Novaris: Adventure in the Shattered Fang Continent

Novaris. Quattur. 905. AGC.

Nodel. Waning Crescent 🌘. Day 28.

The days passed as Tesilim continued his studies. He learned magic from Alyx, or more accurately, he read books upon books of magic. All the books were on what Alyx called simple magic. However, the whole magic system was all over the place since magic was so loose that it could just be mixed all about. That was actually one of the first lessons Tesilim learned. For example, one could make a flame that heals or corrupts. Another possibility was that welled verse magic users could even deal damage with healing magic. Luckily, even within basic magic, there were still ranks of knowledge that required magic users to have enough learning and finesse to use.

Still, at least this world, which was called Novaris, decided to categorize magic.

There was Enhancement, Clairvoyance, Transmutation, Restoration, Cleansing, Corruption, Abjuration, Conjuration, and Evocation. All of which fell into simple magic.

Tesilim was a fan of dungeons and dragons and hearing the last three had caused his goat self to ask questions.

Alyx explained that conjuration was the act of summoning physical things that would retain their physicality for at least one minute, barring any special circumstances. Basically, conjuration was for summoning creatures and long-lasting objects.

Then there was evocation, which was mainly for spell attacks like magic missiles or throwing fireballs. It was for magic that summoned stuff, but only for a short time.

Then, there was abjuration, a magic type used for defensive spells like the barrier or shield spell.

The problem was that all three could be intermixed with each other, just like any other magical classification. Tesilim questioned why they bothered classifying stuff at all and was told the main reason was for teaching. It was easier to teach and for others to learn if things were simplified. This came from the fact that interchanging how spells worked required more knowledge of the Language of Creation. So, many folks would rather have specific classifications and chants for spells and such.

In truth, only someone like Alyx and those who were heavily experienced could genuinely make full use of magic, as their versatility allowed them to exploit the loosey-goosey system.

Other than magic, Tesilim also became interested in a few other things. He wanted to learn more about the planet and the universe. On Earth, they had learned some bits and pieces due to information exchange with the Realms and their inhabitants, but they hadn't gained much. So, Alyx brought him some books that gave an overview of their world's history and details about the Realms.

The quickest breakdown was that their planet had been fine, but then it was hit by a rogue planet that shattered against their Ethereal Barrier. From there, they got spooked and began worshiping all sorts of things, and that's how gods came about, which was a particular topic Tesilim needed to learn more about.

Around the time the gods appeared, their moon was taken over by the Eldritch God. From there, things got worse when the Realms decided to invade their planet. The invasion was much worse as they were blindsided, and their planet was quickly taken. Eventually, they took it back and rebuilt it to where they were now.

Tesilim learned that the Realm Invasion also caused their planet to gain many new creatures, not just from those who migrated through but from the breeding that happened with their world's original creatures. That went for both monsters and humanoids.

All in all, the planet is mostly at peace now, and any new invasion attempts are quickly shut down. Well, at least in the Shattered Fang Continent, as two other continents are still dealing with constant battles. That didn’t mean the shattered continent was free of Realm influence; it was just that the Realms didn’t have too many strong bases of operations there.

Finally, Tesilim learned that there were twelve Realms, though technically thirteen.

There were the Eight Elemental Realms. There were four large ones: Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. Followed by its four much smaller ones made through the combination of the large four. These four small ones were Ice, Lush, Ash, and Scorch. Finally, there were four that were called the Obscure Realms. There was Hell, Fey, Void, and finally, the Shadow Realm. The thirteenth realm was called the Elemental Chaos, where the Eight Elemental Realms met.

From that explanation, Tesilim figured the Realms were like the ones from his favorite role-playing game and were layers of reality. However, he was incredibly wrong. The actual explanation was much more complicated, but essentially, the Realms were trapped by a barrier, and the combination of the barrier and realms was called The Astral River. This river floated through the universe and connected to planets with World Crystals, which explained why Earth had access to the Realms.

After that quick explanation, Tesilim had more questions about the Realms and their workings, but Alyx told him he would teach him about it later as it was too much information. He told Tesilim that it was better for him to focus on the spell stuff for now, as getting too much information at once would cause only some of it to stick, and Tesilim had to agree.

As the days passed, Tesilim saw his chaos mana increase until it finally reached 100, and they headed out to the forest so Tesilim could unleash another mana-imbued spell. He wanted to leave and cause it to discharge naturally, but Alyx wanted to experience the effects of Chaos Mana on the different spells.

Novaris.Quin (May). 905. AGC.

Nodel. Waxing Crescent 🌒. Day 4.

Walking out to the forest on another beautiful sunny day, the party went to their usual spot, and one or two hours after noon, Tesilim unleashed another fully boosted spell. This time, he went with the barrier spell, deciding to summon a normal barrier around the size of an average shield.

"By my will, a shield arise;

Protect and guard before my eyes."

Was what Tesilim said, though any stranger that could have been nearby only heard.

“Baaaa, baaaaa;

Baaa baaa, baaaaa.”

As he chanted, Tesilim imbued all of his chaos mana and got the notification saying that what he was doing would trigger a Chaos Event. Ignoring it, he finished, and the spell that was going to summon a shield the size of Tesilim’s torso instead summoned a huge fogged crystal wall. The wall was at least four Tesilim’s tall and wide, which was saying a lot. Additionally it had soft specks of glowing lights sprinkled throughout.

After it manifested, Tesilim received the usual notification with its accompanying jingle.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Warning! Chaos Event Imminent, prepare yourself.

Rolling d20. 13. Rolling 1d100. 16. Rolling 1d4. 1.

🔷

Then Tesilim and his party were all teleported five feet forward.

That was it—at least, Tesilim was convinced that-that was it. Nothing else happened, at least nothing they could see. So, they all headed back to the city, and Tesilim continued his studies and relaxation vacation, well, at least until the next Chaos Event came around.

Nodel. Waxing Gibbous 🌔. Day 13.

Around the same time they had gone out last time, the party once again found themselves at their testing spot, though the wall had long faded, and this time around, Alyx had brought a corrupted item. The item was a simple-looking plant that had been tainted with necrotic energies. The source of the corruption was C Rank, and Alyx wanted to see if the chaos boost was enough to increase a basic cleansing spell and clear higher-rank magic.

"By light and air, cleanse and renew;

Purify all, through and through."

Finishing the spell, the plant was encased in bright light that quickly dispersed, revealing that his boosted spell did work at least partly. It didn’t fully cleanse the plant, but it definitely removed some of the corruption. Then, as always, the prompt came.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Warning! Chaos Event Imminent, prepare yourself.

Rolling d20. 20. Rolling 1d4. 3. Rolling 1d4. 3.

🔷

After the notification, another one popped up, which made Tesilim smile.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Due to a Chaos Event, you have learned the following spells: Basic Teleportation, Basic Reduce Weight, Basic Clean, Summon Water, and Water Slash.

Additionally, you may activate said spells without requiring the Language of Creation but at the same strength as if you were using the language. Warning! This secondary trait will disappear if you leave Novaris.

🔷

After that piece of amazing information, Tesilim did a happy goat dance and informed his companions, who promptly didn’t believe him and called him a filthy goat liar. Tesilim then proceeded to use said spells without chanting, leaving them with open mouths, still unwilling to believe him. Alyx even prompted him to show them the supposed screens, but they just couldn’t see them. So, Alyx prompted him to realize that they were his own powers, and it made no sense that he didn’t have control over them. To that factual statement, Tesilim poured all his will into making it so his two companions could see the screens, and something finally happened.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Warning! Once you allow a creature to see your notifications, their access cannot be revoked, and they will be able to see and read all screens that appear.

Would you like to allow your companions to see your notifications?

Yes or No

🔷

After hitting yes, Lili and Alyx could finally see the notification screen and were forced to accept that Tesilim had indeed gained the spells and did, in fact, have access to floating screens. Tesilim had been a bit wary at first, but he felt like both of his party members had done enough to earn his trust, at least for the time being.

From there, Tesilim read through his new spells as they returned to the city.

Basic Teleportation: A spell that allows you to teleport yourself and any items you are directly wearing short distances to unoccupied spaces. The more mana used for the spell, the further you can teleport with a maximum distance of 100 feet. Additionally, you must see the spot to which you are teleporting and must not be carrying any additional weight. Weight limit is 250 pounds.

Warning! The spells limits can be bypassed but doing so without the proper knowledge can lead to unintended side effects.

Current Rank: D.

Magic Type: Advanced Magic - Space.

Concentration: No.

Mana Use: One-Off.

Use: Utility.

AoE: No.

Multi-Target: No.

It was probably the one that was going to be the most useful. However, he would definitely have to get used to the teleportation nausea all over again, as it would probably be different from his daggers.

Summon Water: A simple spell capable of summoning water from the Water Realm. The amount of water summoned equals the amount of mana used to cast the spell. Additionally, the water must be summoned on an unoccupied space, and the caster's will enforces its conjuring force and the amount of mana used upon use.

Current Rank: D.

Magic Type: Simple Magic - Conjuration.

Concentration: No.

Mana Use: Hybrid.

Use: Utility.

AoE: Yes.

Multi-Target: Yes.

Useful, at least to make distractions or if he ever got lost in the wilderness.

Basic Reduce Weight: A simple spell that allows the caster to reduce an item's or creature's weight. The strength and duration of the spell's effect is equivalent to the amount of mana spent. Though most items can be reduced in weight, the effect may not take hold in some. Additionally, you may not target yourself with this spell, though you may target items you wear or use. Finally, the target's original density can affect how strong the spell's effect is and the amount of mana required.

Current Rank: D.

Magic Type: Advanced Magic - Gravity.

Concentration: No.

Mana Use: One-Off.

Use: Utility.

AoE: No.

Multi-Target: Yes.

Definitely a very fun spell to mess with people, considering they wouldn’t know he cast it, at least not straight away. He was a bit annoyed that he couldn’t use it on himself but figured there was a body enhancement for that.

Basic Clean: A basic spell used to clean basic materials off surfaces. The larger the area affected and the tougher the material being removed, the more mana that will be required.

Current Rank: D.

Magic Type: Simple Magic*- Evocation, Cleansing, Transmutation.

Concentration: No.

Mana Use: One-Off.

Use: Utility.

AoE: Yes.

Multi-Target: Yes.

Simple yet useful, especially after a fight.

Water Slash: A spell that can summon high-pressure water slashes. The slashes can be straight or curved but must remain somewhat dimensionally linear. The caster can choose the number of slashes, their size, and at what pressure power they are summoned. These factors will indicate how much mana the spell will consume.

Current Rank: D.

Magic Type: Simple Magic - Evocation.

Concentration: No.

Mana Use: One-Off.

Use: Damage.

AoE: Yes.

Multi-Target: Yes.

This spell plus basic teleportation would probably be a good combo. If he had-had both during the bird aberration fight, he could have dealt with the bird much faster than he did. Water slash was also going to be good for surprise attacks as there weren’t going to be very many telltale signs of him using it.

Overall, it hadn’t been a bad haul, and he had gained lots of new knowledge during his goat transformation, but he was ready to be back on two legs.

Nodel. Waning Gibbous 🌖. Day 22.

Sadly, there was one more pull, which he wasted on basic teleportation. The spell took him a mile or so across the forest, which was rather respectable.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Warning! Chaos Event Imminent, prepare yourself.

Rolling d20. 3. Rolling 1d10. 4. Rolling 1d6. 5. Rolling 1d4. 4.

🔷

Standing in the middle of the forest, Tesilim felt the ripple of power as a rift opened in space. His senses wouldn’t have been good enough to notice it, but considering the power it gave off, it was hard to miss.

As he watched the 20-foot rift open, Tesilim began backing up because the swirling sand impeded his sight through the portal, and he didn’t know what would be on the other side.

The portal took a minute or two to open completely, allowing Alyx and Lili to reach him. All three watched from a safe distance as the swirling sand cleared to reveal a desert landscape with a dark, red-tinged sky.

Things got into motion as soon as Alyx and Lili cursed in unison.

“Shit!”

“What!?” Tesilim replied.

“That's a portal to the Scorching Realm,” Alyx answered, with Lili following soon after, both having actual concern in their voices.

“We need to leave. Now!”

As they ran, they agreed not to tell anyone about that particular issue.