Novaris: Adventure in the Shattered Fang Continent

Novaris. Trias (March). 905. AGC.

Nodel. Full Moon 🌕. Day 16.

Tesilim woke up with a bad case of heartburn. Not that he had too much time to think about that since he was still falling. Except now, he was falling on the other side of the rift that he had been falling towards back on Earth. And it wouldn’t be long before he hit the large tree beneath him.

Bam!

He crashed into the branches feet first, pain instantly engulfing his whole body as he tore through branch after branch like a battering ram.

Thankfully, the branches did begin to slow his fall, but sadly, not before he felt yet more pain in his chest from what had to be some of his ribs breaking.

Eventually, he stopped falling after hitting a particularly thick branch. And thanks to his adrenaline working overtime, he didn't even feel his chest pain anymore.

Taking a moment to look at his surroundings, he realized he was halfway down the tree. He also noticed that he was in a forest and, more importantly, still breathing. From there, he looked up and saw that the sky was blue. The sight made him think he was still on Earth, but that wasn’t possible. There was no trembling or spatial rifts. In fact, everything felt rather peaceful.

And in that moment of calmness, another realization hit him.

He was still alive.

“Holy shit! I am still alive!” He shouted as a fit of insane laughter and happiness came over him, causing him to cheer even more as he raised his fists into the air.

“I fucking made it! Hell Yeah! Fuck them aliens baby!”

Sadly, his happiness lasted until he heard the branch underneath him creak, and he went entirely still and silent.

In that moment of silence, a strange thought came into his mind. The thought was made using his own internal voice, but the issue was that it wasn’t his thought, as he had no reason to ask himself if he wanted to activate the Crystal Notice System. However, he still responded to himself by asking what the fuck was the Crystal Notice System, the action of responding to the random thought making him feel like the aberration was still messing with his brain.

Unexpectedly, there was a response, making him feel even more weirded out. The response was once again in his inner voice, telling him that the Crystal Notice System was a way to help him in his current world. Hearing the response made him question it even more, but he didn’t have time to voice his thoughts before the branch under him cracked, and he continued his fall with a “Fuuucccckkk” before smacking his head and passing out.

Lili was strolling through the forest outside Wildwood City when she heard some screaming in the distance. Hearing the scream was a bit odd, as she wasn’t so far from Wildwood City that too many monsters should be roaming about. Even if they were out in the forest, the city ensured its surroundings were safe enough. And the commoners knew not to exit the city without ranker protection.

However, hearing the screaming come to an abrupt end set off all sorts of alarms, and she boosted her body and began running toward the direction the screaming had come from. After running for a few seconds, she reached the general area where she had heard the screaming but couldn’t pinpoint the exact location. Consequently, right as she was about to give up on whoever the poor individual was, she heard another scream, allowing her to pinpoint the exact location.

Arriving at the base of a large oak tree, she found a strange sight. There was an elf with purple and yellow hair who wore a peculiar shirt with a woman painted on it and some words she couldn’t read. The elf wore strange grey shorts and stranger shoes but nothing too crazy like the stuff she had seen some outworlders wear in Salem. However, the issue was that this outworlder, if he was one, was rather far from Salem.

Lili decided to get closer and began inspecting the stranger. He was still breathing, which was good, but he had taken some damage from the fall. During moments like this, she hated not being able to use healing magic, as that would have been much more convenient. Still, her senses told her the elf only had some broken bones, among other scratches, something a healing potion could fix right up. So, she quickly grabbed one from the spatial pouch attached to her thigh and slowly fed it to the elf.

The potion, one she had made herself, was on the weaker side and would take a few minutes to work. During that time, she realized there was an odd energy about the elf, but she couldn’t tell what it was. It felt like mana, yet more chaotic and powerful.

Sadly, before she could probe further, the elf’s eyes fluttered open, revealing dazzling purple and yellow eyes.

Tesilim woke up staring at the canopy of the tree he had just fallen through. Strangely, he felt much better and blinked away the last remnant of the pain he had been in. His body did ache some, but it wasn’t anything too bad. Annoyingly, the same thought popped up, asking him about the stupid Crystal Notice System. However, before he could respond, a sweet and cheery voice got his attention.

“It's good to see you are awake! Are you feeling alright? I fed you a potion, so you should be fine, but I have to make sure, you know?”

Looking over to the source of the voice, Tesilim was about to respond, but his mouth dropped open instead as he stared at the white-haired beauty next to him. Still staring, he slowly got into a sitting position and placed his back against the tree.

She had beautiful dark obsidian-like skin and wore a beautiful yet simple white dress that matched her short and curly hair. Her eyes were a swirling light purple and stood out against her pristine skin, white lashes, and eyebrows. Most importantly, she had pointy ears that could only belong to an elf.

An elf. That thought struck him hard in particular.

Was he actually in another world, or did he travel back in time to when Earth had elves? Either way, he was returned to the present as the beauty spoke again.

“Come now, don’t you know it's rude to stare.” She said it with a smile, but her eyes spoke of retribution if he didn’t stop staring, so he did.

Looking away toward the forest, he spoke up while fumbling to pick the words he wanted to say.

“Uh, I. Sorry. It’s just that. Well, I was falling and thought I was going to die, but then a rift opened, and I fell through to this place. Then I hit the tree.”

He then looked down at his hands, noticing they looked different than they were supposed to. Staring at his hand for what felt like the first time, he continued as he blurted out questions before the white-haired elf could say anything.

“How did I heal? Did you heal me? Where am I?” Then, pausing, he looked back at the elf, and his eyes widened as a sudden realization hit him.

“Oh, my gosh! Am I actually dead?! Is this why you are so beautiful?! Are you the angel of death coming for my soul!?”

The elf apparently found his questions hilarious as she giggled and laughed in a cute frenzy.

“What!? No!?” The beauty said between giggles. “That's so stupid!”

“And yes, I did heal you. Are you feeling better?” She continued after most of the giggle fit had passed.

Tesilim, who had gathered himself while the beautiful elf had been laughing, quickly patted his body and answered.

“Yeah, it looks like I am fine. Did you use magic?”

“No, I used one of these,” the elf replied as she held an empty glass vile.

“Lemme guess, that's a healing potion?” Tesilim answered.

“Yeah, it is. I made it myself. Have you seen something like it where you came from? Actually, where are you from?” Answered the elf with her own questions.

“Uh, I am from Earth. Have you heard of it before?” Tesilim replied with evident curiosity.

“No, I haven’t, but let me guess, it’s a different world?”

“Yeah! How did you know!?” Tesilim said, not expecting such a calm reaction.

“Well, I have seen otherworlders before, and you can always tell by their clothing if they even wear any.”

“Really!? There are other people like me!? Other humans from Earth!?” Blurted Tesilim, excited about the thought of more survivors.

However, the elf in front of him just gave him a questioning look before answering.

“Uh, no, they are usually from other planets. I have never heard of this Earth before. Also, to answer your earlier question, you are currently in another world.”

Hearing the response caused Tesilim’s sudden burst of energy to come crashing back down as he deflated. He did register the confirmation that he was in another world, but even that didn’t cut through the fact that Earth was definitely gone. It was annoying. Why did he still care? There was nothing left for him there. Everyone he knew was dead.

Maybe it was because it was still his home, and it was hard knowing he would never be able to go back. And even if he could, there would be nothing but a pile of rock floating in space.

Eventually, the elf beside him, shuffling as she got up, lifted him out of his sad thoughts.

“Come on, uh, sorry, I just realized I still don’t know your name. My name is Lili, by the way. Well, that's just what everyone calls me.”

“I am Tesilim, but you can call me Tes,” he answered, looking at the standing elf.

“Very well, Tesilim. It looks like you have been through a lot, but even with me here, we shouldn’t stay out in the forest for too long. So how about I take you back to the city? We can grab a snack and keep talking there.”

Tesilim perked up at that and slowly got up as his sore body complained. Soon enough, they were slowly walking back to the city Lili had mentioned.

Lili, once again, started the conversation as she noticed Tesilim was still in a gloomy mood.

“By the way, as I am sure you have noticed, I am, in fact, not the angel of death. There are Angels of Death, but they aren’t as friendly as me.”

Hearing Lili’s sweet yet mocking voice, Tesilim couldn’t help but smile at the probe and gave in.

“Well, that's good to hear. I have almost died multiple times, and I am glad to still be alive and kicking. By the way, does this world have dwarfs, dragons, and stuff?” He asked, with genuine curiosity.

“Yeah, of course. We also have unicorns, goblins, trolls, and all sorts of other stuffs, as you put it.”

“Wow! Really! Do you think I could fight them and stuff?” The thought of adventure sparked excitement within him.

“Well, you can try and fight them, but as you are now, they would probably kill you,” Lili replied seriously.

“Aww, man, do I need magic or something? Can you teach me magic?” Tesilim questioned hopefully.

After some sort of inspection, Lili looked at him and simply nodded, “Sure, if you are up for it.”

The smile and joy on Tesilim’s face when he heard that was unparalleled, yet he maintained his cool, at least on the outside, because inside, he was absolutely losing it.

“Holy Shit! I am going to learn magic! Fucking Magic! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! I am gonna be a motherfucking wizard! Abracadabra motherfuckers!”

Eventually, Tesilim’s inner thoughts calmed down, and just as he was about to ask Lili another question, the stupid thought came again.

Would you like to activate the Crystal Notice System?

Once again, he asked what the system was for, and it answered by telling him it was something to help him in his new world.

Annoyed, Tesilim asked Lili.

“Hey, Lili, do you know about something called the Crystal Notice System?”

She gave him an odd look before thinking for a few seconds to answer.

“Do you mean, like some sort of crystal messaging system? You know, sending telepathic messages with special items?”

“Uh, no, more like translucent boxes that help you do magic and identify stuff,” Tesilim replied, not expecting a legitimate answer. Honestly, he expected confusion more than anything.

“Hmmm, no, nothing like that. We do have identification magic, but the results usually just enter your mind as knowledge. Why do you ask? Did you have something like that where you came from?”

“Sort of, but it was a mix of technology and magic. Either way, I am asking because I keep getting a thought in my brain telling me about something like that, and I was wondering if you guys had something like it in this world.”

“Ah, okay, just be careful. Not everyone here is as nice as me, and we have a bit of an aberration problem, so it could be one of them messing with your brain.”

Hearing that last bit put Tesilim on guard. He already had an aberration mess with his mind once and did not want that to happen again. However, that time, it had felt different. The aberration had been intrusive, while this new thing felt normal and friendly.

Well, when in doubt, flip a coin.

“Hey, Lili, would you happen to have a coin on you?”

“A gold coin? Yeah, why?” She answered while giving him a questioning look.

“Just gotta make a decision real quick.”

Lili, in turn, reached under her lovely short white summer dress, produced a gold coin, and tossed it at him.

Grabbing the coin, Tesilim tossed it into the air.

The choice was simple. If the coin landed on the side with the carriage wheel, he would activate the system, and if it landed on the side with a pouch, he would wait until he could learn more.

Wheel.

Activate Crystal Notice System?

Yes.

Then, with a slight jingle, a light blue translucent screen appeared.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

System activating. Please hold.

🔷