealing a creek that carved lazily through the forest floor.
As he knelt beside the creek, the system pinged again:
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[Environmental Scan – Minor Vita Source Detected]
Local Stream
Depth: 3.2m
Current Flow Rate: Medium
Vita: 11,000+ Units (combined aquatic system)
Status: Clean | Uncorrupted | Stable Source
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Even water had its own Vita levels. Not measured by the liquid itself, but by depth, flow, and the life within it. A lake with deep, unmoving water might measure over 100,000 Vita, capable of nurturing entire ecosystems—or hiding dangerous anomalies.
Oliver splashed the stream's water over his face, wiping away sweat and dust. It was cold, thank the spirits. He filled his empty bottle, watching tiny bubbles swirl through the current. A few fish darted past his fingers, fast and curious.
This place... it's not dangerous, he thought. It's peaceful.
But he knew better than to trust peace blindly.
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As he walked deeper into the forest, he felt the subtle pressure in the air change. A sign of denser Vita flow. Some plants glowed faintly under the leaves—bioluminescent moss or naturally radiant herbs. Trees stood spaced like sentinels. Occasionally, his bracelet gave the faintest pulse, like it recognized something nearby, but then fell quiet again.
There were no roads. No signs. No voices.
Just life.
But it was real. Tangible.
And after walking for so long under the burning sun, the forest gave Oliver something he hadn't felt since leaving home:
A sense of direction.
He didn't know what lay deeper in the Expanse. He didn't know if this path led to a village, a ruin, or a dead end. But with the way the Vita moved here—with how the world breathed around him—he felt something stir quietly in his chest.
This was where it began.
Not where the system expected him to be.
Not where the exams said he should go.
But here, in a forest of ordinary trees and subtle magic, under the watchful silence of ancient boughs—
Oliver's real journey had finally started.
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