Novaris: Adventure in the Shattered Fang Continent

Novaris. Quattur (April). 905. AGC.

Nodel. Waning Crescent 🌘. Day 1.

Lili gave in and decided to start teaching him the basics of magic. However, she didn’t want to do a full breakdown of magic and just began with the basics of what she called LoC Magic or Language of Creation Magic. This magic was a mix of things and could be done in three different ways, though it was strongest when all three were combined.

There was the obvious way of using chants via the runic language of creation, then there were the runic circles, which were like the chant, but you drew the words instead, and finally, there was just using your will and imagination.

Typically, you want to chant while drawing the circle and also picturing what you want the magic to do by guiding it with your will. However, the three different ways would work best for different types of people. For example, a clergies unchanted and non-circle spell could be as strong as someone using all three if the clergyperson in question used their deity's mana to cast a spell using just their will but only as long as the god’s mana aligned with the concept of the spell the clergy was using. Meanwhile, someone with a strong will could create a better magical effect than someone using chanting and a circle.

So, with that being said, Lili would guide him with something basic. She taught him the basic runic word for flame or fire. Then she told him to focus on channeling his outer core mana through his body and into his index finger and to hold it there while imagining that the tip of his finger was on fire. Then, once enough, mana had built up. He needed to say the word for fire like he meant what he said and was commanding reality to change.

Tesilim was not an idiot, and he had read and played enough books and games to know that Lili wasn’t fucking with him. However, he didn’t just say the runic word he had learned. He also decided to will for his word to be infused with mana.

Then, concentrating on holding mana at the tip of his index finger while imagining it was on fire, he said the word for fire, willing for some of his mana to fuse into the very concept brought by the word, and that's when things went out of control.

A small flame grew from the tip of his finger, and then once he said the word, he felt more mana gush out from his soul and feed the flame, causing it to erupt upwards in power. Not expecting that, he freaked out and jumped back, tripping on something and falling on his ass.

“Holy Shit! Was that supposed to happen!”

“No, you idiot! Did I tell you to infuse your words with mana!? No, I did not!” Lili yelled at him while staring at the ceiling, which was just fine, to Tesilim’s surprise.

“Sorry, uh. I just got the idea and decided to try it.” Tesilim responded, a bit ashamed that he almost burned Lili’s shop down.

Lili, giving him an exasperated sigh, answered. “It’s fine, just don’t do anything magic-related again without telling me first. I know you’re excited, but that could have gone real bad.”

“Yes, mam!”

“Don’t call me that! You are making me feel old. I am only 302, which is rather young for an elf.”

“What! You are 300 years old?! How are you still so damn sexy!?” Tesilim blurted before he could think. Then, realizing what he had said, he covered his mouth, closed his eyes, and laid flat on the ground, waiting for the inevitable slap or kick.

However, he instead felt Lili above him and felt as she slowly lowered herself. Unable to help himself, he carefully peaked and got a face full of cleavage before quickly closing his eyes again. Tesilim then felt Lili’s breath on his neck as she quietly spoke.

“So, you think I am sexy? You aren’t bad-looking yourself; maybe we should have some fun.”

Tesilim audibly gulped.

Then he felt Lili begin to get up, and he got a light slap on his cheek as she playfully giggled and shut his dreams down with a “Just kidding.”

With his heart still thumping in his chest like he had just run the longest marathon of his life, Tesilim opened his eyes and got the best view of his life so far as Lili walked off to do alchemy in another of her beautifully short summer dresses.

The rest of the day proceeded much more calmly as Tesilim continued to rest from his beating session the day before. However, it wasn’t pain-free as he still continued refining his body. He also did a few more magical tricks and even created small sparks with his will and imagination. Lili also promised to get him one of the basic books for new magic users so he could start learning magic properly.

- Chaos Meter: 59/100.

The following morning, Lili took him to a local library.

At the library, they got a basic book on the Language of Creation, which explained how to pronounce the words and what they all meant or could mean. From the treehouse library, which definitely had spatial augmentation, they headed back to Lili’s shop.

The rest of that day was spent rather restfully as Lili kept working on her alchemy, and he kept reading.

Lili also got some customers, which she hadn’t gotten so far, though Tesilim wasn’t sure if it was because the shop was closed due to his training or because Lili didn’t have a lot of customers. Tesilim asked because he was curious and worried the elf was getting into financial trouble because of him, but he didn’t need to worry.

Lili explained that she had plenty of money in reserve and that she didn’t sell much from the shop. Apparently, she and many other businesses in the city entrusted their goods to the city's artisan guild, which was in charge of the market and responsible for selling the goods.

That’s not how it worked in many places, but since Wildwood City was so remote, the city officials chose this aspect of trade. And everyone didn’t care as it gave them more time to spend on perfecting their crafts. It also helped that they could still get direct orders from individuals, and the city was fair in its prices.

After that day of relaxation, things returned to the training from before, but with some changes.

Their day began as usual, with breakfast and light training. Then, they moved to spend the morning running and performing more difficult exercises. Once noon came about, they would head back to Lili’s shop or the Rusty Boar to eat something and rest. Tesilim would also use this time to do some more magical reading.

After their noon rest, they would do combat training, as Lili instructed him in proper combat. The combat sessions weren’t as bad as the previous ones, but they still weren’t walks in the park.

Finally, the afternoon would come about as Tesilim continued to read his magical book. He was learning a lot of the words, and Lili told him he would need to learn how to correctly put them in order afterward so he could adequately direct the magic. She also mentioned that though the words did a lot to create the magic, they didn’t do much to direct it in specific directions. In order to cause a spell to go in a straight line or keep it within a certain area, one had to guide it with one's will, which was easier than creating the magical effect with just one’s will and imagination.

Having learned that Tesilim wasn’t worried as he learned that such basic instructions were really simple and anyone could do them without trouble. Tesilim also learned that the runic words were more generalized to concepts, though apparently, there were even more to help specify certain things. In fact, the words were just that: a guide to help guide the mana into a shape and concept. This guidance could be problematic when trying to make opposite concepts work together. However, it could still be done by forcing the magic to place nice together by introducing a more powerful concept to glue the opposing concepts together. That also worked if someone’s will was strong enough, as they could make the concepts play nice. A good example was making a flame that had a freezing effect. Fire was naturally related to the concept of heat but freezing was exactly the opposite. However, throwing the word for combination or balance in there would forcibly make the two forces work together.

Tesilim had honestly needed clarification about it and had asked Lili.

Lili said the concept of balance was more of a mediator for the concepts of fire and ice, letting both be separate yet still work together. She said it was like dividing explosive powder from a flame by a thin sheet of flame-immune paper. Both forces were right there next to each other yet were separated enough by a third force.

Something else he would also do during his magic reading was the refinement of his body. He slowly but surely increased his body's resiliency and could already notice the difference, as by the end of the training days, he felt less tired and could take Lili’s punches slightly better.

However, the main thing that told him he was growing in power was his status screen.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

🔷 Status Screen 🔷

- Name: Tesilim Telsy.

- Race: Chaos Elf.

- Age: 24.

- Rank: Low D*.

- Progression to Next Rank: 5%.

- Chaos Meter: 89/100.

- Arcane Mana: From 50/50 to 300/300

- Arcane Regen: From +1 Per Minute to +2 Per Minute.

- Pure Arcane Mana: From 25/25 to 150/150.

- Pure Arcane Regen: From +1 Every Two Minutes to +1 Every Minute.

- Order Mana: Locked.

- Magical Sense: - Unlocked.

- Chaos Points: 2/100.

- Boons: Blessing of the World Crystal.

- Afflictions: None.

- Abilities: 9.

🔷

His mana storage and mana regen had gone up, along with his regular arcane mana and pure arcane mana, which was nice. He also noticed the pattern of his pure arcane mana always being half behind his regular arcane mana.

Tesilim also didn’t miss the increase in his Chaos Meter. He had checked his status screen; it had been the night of the fourth day, which meant that his Chaos Meter would be filled by the afternoon of the following day.

Naturally, he had spoken with Lili, and she had said that they would go outside the city again just to be safe.

Tesilim had spoken with her about his impending Chaotic Event, and she wasn’t very thrilled with the idea. However, she had used the discussion to learn how often her fellow elf gained this Chaos Mana of his, and apparently, he gained a bit of it every couple of hours.

Lili was still excited about the idea of tasting this mana but was still holding back. She liked Tesilim and planned to join him on his inevitable trip to explore his new world. However, they had only known each other for two weeks at most, and she needed to slowly build up their relationship before revealing that she could feed on his mana. It helped that the elf was stricken with her beauty, but she didn’t want to get attached to him without knowing him better, mana or no mana.

Tesilim seemed like a nice enough elf, but two weeks wasn’t enough to learn someone's demeanor, at least not their real one. He seemed like a friendly, caring, and joking kind of guy, which was just how she liked them as they made life much more fun and helped her forget her past. Still, she had been bitten a few times with fake personalities and wouldn’t rush into anything.