Codex of Meriath

No-Space

No-Space. Something that has been part of our Realm since ancient times. Maybe since its formation, since the origin of life, from the start of time. We don't know when it came to be or if it was always there, predating even our Realm's formation... or if it always was something like what it is now. What we know is what it is now: an infinite space of wild energy that can not be assimilated by any organism, and its effects on souls and living things are absolute. 

Many mages studied it, even before the Dark Ages, and their knowledge is something that was passed down through the different eras, one of the few relics we could hold onto. Our master artificers have the knowledge and skill to send their minds and mana into No-Space, powered by their souls, and carve out differently-sized territories from it, bringing us the gift of spatial artifacts capable of holding and storing many, many things for us yet only taking up the space of a pouch.

In this chapter of my codex, Dear Reader, I collected some properties and usage examples of No-Space, after conversing with and interviewing many masters, including the Headmaster of the Institute of Eight Elements. I am no expert and never had the affinity to interact with No-Space or, like some highly capable mages, travel into it and live to tell the tale. If you have the affinity to look into it deeper than most, explore the mysteries of this wild region of our Realm, then search for a true master before attempting to do so.¹Death in No-Space will make you return as our worst enemy.

Properties of No-Space

No-Space got its name from the simple fact that it forgoes all rules of our Realm. Most theories say that No-Space exists not around us but with and within us. It is something that occupies the same space as us; only we can't interact with it normally. It exists on a higher dimension than our Reality. We can connect to it via magic.²It is theorized that it was first discovered via spells going berserk, ripping our fabric of Reality apart, and bridging Real Space to No-Space. 

It is something unlike anything else on Meriath. It has no solid ground nor breathable air. It has nothing from our Realm as it is made of pure energy.³A type of energy that we can't interact with, but it can interact with us. That is what makes it so fascinating yet so deadly. Whenever a window opens, the red, orange, and violet-colored clouds we can see inside No-Space are exactly this energy. The violent winds that many who traveled through it describe are not made out of the air, but they are the results of ripples in space itself, generated by the vast amount of uncontrollable energy whirling inside of it.

As I mentioned earlier, its effects are only dangerous to living beings. It has the marvelous yet horrifying property of latching onto the soul and pulling it out from the body. Nobody knows how this is possible or if this was always the case, but this is why it is forbidden and punishable by death if someone puts a living being into his or her holding bag. Whatever being is thrust into No-Space, its fate is the same; The soul is ripped out, and the body is left floating there empty.⁴All known instances resulted in their return later on as Undead.

As no living beings are capable of withstanding it forever, it is the home of the Undead. These soulless monsters infest the deepest part of No-Space. Many records point to the fact that when Intelligent Variants retreat, they open up a door into No-Space, fleeing into its depths to return later on.

This soul-stripping effect is nonexistent in anything else. This is what made it the perfect place to hold and store items.⁵As how holding bags are made is something that is only for the eyes of artificers, and as I am not one, I can't divulge its secrets, Dear Readers.

There is another weird but very much real quirk that is unique to No-Space: Time dilation. Time flows differently in No-space than in our Realm. Brave and strong mages who could traverse it described spending minutes in No-Space, yet when reappearing, only a few seconds have passed in our world.⁶We still do not really understand how the passing of time changes inside, as there were different measurements recorded every time some masters tried to study it. The consensus is that the flow of time is just as unpredictable inside as anything else.

Using spells in No-Space is something that is ill-advised by all masters. The moment mana leaves the body of the mage, it gets absorbed into the energy of No-Space. This inadvertently creates a connection between the host and the violent soup of unknown energy inside No-Space. It amplifies the soul-sucking properties that latch onto the mage's body. This connection can not be broken after established, and the mage experiences his or her mana being drawn out and consumed even if no spells are being used.⁷This limits the mage's available time in No-Space. If he or she runs out of mana before reentering Real Space, it is a guarantee of disaster and death of the mage. Spells can't travel freely or far enough in No-Space. The violent nature of No-Space interferes with spells on a fundamental level. Any spell that leaves the mage's proximity usually ranging from five to ten meters, gets dissolved and absorbed into No-Space. Long-range spells are impossible to cast inside, and anybody who is daring enough to get into a fight in No-Space can only rely on close-quarter spells.⁸It is known that in the Realm of Three Ri, this rule can be overridden, but the distance seems to be still limited to only a few hundred meters before the spell's power diminishes to a level that is easily deflectable.

Specific usages of No-Space

• Holding bags
  • This is the most common usage of No-Space. Master artificers are capable of carving out their own section. Its size depends on the artificer's skill, but it becomes a space that is connected to a fixed point in our Reality. From that point, mages can transfer objects in and out of that marked space with the help of the artifact and their mana.⁹If a holding bag gets destroyed, its contents are not gone for real, but they are lost. What is being destroyed is the anchor point that connects Real Space and No-Space. Without it, one can not access it anymore and retrieve the items stored there.
• Soul shielding
  • It is an umbrella term for all the spells that a mage can learn, which will keep his or her soul in the body while traversing No-Space.¹⁰They are always unique to the individual.
• Teleportation spells
  • These are unique, mage-specific spells. Every mage who learns how to protect their mind and soul when entering No-Space describes it differently. What is common is that they can open up entrances into No-Space and create the same door inside, leading them back to Reality.¹¹These spells and their basics, the principles that they are based on, are not available to the public and are only taught by a master to his or her disciple. 
• Sub-Realms
  • We are sure that these ancient worlds, dungeons as we call them today, were made by ancient mages from a bygone era. Masters today are capable of creating similar places but at a much, much smaller scale.¹²Making something that is stable enough so people can enter it and retain their souls is a feat that requires the strength of at least a 6th Tier mage. The recounts say it is still not a place where one would be willing to stay for a prolonged time. Even without the soul being ripped out from the body, people describe uncomfortable feelings and thoughts and the instinctual urge to leave, getting stronger and stronger by every hour.¹³In the old days, the true masters were capable of creating huge, city-sized sub-realms where, by the clues we gathered, life could thrive, creating its own ecosystems without this known side-effect. We don't know what happened, but many say the Undead chased us out from these Sub-Realms, occupying them for themselves.

This Codex excerpt was written by Authorya Cortyn, your humble historian.

Corty

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