Novaris: Adventure in the Shattered Fang Continent

Novaris. Sax (June). 905. AGC.

Nodel. Waning Gibbous🌖. Day 18.

Jasmine greeted her best friend with a large smile and an even larger hug. They had met up early in the morning at one of the nicer restaurants in town. The two had yet to spend some decent quality time together for various reasons, so they figured this was one of the best ways to start. The breakfast food was excellent, and they didn't bring up any serious topics and just enjoyed each other's company. Things were still a bit awkward between them as they hadn't seen each other for a long time. However, it was for that exact reason that they needed to do this.

The two still called each other best friends, but it was far from the truth. However, admitting otherwise would feel wrong and would probably hurt each other's feelings. So, as far as they were concerned, they were best friends in name and would work very hard to get back to that reality.

It felt like a fresh start to them as they had slowly drifted apart back in their home city, and with so many changes to each other's lives, they felt like they were meeting for the first time, not to mention the fact that they were fully functioning adults now and they had a long life ahead of them. A life that would be filled with good and bad times but that, in the end, they hope to experience together.

When their small breakfast get-together came to an end, they both headed towards the Adventurer’s Guild. They planned to meet with the rest of the group in order to complete some more missions. As they walked, both friends chatted about Jasmine's changes and how the rest of the party would react. Rose herself had been a bit shocked even after seeing her friend some days back. She had tried to hide the reaction to avoid being rude, but Jasmine had still noticed and waved it away with a smile, telling her that she would eventually get used to it.

Her friend was different, and it was something that Rose had to get used to. It was still early days in their new relationship, but the changes Rose had seen so far made her happy. Gone was the shy girl unwilling to do anything but read. Instead, she was replaced by someone whose eyes shined bright with the prospect of adventure and fun. When Rose thought about it, she felt like their past friendship had been built on proximity and the weird magic at play. As such, she looked forward to learning about the real Jasmine.

At the Adventurers Guild, Tesilim, Lili, and Alyx were sitting down at one of the guild tables enjoying some drinks. They were waiting for Rose and the twin's new transformation to appear. While they waited, Tesilim tried was trying to convince Alyx to give him a new spell.

“Come on, Alyx, I just want another cool, flashy spell I can use in fights! Maybe something that comes from the sky like Rose’s beam thing!”

“That wasn't a spell. That was a technique.” The gnome answered, correcting him.

“Same thing!” Tesilim answered, waving off the question, which caused Alyx to glare at him before answering.

“Technically, yes, but not really. Anyways, look, I am not going to just give you the chant for a new spell. How about you take out those books I gave you and make one yourself.”

Then, Alyx began ignoring him as he returned to reading his book. Not wanting to pursue that course of action, Tesilim turned to Lili and brought an old topic back to life.

“So, Lili, do you just like to wear white?”

“Yes, I like the color; it matches my look very well.” She responded.

“Have you tried any other colors? You never know; maybe something else will look just as good.”

“Tesilim, are you really asking a 300-year-old elf if they have tried different clothing styles and colors?” Lili replied with sarcasm and sass.

“Fair. But do you have to wear such loose articles? Could you maybe wear some pants or shorts every now and then?”

“No. I can’t. I like it because it's great for combat and general movement. I don’t even like wearing armor that much and only do it when I have to.” She then paused and got close to him, pressing her breasts against his arm before whispering, “Besides, I like to feel the wind against my skin, if you know what I mean,” which quickly sent Tesilim’s mind back to when he had thrown her into the sky. Tesilim, suddenly overwhelmed by this teasing, felt his face flush, which caused Lili to laugh as she pulled away.

Watching the white hair elf out of the corner of his eye, Tesilim couldn't help but gulp as he held himself back. Today, she wore a beautiful white skirt with what had to be this world’s equivalent of a sports bra. Though the outfit covered the important parts, it exposed her curvy body, making Tesilim use all his willpower not to stare. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before something else came about, and his mind shifted to a different topic.

Rose, in her usual golden armor, walked towards them. More importantly, next to Rose was what could only be Arelion’s twin transformation. Tesilim found it a bit odd because they wore the same armor, but a completely different person was walking alongside the redhead.

The most obvious change in detail was that the person was clearly a female who was a bit shorter than they had been before. Arelion had been around the height of Rose, and his body had been a bit lengthier and well-built. The person walking with Rose now was curvier, making the armor they wore look much more filled out than before. Not that it had been baggy before since it had fitted Arelion just fine. And unlike Arelion, who had worn their hair in a much more conservative fashion with a simple ponytail. Whoever this new person was had put some style into their hair by adding some braided sections on one side. They also wore black lipstick, which really stood out against their radiant pale skin, the complete opposite of Arelion’s deadly pale color.

As the two ladies got closer, Tesilim saw that only a little had changed in terms of their other looks. They still had the same color eyes except for much silver irises. Stopping in front of them, this new individual spoke.

“Hello, everyone, I'm Jasmine. It's nice to finally and officially meet you all.” Their voice was cheerful and sweet, deeply contrasting what they had expected and immediately grabbing their attention.

Everyone except Rose was at a loss for words as they stared at Jasmine, looking for what exactly to say. Thankfully, Jasmine didn't seem offended by it and kept smiling at them as she shifted around, meeting their eyes.

The first to act was Alyx, as he activated his weird privacy screen encompassing their small corner of the Adventurer’s Guild. He was also the first to speak, breaking the silence.

“Nice to meet you too, Jasmine! I apologize for the reaction, as we were not expecting you after meeting your other half.”

With a cute giggle, Jasmine's smile just got brighter as she replied with evident joy, “That’s alright! I completely understand, he can be very hard to get along with. Also, I know this might be awkward, but I feel it's something you should know before anything else. I have many of his memories, so I technically know all of you already.” Jasmine finished as she ran her gaze over the three party members.

For his part, Tesilim snapped out of his stare and instantly blurted out what was on his mind, “Damn! Does that mean you guys share toilet breaks and everything?”

A question that caused Lili to smack the back of his head as she apologized, “Sorry about him. He is a bit of an idiot at times.”

Thankfully, Jasmine didn’t take offense and just laughed before accepting the apology, “That's alright. And we do share toilet breaks, Tesilim. However, we can choose what memories not to keep, and those moments I choose not to.”

“Hmmm, very interesting.” Answered Alyx and Tesilim simultaneously, but for two completely different reasons.

Alyx was writing down all the ins and outs of the twins for his research, while Tesilim was just a curious idiot.

“I think we all have questions,” Lili started as she looked at their party before continuing, “However, I think that's best left for the road. After all, we should probably do some monster training to get used to the new team dynamic. I know we will have plenty to learn about each other in the coming days.”

“Yeah, that's true, plus we are starting to get weird looks,” Rose, who had stayed quiet while watching the party interact, finally spoke up.

“Very well, then. Let us get a mission,” Alyx added as he dismissed the privacy bubble.

Walking up to the second floor of the Adventurer’s Guild, Jasmine fell in stride next to Tesilim, having had a question in mind since they arrived.

“Hey, so when is the next random thing going to happen?”

“Soon,” Tesilim replied as he looked over at her with a giant grin on his face.

Arriving at the D-rank mission board, the party decided to take only one mission at a time. Considering they didn't know what Tesilim's powers would make happen, it was best not to tempt fate. Looking through the different missions, they were looking for a combat mission that would allow them to put their new yet already existing member to the test.

After a bit of looking, Jasmine found a mission she thought was good. They had all taken a turn reading the mission details, which prompted Tesilim to get a notification when his turn came around.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

🔷 Adventure Goal 🔷

Name: Moon Bunnies.

Type: Extermination ⚔️.

Rank: D.

Danger: Low 🟢.

Suggested Number: 4+.

Threat: Fey Realm 🌸✔️.

Goal: Find and eliminate the Moon Bunnies. 0/30.

Reward: 250 Gold & 1 Chaos Point.

Description: Patrolling guards have spotted fey creatures in the woods. Due to the nature of the threat, the city has requested that adventurers find and eliminate as many of the threats as possible. The guards claim they are larger than usual bunny-looking monsters that seem to use light-based magic. Follow the icon on your vision to the location where the monsters were last spotted.

🔷

Everybody agreed that the mission was good and decided to accept it. While speaking with the attendant, who was not Penny, they discovered that Jasmine and Arelion had two different identities in the guild. This was exciting news to Alyx as he did not expect their differences to be so apart that they could register as individuals without their link being found. Either way, they had to add Jasmine to the party, which they quickly did, and they also received the location where the guard had last seen the bunnies. Technically, Tesilim did not need the map, but it was always great to keep up appearances, especially since their two new members did not know about his unique ability.

Finally, as they had been leaving the guild, Tesilim learned about another feature of it.

There had been a scuffle in the lobby where some adventurers had been arrested. Word of this had spread fast, and he had learned that the guild used secret adventurers who actually worked for the goddess herself. These adventurers were used to find guild members who lied about completing missions or did other things the guild did not approve of.

In a way, it made sense for Tesilim as there had to be measures the guild took to ensure they weren't simply being scammed. The news also worried him that some of his party members were secret adventurers, but he should be fine as long as he didn't break any rules.