Taol's Compendium of Nent

Chapter 9: The Auris Circle (Novus)

With the village now out of sight, it was relatively difficult for us to turn back, especially with our energy restored, our spirits reinvigorated, and our focus sharpened – we were now entering the circle of frost, where very little are able to survive due to its vicious temperatures. During my time back at Hibernus Village, I did speak to a few people in hopes of gathering information involving this specific landmark, as I have said in my previous log.

Apparently, according to some, the reason why the circle even exists is because of some mythical creature that lives within the circle, but because it is constantly shrouded in a cloak of wind, ice and frost, it is near impossible to see it unless you have some kind of supernatural force to help you detect it. The closer you are to the entity, the colder the temperatures will be – it is said that the temperatures can actually go so low that you will end up being encased in ice, which was their way of explaining why so little people return from the village once they ventured deep into the Auris Circle.

While all this is merely rumoring amongst the village folk, I knew I had to take them with some degree of seriousness – after our experiences at Flos, we knew that basically anything was possible at this point, and we couldn’t afford to let our guard down for even a second. It was also worth mentioning that with this knowledge in mind, our depth perception had to come out on top above all else. We had to sense danger that could possibly surround us at any time even without any sign of warning. The only sign of danger that we had to go with was the dropping temperatures whenever we progressed through the circle.

Of course, the edge of the circle was somewhat bearable – thanks to our winter clothing, we were able to stave off the whispering winds with the warmth that our clothes provided. Our movements were slow, and this was mainly because of the fact that the floor now felt like it was but a thin sheet of ice. I don’t even know how this is even possible, considering how there was a tundra before the village which was now behind us, but perhaps this might be where the rumors come into play…

The issue was that while the edge of the circle was manageable, we still had to take days in order to progress from the first part of this trek all the way to the second, which was venturing into the heart of the circle. Setting up a tent in such an environment was really difficult as well, as the wind would try to blow the tarp which made up the tent far off to who knows where – thankfully, we would attempt to keep the bindings extra tight while we hammered our nails through the sheet of ice and into the ground.

What also hindered us was the fact that the weather never changed – we could never see what time it was, because everything around us was constantly being covered and shrouded by a ruthless snowstorm which looked like it was bordering on becoming into a flat-out blizzard any second now, or possibly even a whiteout if the weather were to get worse.

It would take us roughly a month to make it through the first third of the journey…the bulk of the journey was now ahead of us.

The heart of the Circle.

This was where things began to go from unforgiving to straight up merciless – suddenly, it seemed like all the claims of a mythical creature living within the circle that was spoken by the people of Hibernus had tons of merit.

The wind intensified, our vision range drastically decreased, and the we were being repeatedly bombarded with blasts of snow and hail which only hindered our progress through the heart of the circle even more. At this point, we didn’t know what time it was, nor were we sure on whether to rest up or not due to the sheer hostility of the environment around us – sure, my powers were trying to abate most of the cold, but it can only do so much…and with my limited proficiency in magic in general, it just meant that even I too was left shivering.

This would continue for days; with whatever rest we had being minor and quick breaks so that we could quickly be on the mood – neither of us wanted to be interrupted with a hailstone or two smacking us while we were fast asleep. Things began to come to a head, however, as we were soon caught up in grave danger…

While we were enduring the vicious weather that was constantly battering us with no end, Tirza would suddenly come to a stop, yelling to me that she was unable to move – upon coming to a halt and seeing what was going on, I could see that her legs had been frozen straight into the sheet of ice, and just like that, the freezing ice was beginning to rapidly develop as the bluish streak began to make its way up her legs and through her body.

Without wasting much time, I brought out my magical flames in an attempt to melt down the ice, but even despite my efforts, they proved to be in vain, as if the ice shell was completely impervious to fire – all I could do was just heightened my already pointless struggle as she found herself yelling in utter pain, her entire body being completely overwhelmed by a chill so vicious that it felt like her entire being was burning up, and soon enough, she would be completely frozen solid, her icy eyes staring right at me as she was stuck in her helpless position, contained within her icy prison.

The wind actually worsened once Tirza was incapacitated, and sure enough, I immediately looked towards the white void that was in front of while the wind blew harder and harder against my face while the snowstorm intensified, and amidst all the chaos, a booming voice would resonate throughout the entire circle, its voice enraged and authoritative…it spoke of how there was a ‘soul’ that still wasn’t trapped in its ‘eternal prison’…I soon realized that this was the entity that the village people spoke of…so it was true after all.

The mysterious being suddenly called out to me in a fit of indignation after a brief moment of silence, the wind howling like wolves seeing red…upon sensing my presence, it soon demanded how I still survived, and before I could even say anything, it immediately dismissed his own words, with it barking on how it didn’t want to hear what I had to say.

With the entity blinded by its own wrath, it declared that I was about to have my end be marked here within this circle – however, in reality, I knew this had to be some kind of trial…perhaps it was a test to see if I was worthy of quelling the storm of the circle and to see if I possessed the willpower to brave the dangers of Novus.

That was what I believed, anyway, and having spent so much time together…this was something I had to face alone. This was my struggle, and I couldn’t afford to fail. I had to free the unfortunate people who have been caught in their icy hell for so long…and I was desperate to free Tirza, too…

I wasn’t going to let anything stop me, and this? This was no exception. I clutched my fists together as I braced myself for a long battle ahead of me.

It would seem that the figure sensed my open acceptance to face it and take it head on, because seconds later, the gruesome weather began to abate considerably by the tick of the clock – the hail and snow subsided, the whiteout effect was beginning to wane, and the winds had weakened down to a considerable breeze. I could now see that everything around me was a barren land of frost, and if it were just that…I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

But no.

It was a ground of frozen bodies, them stuck in unending screams and cries with their faces stuck in terrifying terror as they were frozen over. I didn’t know if they were still alive, I didn’t know how long they have been frozen…

It was at this moment where I felt the ground begin to quake as I saw a huge shadow loom forth from the cloud of condensate before me, and here, the culprit revealed itself to me – while nowhere near as appalling as the monster built on flesh and stomach acid back at the ruins in Flos, this one may be twice as huge…

It was this giant golem that was made up of nothing but ice – the thing had no head, for it did not need one with the purpose of maintaining the danger of the Auris Circle. Instead, its chest had this giant, glowing crystal that, in my thought process, powered this whole thing to make sure the storm kept going within the circle. Its arms and legs were extremely ragged, with them made out of sharpened icicles which meant that its hands were more like claws…which can be said for its feet as well. In fact, every inch of its body was sharp beyond belief due to how this thing was built…

As for its source of power, the ice crystal within the golem was protected by a sheet of ice that looked to be a shield of sorts…but a shield that light can’t take a lot of damage, which only made me believe that it can be quickly regenerated…this was going to be a problem.

While the flesh acid monster was dangerous because of its attacks which could basically dissolve you into muck in seconds, it was also stupid because of its lack of patience and clear abundance in blind aggression.

This, however, felt different.

This golem was like a zombie, constrained within its own circle of abilities…but considering how it was in a terrain that gave him a major advantage, the odds were stacked against me with the looming fight barely even starting yet.

Oddly enough, instead of instantly getting into battle in an attempt to kill each other, the golem would have a few words, with it bringing up my ‘rash’ boldness to fight it, and from here, it would ask me why have I come here.

Knowing that it was best to answer truthfully, I spoke about my goal to reach the edge of the world, and more importantly, I wanted to seek out some answers on the magic that I now possessed in my wake.

The golem, taking the time to listen to me, decided to turn this encounter into a test, as I had foreseen – if I were able to defeat it in battle, it would free all the frozen beings who were caught in the circle. If I were to lose, however, I were to join them eternally.

With my hands tied, and with my goal set, I accepted the wager.

The golem ‘stared’ at me silently with its nonexistent eyes, and before I knew it, it would take a step back before letting out a guttural roar, and the once-serene weather immediately grew hostile again as a veil of violent winds began to rapidly rotate around the golem, most likely as some kind of reflective makeshift shield against whatever I throw at it. Without even giving me a second to prepare myself, the beast charged at me, attempting to end this battle in a swift offense from the monster.

I, in a fit of panic, immediately threw my hands forward, my shield construct swiftly coming forth from my hands and out before me as the golem’s fist was caught, though upon seeing the shield c***k, I momentarily found myself completely overwhelmed by a sharp pain that coursed through my entire being, which was enough to make me crouch down in a moment of vulnerability while my shield faded away.

It would seem that the golem was momentarily stunned as well, as it took a few steps back upon noticing that its fist had caught fire and melted off in a matter of seconds, but this was of little consequence to him – as I slowly got back to my feet, I saw it regenerate its fist without barely any effort as the ice crystal in its chest shined brighter than usual.

I soon realized that no matter how hard I was going to attack and debilitate this golem, it was never going to be defeated unless I were to take this fight right to the source, and that was the driving force of its own power.

I squinted my eyes, attempting to gather as much focus as possible as I tried to brainstorm of a way to reach that ice crystal on time – I had to break the shield first to see just what could happen, and so, that was on my agenda first.

Both of us quickly shifted back into battle, and the golem was swift to respond by raising its arms up before smashing its fists down to the ground, creating a massive quake while a wave of razor-sharp icicles began to rocket towards me as it blazed through the icy ground – in an attempt to defend myself, I immediately raised the shield again, only this time, I smashed my shield against the ground as I forced myself against the icicles.

This, in turn, made the icicles shatter as they were deflected aside while I rammed through the icicles in an attempt to inch closer to the golem – realizing that its attack had been telegraphed, it would raise its arms back up before throwing its arms forward, firing a slew of hail at me in an attempt to hinder my progress.

With me being unable to protect myself from some of the projectiles that were aimed beyond my shield’s range, this meant that I was struck by a few hailstones myself, which was enough to make me lose my concentration as my shield swiftly dissipated while I was relatively injured from the hailstone assault – a few heavy cuts on my face and arms while a few bruises were incurred on my body. While my magic attempted to cover my cuts via the coagulating black goo, little could be done about my bruises.

Nevertheless, the golem sensed this as a moment of weakness from my end and immediately gave me no chance to regain my footing – it would quickly close in on me, hurling an icy, sharp fist right towards me in an attempt to finish me off on the spot, and upon seeing the monster rush at me, I forced myself back up as I found myself with almost no time to raise any form of defensive measures.

Amidst the heat of the moment, I just let my instinct run rampant just this once…

In retaliation, I too fired my fist right at the golem’s, and where I expected to be brutally impaled by the beast’s icy exterior, I found myself…colliding with the monster as my fist met the entity’s, much to its surprise.

My black hands had now turned into a bright magma red as steam began to come from them, and soon enough, I could see my collided fist slowly melt into the golem’s hand as the monster tried to force itself onto me in an attempt to overwhelm me upon learning about my dormant power – it would throw its other fist at me while I was still coming to terms with what I had just pulled off, and upon noticing its other arm coming right at me, I attempted to counter again, just to see if I was dreaming…

And there it was. It happened again.

Both of our fists met each other, and both of my hands were slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the golem’s arms – and just like that, while the ice beast was still attempting to process just what had happened, I immediately let go of his liquefied hands before throwing an energy-fueled punch right towards the crystal in its chest.

Hitting bullseye on the shield, the thing cracked wide open and was sent shattering into smithereens as a sudden blast of wind sent us both flying back in a flash, almost as if that was an extra-protective measure made by the crystal to ensure its bearer and its assailant are as far away from each other as possible.

However, my assumption that the shield would regenerate was wrong.

The crystal was now vulnerable…however, what I didn’t know was that I had now pulled out the golem’s restraints. The weather around me intensified even more, and suddenly, I found myself unable to move as the temperature dropped so much that my feet were frozen into the ground to render me immobilized – the monster fired a glare at me as the crystal grew brighter and brighter while I was being utterly bombarded by the rapid fire of hailstones that flew at and all around me…

Then it happened – I saw a huge beam of energy being fired from the crystal right towards me. I didn’t know what it was going to do if it reached me, but I knew that it may well spell out death…or possibly a freezing grave if I didn’t find a way to stop it.

Unable to move, and with me being buffeted by the storm that was on the verge of overcoming me in both body and spirit, I knew that this was my last stand to try and claim a last gasp victory out of this near-death moment. I clutched my hands together, my hands engulfed by a blazing red fire as I aimed my sights at the energy blast before clashing with it once it closed in on me, my hands meeting it as I pulled off a seemingly suicidal, risky move. I could feel my legs growing numb as they began to turn blue.

As I grew weaker, its offense intensified in an attempt to finish off the job – and then, something happened. My heart suddenly raced…faster than ever before. I felt my pupils dilate as everything around me grew silent…almost as if I had lost my hearing. The only thing I could hear were my breaths as my hands grew immensely shaky.

There, I could see the black on my hands beginning to extend itself, with the darkness consuming my entire forearms as the heat began to intensify as they began bursting out in massive waves – I felt this sudden surge of power overcome me as I gritted my teeth.

There, I yelled out a near-feral yell as I stepped forward, breaking myself free from my semi-locked state as I began to force the energy beam back while the blue on my legs began to retreat, most likely in reaction to the warmth that was starting to envelop my being. The black goo which covered my injuries began to evaporate off my skin, leaving my cuts, gashes and bruises exposed once more as I felt the biting cold reach them, bombarding me with near-unexplainable pain, as if my wounds were being deepened with a knife.

Still, despite all that, I was completely filled with an unexplainable rush, almost as if the power that I have held for a year had been unleashed after lying in wait for so long…I was completely overrun by this near-euphoric high. Was this the power that the deity had given me in the ruins? Surely not…?

I inched closer and closer to the monster as the beam’s length kept getting chipped away, and the wild look on my face soon began to contort into a wild grin, as if I knew the tides were turning in my favor. And just like that, I was up close and personal with the golem as I threw my arms to the side, canceling out the beam as it diffused into thin air, and as the fiend was caught in a stunned state, I quickly launched the deathblow.

I immediately pulled my arm back, mustering all the power I could possibly force out from my being…and let it all out.

I smashed my fist straight through the ice crystal within the golem as flashes of light began bursting out from the monster while the weather around me turned into a frenzied craze. It was almost as if we were trapped in a pillar of nightmarish howling winds and devastating snowstorms. The crystal began breaking apart, cracks appearing on its body while everything around us began to turn white, and in the blink of an eye, the crystal exploded, unleashing an intense shockwave of wind as I was sent flying off to the ground while I was temporarily blinded by the ensuing flash of white.

I was momentarily knocked out, and from that moment, I felt the high which previously overpowered me beginning to drastically wane, and that alone was enough to shock me back to consciousness, though I was left intensely weak due to my injuries. The abyss had remained as is, still consuming my forearms. I felt like this was a brooding omen, but I have to admit that this was the reason why my power was brought to new heights…now I was certain that I had to find answers involving just what was bestowed upon me…

My sight was slowly returning as white soon became into white with outlines, and soon, my snow blindness had managed to subside. I could see the once-frozen people now completely thawed out, with the people lost and confused on what had happened. Meanwhile, Tirza had been freed from her icy torment as well, with the dark elf rushing to me and pulling me back up to my feet – however, I just didn’t have the energy to stand up, and instead I just collapsed into a crouching position, wanting to regain whatever stamina I had after basically expending it all on the golem. I had grown immensely lethargic, and I was here, repeatedly gasping for as much air as I could possibly take in a desperate attempt to help me relax.

I slowly looked up at her, my bloodied face in plain view as I let out a rather weakened laugh, and soon enough, I just dropped myself down to the ground as I laid on the ice sheet, staring up into the now clear blue sky as I maintained that smile on my face.

I never thought I could make it happen, but I did.

That was…all on me.

I soon heard a voice resonate throughout the barren land – judging by how everyone suddenly went into a state of fear, I assumed I wasn’t the only one who could hear it. It was the voice of that golem. While it commended me for my efforts and for defeating it, the monster said that the crystal was incapable of ‘death’, and that it will return to create another new host to house itself in once it has reformed itself. As to when that may happen…I don’t know. I never had to know now that everything which occurred was at the back of my mind.

But now, the Auris Circle had now greatly mellowed in terms of its danger…the weather should be more natural this time…at least until the crystal returns and brings back the vicious hostility that this part of Novus is known for.

After managing to process that thought in my head, my explorer mindset suddenly returned in the blink of an eye as I immediately pulled my injured being back up to my feet, and it happened so quickly that I might have scared the absolute daylights out of my dark elf friend.

Either way, knowing that the Auris Circle would be much safer to traverse through now, I quickly exclaimed that we should move quickly while we could – God knows when that damn crystal will come back and mess everything up. As for the unfrozen, now free people who had been languishing in this place for an indeterminate amount of time, all of them collectively agreed to return to Hibernus Village, considering how some of them lived there. As for others who didn’t, they needed to rest their nerves a little before finding their way back to the actual homes.

With that out of the way, me and Tirza quickly left – may have been beaten and bloodied up all over, but my spirit was enough to keep me going, though of course, I still would have to get my injuries treated, which was what eventually happened when nightfall arrived on the same day I finished off the golem, when we set up camp.

Tirza took the efforts to bandage and disinfect my wounds, and I’m pretty sure my pained yells and screams could be heard all over the circle.

Things would finally progress normally from here on out, with us occasionally meeting a semi-dangerous storm or two as we tried to get ourselves out of the center of the circle, and finally, two months later, we were able to meet more…vanilla weather and atmosphere. We’ve reached the other end of the circle.

It would take us another month of relatively smooth trekking to get ourselves out of the Auris Circle. This experience…almost reminded me of the ruins back at Flos, honestly. But where I had assistance the first time, this was a trial I had to face alone. Unfortunately, I’m still nowhere near any answers involving what supernatural strength I possess. And now it seems that it has advanced to some degree…but what will this mean in the coming future?

Maybe I will find some semblance of a clue as I advance further and further in this voyage. Better yet, maybe I can find more answers in here itself.

Once we were out of that hellish circle, we were met with a familiar sight – the tundra, in all of its welcoming embrace. It was nice to see the orange grass again. We would continue our walk through the more relaxed biome for a few days before we arrived at our destination.

Novus’s capital.