In a large magical laboratory with a two-storey library set on top, a half-metre owl sat huddled over a book on a desk. Snake-like tendrils of shadows carefully held the pages, ready to turn them at a moment’s notice. If an outsider would come upon this scene, they would think the animal was reading the tome’s tiny letters, even though the writing changed shape every time one blinked. And that was exactly what was happening.

I was very interested in some more details on the dangers of this world’s magic. I had already invested a decent amount of Attribute Points into my magic Attributes and was heavily utilizing mana to improve my Skills’ effects. Just now, I had read how the deeper secrets of magic would make someone go crazy and could even have physical ramifications on their body or surroundings. The main reason I was not worried too much was not that I was convinced of being immune somehow. I remembered however the grand beings that had crossed my path until now. The lightning dragon and the eldritch eye beyond the portal. They had seemed very much reasonable. So I deduced there was a way to the deeper secrets that would not fry my brain or body.

I was a bit overconfident in myself, most likely, but I had no problems until now, besides getting knocked out from flux overcharge once. That had been unpleasant but did not leave any lasting harm. Understanding flux was the only thing I really needed from this tome and then I would go and look for some books on Skills, Classes and levelling in general. Surely there had to be something in this library.

Finally, I turned the page. The tome seemed to shift and before I knew it I was looking at something written in the latter half of it. I was confused for a moment until I read the title of the chapter.

Flux and its behaviour and influence on the world

The book had taken me right to the topic I wanted to read. I tried something else. I thought about how wands were made and turned the page again. Despite flipping the right page over I was now at an earlier part of the book.

Wandcrafting basics

Just what I had wanted to look at. Or close to. Maybe this reading was necessary to get into the uses of wands? I tried a few more things. Every time, the tome jumped to the topic I wanted to read about.

Nodes and their peculiarities – an introduction

Basic alchemical tools

How to make a minion – golem crafting for beginners

Eldritch beings and why you should keep your distance

That last one worried me a bit, but after skimming the text for a moment, I realized the author simply said: I know nothing about them but they are dangerous. I also tried to read up on other things, like cooking or languages of the world. It seemed, however, the tome only had knowledge on magic and even then not everything. There was nothing about Skills or the system or even natural abilities of monsters. Maybe those were simply not part of thaumaturgy and thus the tome did not accept any information on them. It was a good reason for having a library in addition to this book.

I decided to go back to the entry about flux. This was the most important for me right now. Maybe I would read up on nodes after that if I had the time.

The chapter started with a basic explanation of what flux was. I was reminded very quickly why I had loved reading in my previous life. So much knowledge was accessible so readily and, most of the time, easy to understand.

Flux is the waste product of magic. Wherever vis is present in the world in a natural manner, flux will form as well.

Vis? The book turned its pages, this time without any prodding from my side.

Vis and where it comes from

A quick skim made me realize it was just a scientific term for mana. Whatever. Most likely the thaumaturges just did not want common folk to understand their discussions…

I returned to the entry on flux. Or rather, the book did, as soon as I was done reading about vis. Mana. Magical star power! It did not really matter what I called it.

… flux will form as well. This means you can find heightened levels of flux nearby any natural and uncontrolled node as well as powerful magical beasts. Why beasts seem to ignore the normally devastating effects of flux on nature is a sparsely researched topic. It seems they have a far higher tolerance, potentially based on vis enrichment. How their bodies did not break apart during the process of enrichment however is a complete unknown. The process at least is believed to be similar to sapients. Contact with vis crystals formed near a node allows for absorption of mana into one’s soul.

This inherently comes with the excretion of flux. While drawing in vis, lifeforms absorb some of it into their bodies. When full, the absorption does not stop and instead creates flux. It is the oversaturation of vis.

Okay, this was some good information. I had a clear idea now what was happening when I absorbed mana from crystals or nodes. Mana went into my body to enrich it and any excess turned into flux. The parts reaching my soul enriched that instead, I was guessing? Maybe that was something only animals had. But I was sapient. I only had a different body from most usual sapients. There was a lot of guesswork in this.

The effects of flux depend on its concentration. In a living being, a certain threshold being crossed can lead to being knocked out, followed by weakness and headaches. If it goes even higher, death is quickly imminent.

Dodged a bullet there, huh?

In nature, flux has little effect until a breakpoint is reached. This breakpoint creates physical, primarily gaseous and liquid, manifestations of it. When near a node, excess flux can lead to tainting it and any vis coming out in turn warping the nearby physical realm to become a twisted and broken abomination of what it should be. Animals, plants and even stone and air nearby take on dark purple and violet colours and corrupt or consume any ‘normal’ reality nearby. For reference, see the chapter on taint. You may have to find a tainted object to read it.

Wow. Really dodged a bullet. What if my experiments had corrupted the monkey cave and then turned me into a purple monstrosity hunting down the goblins? I was really glad to have avoided that kind of fate. At least I now knew what to look out for when dealing with flux. I only needed to figure out how to get rid of it, when it accumulated. Which the next paragraph more or less helpfully lined out.

To get rid of flux one has to simply wait. Different from taint, which needs to be cut out or it will spread by itself, flux does not procreate in any way. There is however no way to accelerate its removal that I know of. It simply dissipates, most likely slipping beyond the veil to be turned back into magic within the primal soup of energy. As such, be careful not to use too much magic in one spot within a certain timeframe. It may yet rid you of any advancements you desire to make.

So. Just wait, huh? And not use too much magic at one spot? There was also something about nodes producing flux so staying away from those would let it fall off faster. This aligned nicely with my observations. Still, there had to be a way to get rid of it faster. I hoped there was a Skill these scientists did not know about since they were too scared to experiment with something potentially lethal. That also meant I had to be careful. I did not want to kill myself on accident after all.

This was really helpful. Now I needed to read some more about nodes. They were the major source of my growth besides levels and apparently very dangerous if handled incorrectly. Although, I had handled the ones I came upon in an apparently dangerous manner. I flipped to the entry on nodes. This book was really fun to use. I wanted one for myself.

Nodes and their peculiarities – an introduction

Was there more than just an introduction here? I tried and found the tome not responding. In fact, every page I turned led me back to the chapter I had just opened. The book really wanted me to read this, huh?

Nodes are gaps in reality. Places where the veil between what is and what is not has been breached, or in some cases deliberately lifted. They come in a plenitude of sizes and forms with all kinds of aspects flowing through them.

Yup. Someone was a bit insane. Was this the effect of warp? Or was he just a nutjob to begin with? Admittedly, I had seen a portal to beyond somewhere and a being behind it. This however sounded like rambling and fantasizing more than experience.

The size of a node can vary from a tiny opening not larger than an eyeball up to potentially limitless. I have not found a theoretical upper limit at least. The lower limit is based on a certain amount of vis being necessary to keep the breach from collapsing. Such collapses can occur if a node is drained too heavily so be careful in utilizing them.

Ah, yes. Collapsing node. Been there, done that. So, just not drain it fully and then what? Would it recharge?

A node drained of some vis will slowly recharge. This is assumed to be due to the remainder of the vis being able to hold the size of the breach.

Ah, just read, got it!

The form, or as some say type, of a node has ramifications on its influence on the real world around it and how vis flows through it. Most common deviations from ‘normal’ nodes are bright, which recharge their vis faster, and their opposite, pale. Sinister nodes come with a corruption of the nearby land creating undead or twisted monsters while tainted nodes distort reality and form tainted land. Always! Always! Destroy a tainted node, if you find one!

Well, lucky I guess? I had not run into dangerous nodes yet and I was glad about it. Now, could I destroy a node without draining it? Because that would make it far safer for me to get rid of these evil-sounding ones.

Other nodes have been heard of, rumours of hungry nodes, eating the world around and pulling it beyond the most common. Some have told of effects other than just forming crystals, but I personally believe those to be simple side effects of their aspects.

Hmm. Not really anything interesting. I needed to be careful when approaching weird places, but other than that, this was of little consequence. There was one last bit to go through.

One more separation needs to be made. After observation of wildlife, I have come to the conclusion that nodes of a certain size are necessary to reach a corresponding level of vis enrichment. Minor nodes are far easier to drain from without getting oneself hurt and thus we find many beasts with minor vis enrichment. The node I have left in your care is one of major size. Using the stabilizer you will be able to progress your enrichment safely, should you so desire. This will slow down anything else using its power, obviously. I have myself focused on crafting until reaching my later years. Thus I was only able to reach medium enrichment. If you are just as talented, two decades should be enough to reach major enrichment and extend your lifespan by about double. Medium has only increased my time by a year or two at best. I do not know what comes after. I have compiled a comprehensive guide on safe vis absorption for you. It may help you conquer the first hurdles.

So, it took him years to reach medium? Risk was truly worth it. At least for me. And doubling my lifespan would get me to live as long as a human, right? Well, in the wild 20 years would be my expected lifespan on earth, but in captivity 60 was completely possible. If that was doubled… All the secrets and sights I could see. I was really looking forward to it. For now, though, there was a major node in this very room. I could totally reach for an upgrade.