NOVEL WEB Chapter 38 - Soul Cycle
Novaris. Trias (March). 905. AGC.
Nodel. Full Moon 🌕. Day 17.
Tesilim woke up a bit confused as he tried to figure out where he was. After a few minutes of looking around his small, plain room, the memories started trickling back. Thinking about Lili made him smile, but it didn’t last long until he remembered he had lost his old world and was now an almost homeless person in a new world.
Having nothing better to do, he just lay on his bed staring at the ceiling while going over the events of the last day or so.
Eventually, Tesilim got up and decided to head to Lili’s place to wash his face, but not before checking his Chaos Meter.
- Chaos Meter: 15/100
Looking at his ticking time bomb, Tesilim grimaced before leaving his room and passing the still-sleeping badger on the way out.
The city was just as busy this morning as it had been yesterday, and naturally, not having Lili around to hurry him about, Tesilim decided to take things slow as he saw all sorts of new species. He saw a bull-looking dude that had to be a minotaur, which made him wonder if this new world had cows, or honestly, with all these beast folk, how did it work if you ate deer in front of a deer person? Would that be considered a hate crime or something?
Anyways, moving away from that train of thought, Tesilim continued looking at the city's beautiful dryads and other rather magical residents. He also stopped at many small stalls littered over the city, making him question whether there was a market area. That, in turn, made him think about magic shops and when he would get his first magical item.
Eventually Tesilim made it to Lili’s shop with his stomach growling and was quick to knock. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Lili in what had to be her alchemy clothes. She wore this world’s version of a lab coat, except it was made of leather and a bit thicker. The whole outfit also had an odd gleam that Tesilim assumed was some enchantment at work. Lili also wore think goggles on her head, which really looked like the type an artificer would wear.
The goggles had copper or brass attachments. Tesilim wasn’t sure which metal it was. Nonetheless, the metal attachments held the actual glass while an elastic strap fastened the goggles against her head.
“I was wondering when you were gonna show up,” Lili said with a slight smile as she motioned for Tesilim to enter.
“Yeah, sorry. I just got held up looking at all the new things and people,” Tesilim replied, rubbing the back of his head.
“It’s alright, I figured. Anyways, you can go ahead and use the restroom. I have also made some breakfast and left you some up there.”
“Thank you very much. I am going to owe you so much gold after this.” Tesilim said, a bit embarrassed as he headed up the stairs.
Around 30 or so minutes later, Tesilim found himself back downstairs feeling fresh and full. Lili noticed him and stopped looking at some liquid in a bottle, placing it on the countertop. She then motioned him to sit in the corner of the room where a nice comfy chair had been placed. Walking over to it, he sat and just waited for whatever was going to happen next, which wasn’t long as Lili began to speak while continuing on with her alchemy.
“Okay, so we are going to see if you can feel mana. I am unsure if you will be able to, but we have to try it. Just remember, everyone can feel mana in different ways. Some are able to feel the energy in the midst of battle; for these folk, something clicks, and they manage to will themselves into power with sheer willpower and ferocity. Others can feel mana through sheer stillness of mind, like monks. Then there are the scholars who need to figure out the workings of mana before they think themselves to feel for the energy. Honestly, that last one is the weirdest of them all, at least I think so.”
“Uh, Okay, so I just sit here and try to feel for mana?” Tesilim asked, a bit confused.
“Yes, however, before that, I want to give you a few pieces of information. Mana is stored in your soul, and the process of gaining and using mana is called the Mana Cycle or the Soul Cycle; it's really up to you what you want to call it. Either way, this cycle is usually a passive thing, and it constantly brings mana into your soul before refining it a bit and slowly releasing it. You need to feel for this mana outside or inside your soul and follow it; then, once you do, it’s all about taking control of it and increasing it.”
“Got it, so try to find invisible energy outside or inside my soul. You know this might be easy because I swear I can already feel something, and I think I know what it is, but I am not sure just yet.” Tesilim answered as he closed his eyes.
Of course, Lili already knew about this energy but was still trying to understand it herself.
Tesilim began his meditation, which at first was more about trying to shut his brain up and stop it from the constant ramble of memes and references that it was filled with or even the random tangents of conversations he had with himself. Eventually, he did manage to enter a semi-calm stage by thinking about his abilities, specifically, the one that spoke about a trickle of Chaos Mana. He figured this trickle of mana was what he had been feeling.
Focusing on that trickle, Tesilim felt a pull, and his consciousness appeared in an empty black space illuminated by a shining teardrop-like ball of multicolored white light. The ball was divided into two sections. There was an outer ring, which was the largest one, and an inner ring. However, the inner ring was split in half.
One half was being slowly filled by ethereal rainbow fluid that shimmered and sloshed, constantly changing colors. Looking at it, Tesilim innately knew that this was Chaos Mana as it represented an endless variety of colors and, by extension, an unlimited number of outcomes and possibilities.
Looking away from the mesmerizing rainbow liquid, Tesilim moved to look at this soul, and sure enough, there was indeed a constant cycle. He saw as a small trickle of dark blue particles approached the outer ring from all directions and were absorbed into it before slowly entering the other half of his inner ring. There, the blue particles were held and merged together, gaining a slightly brighter hue before they were released once again and exited through the outer ring.
That was definitely this mana cycle Lili was talking about, and all he had to do was take control of it.
That shouldn’t be that hard. Tesilim thought.
“What the fuck! Why is this so hard?!” Tesilim yelled out loud in his soul realm, area, place, thing.
He had tried to will the mana to come in faster and leave slower, but nothing, so he then tried to grab the mana particles with his ethereal body, but that also didn’t work. From there, he tried to capture them in his soul rings, but they didn’t listen either. It didn’t make sense. What was he missing?
Calming down, Tesilim floated back and took a look at his whole soul one more time. The entire thing was one big machine constantly doing its job. He had tried to take control of separate pieces of the machine in order to dictate the rest, but maybe that was wrong. The problem was that each piece of the machine did separate things, and as long as the others resisted, he couldn’t make one piece stop doing its job because he was overwhelmed by the rest and lost control.
To him, it felt like he was trying to control a car by taking off one of its wheels. Sure, it would make it harder for the machine to work, but the car would still drive off, at least until the axle gave out. “Okay, maybe that’s a bad example. Actually, that example sucks balls. What the hell am I even going on about?” Tesilim thought. “Right, right, taking control of a machine by controlling one of its pieces. Hmmm. Holy shit! I am an idiot!” Tesilim thought while literally mentally slapping himself.
“If taking control of a piece doesn’t work, then I just need to take control of the whole damn thing, and then when I am in control, I can make the pieces work however I want.”
So he did. Tesilim pushed his mental powers to the max and imposed his will on his own soul. It was incredibly hard at first, but after almost bursting one of his mental veins from the stress, he managed to gain control of his soul. And as soon as he did, he heard a jingle, and some notifications popped up.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Congratulations! You have met the qualifications required to unlock Arcane and Pure Arcane Mana. Additionally, you have unlocked the Spell Concentration aspect of spell casting.
🔷
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Congratulations, the Goal - Reach D Rank - has been completed successfully due to meeting the required qualifications. You gain 1 Chaos Point.
🔷
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
A New Goal has been assigned.
Reach C Rank - Allotted time 1 Year.
🔷
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Congratulations! You have met the qualifications required to unlock your Magical Senses. You gain the Active & Passive Presence ability. Additionally, your Dark Vision ability has increased in power.
🔷
After seeing all the notifications, Tesilim did the most logical thing and opened his status.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Status Screen 🔷
- Name: Tesilim Telsy
- Race: Chaos Elf
- Age: 24
- Rank: Low D* Rank
- Progression to Next Rank: 0%
- Chaos Meter: 17/100.
- Arcane Mana: Unlocked. 35/50.
- Arcane Regen: Unlocked. +1 Per Minute.
- Pure Arcane Mana: Unlocked. 5/25.
- Pure Arcane Regen: Unlocked. +1 Every Two Minutes.
- Order Mana: Locked.
- Magical Sense: - Unlocked.
- Chaos Points: 2/100.
- Boons: Blessing of the World Crystal.
- Afflictions: None.
- Abilities: 9.
🔷
Seeing the star next to his D Rank, he prodded it and was informed that though he met the qualifications for D Rank. His body was not refined to the level of strength and resilience he would require to survive, and the star was there to remind him that he still had the body of an average person.
The next annoying thing was that his Chaos Meter had gone up by two, meaning he had been in his meditation state for four hours. After that, he quickly checked his upgraded and new ability.
Dark Vision: You have the ability to see in the dark but only in shades of grey. Distance is limited by Rank—current distance - 100 feet.
Active & Passive Presences: You have unlocked your magical senses. Your active and passive presence will allow you to interact with the world around you without requiring physical touch. This can involve scanning objects and creatures, casting spells, and doing many other things within your presence.
Though you have gained this ability, your power and control are weak, which will limit the things you can do. However, through practice and dedication, you may learn to use your presence to great effect.
Finally, he checked his spell menu, which noted that his concentration was unlocked and had a 0 out of 1 counter next to it.
Then, with that done, he willed himself awake and woke up with a stiff, cramped body. Meditation sucks. He thought as he fell sideways from his chair.