[RotD] — 34 Astral Rift

Some edits were made to the end of this chapter, I apologize for the inconvenience but please read them to make sure you understand what comes next.

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Noah and Aurelia wandering through the city, taking their time on their way to the castle. Or rather, it was Noah taking his time by running around whenever something new or interesting caught his eye, and Aurelia had to shepherd him back into staying on track like a mother pulling along her far too energetic child.

“Come on, we could’ve stayed a while longer to watch the show,” Noah grumbled, as Aurelia pulled him along, grabbing his hand and refusing to let go.

“No we could not. The bards stay there all day, and you just wanted to keep flirting with that woman. Then you wanted to try out the Derilon pie, before somehow being coerced into paying for an air-craft tour ride. I’m not letting you go anymore or you’ll just get lost and then it’ll be on me to find you and bring you back,” Aurelia said, tightening her grip.

Noah had tried to see if he could force his hand free but the woman, though smaller than him, had a stronger grip force. He could escape, but it would take effort, and he did not find that worth the anger it’d cause Aurelia.

“Okay, fine, but we really could’ve stayed till the end of the song at least? And I wasn’t flirting—“

Aurelia gave Noah a look.

“Okay, fine, but she was hot. And fun to chat with. I never knew there was an entire job dedicated to collecting magical herbs,” Noah said.

“That woman wasn’t interested in you Noah. She’s a herbalist, and in these parts, that means she’s a thief. They target tourists most of all, offering to take them out on drinks, before showing them their special herb with extra kicks and then you’d be knocked out and robbed blind and left naked in some alley.”

“Alcohol doesn’t work on me,” Noah said.

Aurelia let go of Noah’s hand, stopping her steps as she turned to face him. “Why’re you acting like this?” She asked, folding her arms.

“Like what?”

“Like a child. You’ve been jumping at everything you see and ignoring me when I tell you to do something, or go somewhere,” Aurelia said.

“I just want to explore. I’m in an entirely new place, with so many things to see. There’s no harm in wanting to explore is there?” Noah asked. “In fact, why are you so tense. You look like you’re permanently clenching your jaw.”

Aurelia paused for a moment, touching her chin. “No I’m not,” she replied. “And I just want to not lose track. Exploring a little is fine, it’s why I’m taking you to the castle. I understand that this is all new for you, but we also have a quest, and I want to go the library at the castle and start making preparations for it instead of wasting my time wandering around the city.”

“You could always leave me and go do the thing you want,” Noah replied with a shrug.

“I could, but I don’t trust you to not get yourself in trouble. You’re very clearly not from here, and that makes you an easy target for any bad sort. Cities like these always have those. But if you think you can handle yourself and really want to move around, I’ll leave you be,” Aurelia replied.

Noah thought over it for a moment. It would be fun to wander around all by himself and just sight see, but he was quite curious about the Astral Rift as well. Both blink and Astral Magic Resistance had gone up to intermediate, getting new abilities, and a rift may help Noah understand his abilities better.

“I’ll go with you,” Noah replied.

“Great, let’s not waste time here then,” Aurelia replied.

Making their way through the city, and walking over many overhanding bridges, Noah finally found himself standing in front of the castle at the highest point in Windrest.

“Does a prince live there?” Noah asked, looking at the marble structure with intricate magical rubes carved all over the walls. A swirling staircase took them around the castle towards a secondary building next to it.

“No, that’s the governor’s house. The elected governor stays and lives there for his term. Though I believe the current one has been in power for nearly four decades now,” Aurelia said.

“Corruption?” Noah asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything about the governor here. He seems to do a good job both managing the Wyvern Riders and maintaining their hive, alongside making sure the city of windrest remains functional. I think most people like him,” Aurelia replied.

“What’s the other building,” Noah asked, as Aurelia led him towards the building built upon the castle’s grounds, almost just as pristine as the castle itself, if a bit smaller in size.

“That’s the church of Avera. The goddess of Wind and Knowledge. She’s the local goddess of Windrest, and I believe the one who opened this Astral Rift,” Aurelia replied.

“She opened the rift? Can gods just open those like that?”

“She did, so they probably can. Though most happen naturally and in the wild. Some sort of crazy magical phenomenon or whatever that quite literally scars reality,” Aurelia said.

“Interesting. Also, what do you mean by local goddess? Is she only found here?” Noah asked.

“Basically yeah. Not all gods are equal of course. There are many smaller deities around, local to certain places, and people. Avera is one such deity.”

“Does she live in this church then?” Noah asked.

“Sort of? I don’t really know what deities do, but she appears quite often. It’s not rare to meet her, so if we’re lucky, we may see her,” Aurelia said, and then paused. “Be respectful if she arrives, okay? No stupid jokes.”

“What do you think I am, four?”

“I’m willing to believe a four year old would be better behaved,” Aurelia said with a snort.

Noah clutched his heart in mock hurt, as the two made their way into the church.

The insides were quite similar to the external appearance of the church, but Noah noticed a faint green hint within the marble, and eventually realised it came from the wind mana embedded within the walls itself.

A shudder of wind passed through Noah, and he turned to see a strange little child made of green light, almost like an odd ghost circling around his head.

[Wind Elemental - ?]

“What… is that?” Noah asked, unsure of what to do, when the little creature giggled, before flying away.

“That’s a wind elemental. You’ll see a lot of those here,” Aurelia said.

True to her word, the further Noah walked in, the more elementals he saw. Most were little balls of magic that could barely cause a gust of wind, while a few were encased in mini tornadoes localised around them, with a much more defined shape and humanoid appearance.

Noah used identify, but for some reason the skill refused to work on the elemental.

The creature seemed to have sensed Noah’s attempt, and glanced back at him, before giving him a smile revealing the sharp fangs in its mouth.

“Do these guys just roam around this place?” Noah asked, as he followed Aurelia through the church.

“It’s the temple of the goddess of wind, so yes. They roam freely here,” Aurelia replied, as one little elemental decided to make use of her head as a resting place.

Noah reached out with a finger, trying to pet the little elemental’s translucent hair, when the creature turned and bit him instead.

“Ouch,” Noah said, clutching his finger as he saw a single red drop well up. “Why do they hate me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe ask them?” Aurelia asked.

Noah grumbled, before pausing. He did have the [Universal Language Comprehension] perk didn’t he?

Turning to face the elemental, Noah asked. “Why do you dislike me?”

The elemental jumped, turning around once, before his eyes settled on Noah, turning beady.

“You can understand me, can’t you?” Noah asked.

The elemental continued to stare at him in confusion. A moment later, it gave him a nod.

“Great. So, why do you guys hate me?” He asked once more.

“Stinks!” the elemental replied, pointing at Noah.

“I… stink?” He asked, confused.

“Stinks! Void! It stinks!” The elemental said, giggling happily as it flew away.

“What… did you just do?” Aurelia asked.

“I asked the elemental why it didn’t like me,” Noah replied. “Apparently it’s because I stink.”

Aurelia stared at him blankly for a moment, before she burst out laughing.

“That’s not funny, okay?” Noah said, though he found himself joining in her laughter as well.

“Oh, mother’s mercy, a wind elemental told you you stink. By god, you really must. I wonder if my nose has rotten off because of being near you too much since I can’t tell anymore,” Aurelia said, sniffing at her clothes once. “I hope I don’t stink.”

Noah shook his head, continuing on their way. A few moments later, he found himself standing in what looked to be the central chamber of the church, with a giant statue of the woman holding a bard in one hand, and a book in another, as she sat upon a giant peacock. A glowing cut in reality was placed beneath the statue, with barriers around to prevent people from walking right up to it.

“That’s Avera. And her divine familiar Vari,” Aurelia replied.

“A peacock huh? I didn’t know they existed here,” Noah replied.

“They don’t. She got it from a different realm. Is that animal found in your homeland?” Aurelia asked.

“In some parts of it, yeah. Not where I lived, no,” Noah replied, before his attention was taken by the Astral Rift.

“That’s the Rift, I take it?” oah asked.

“Indeed. This one leads to the Astral Plane of wind. You can probably feel the torrent of wind mana flooding outwards from the rift,” Aurelia said.

“I can definitely feel something,” Noah replied.

Walking closer, he kept his eye on the cut in reality, finding something oddly captivating within it. There were swirls of mana and magic within that held his attention in place, but also… something more. Like he could see a layer of something put upon top, a fabric that had been cut through and then pierced with a needle to go into the cut itself. The shape did not feel three dimensional, and Noah had a hard time perceiving it.

Astral Magic Resistance has reached level 11.

His system seemed to agree with him. Noah walked right to the edge of the barriers, eyes rooted to the Astral rift. There was a hole in there, a path that led to… somewhere. Somewhere inside the rift itself.

“What happens if I go inside there?” Noah asked, turning towards Aurelia.

“You get ripped apart into little pieces before dissipating into mana,” Aurelia replied. “It’d be a silly way to die, but you also cannot really go in. The entire thing is magically locked. They wouldn’t keep the rift open to public if it wasn’t,” Aurelia replied.

Noah hummed. A moment later, he saw the wind elemental from before come back, twirling around his head.

“Stink man!”

“I’m not stinky, damn you!” Noah shouted, as the elemental laughed.

“Want to see home?”

“Home?” Noah asked.

“Yes! Mother will like stink man!” The elemental exclaimed, bobbing up and down. “Follow!”

A moment later, the little ball of wind dived into the rift, before disappearing entirely. The hole Noah saw in the rift, the tunnel widened for a moment, reaching out towards him.

“That elemental just invited me in,” Noah said, glancing at Aurelia.

“What?” Aurelia said.

“Yeah, in fact, the gate’s open now, I can see into the rift. Hold my hand for a moment,” Noah said.

“Noah, what are you trying to do?” Aurelia said, looking at him hesitantly.

“I don’t know, but something tells me I should go in. And I’m the type who listens to his guts,” Noah said, not waiting for Aurelia to reply as he grabbed her hand.

Blink flared to life, burning brightly around the both of them, and with a blue flicker, the two vanished.

Space dilated around Noah as he felt himself being swept in currents of something beyond his perception. It took him a moment to realize, it was reality itself warping around him, bending him in ways that should not be possible in three dimensional space.

"Here!" he heard the Elemental chime.

There was no air here, in this dark gap between realities. This space between realms was what he used to transport himself. Every point here was connected to every other, motion was merely a result of where to and where from on the layers tied to this space.

It was as if reality was a fold of napkin, two dimensional, and this gap was the in between connecting those layers together in a three dimensional structure.

Noah found himself drifting, he did not have a body, not outside the boundaries of the spell that protected him from this spell and kept him intact. He could feel his soul contorting, and reality itself blending around him.

But there was a path. Someone had carved a path. The strength required to do so was so unfathomable Noah could barely imagine it, just walking upon the path was difficult for him right now, and every moment that passed, he considered jumping back out to Erandir.

Focusing his mana, he concentrated. He closed his eyes, not finding any benefit from watching twisted space which gave him a pounding headache. All that mattered was the hole through the Astral, connecting the two realms together.

Noah let himself be pulled along by the passage way that had been cut right into the astral itself, as reality enveloped him much like it had when he had been reborn from the Void, before letting him out with a pop.

Warning. Low Mana.

Level notification: 3
Ability notification: 12

Noah stumbled, breathing heavily. He ignored the notification, trying to gather his bearings as he stood in a brand new reality.

"What have you done!" Aurelia screamed, but her voice did not transmit, Noah's eyes occupied by the other person standing in the room.

No. Not a person. A goddess.

"Welcome," the goddess of Wind and Knowledge said, smiling. "It has been a long time since I've had such interesting visitors."