A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Eldrian's options were expanding, though he was unsure which would actually produce the desired outcome. 'Whatever I do, I can't lose control.'

While the guild needed funds to continue their expansion plans, it would not be worth it to gain those funds at the cost of their public image.

They needed to build trust with the other players. And for that, Eldrian had to find a solution that wouldn't just work. It had to resonate with players. 

'Thus, using my auras is a no-go.' Eldrian confirmed. There was, of course, the risk of doing real harm to other players. But outside of that, getting access to an aura was far too rare an event. 

Eldrian had not met a single player who had achieved such. Not to say there weren't others.

Hidden classes were, 'apparently', the key to them. But Eldrian felt that it was the reverse. A hidden class would be created to accommodate someone with an aura. But would not, itself, give a player access to an aura. 

For that reason, someone having an aura was far more rare than someone having a hidden class. Hidden classes were something players could aim for, but auras... not so much. 

The same held true for his bloodline. It wasn't something he had been born with—his soul had been altered through several events. And that was not something players could achieve, even if they were willing to face the risks associated with doing so. 

"Then, what are my options?" Eldrian muttered to himself. A question that got the audience pumped. They were waiting for some grand display of magic that defied common sense. 

As bad as the situation was, Eldrian had contacted the others and realized he had time. Time enough to calm down and think. He didn't need to rush. He didn't need to take risks. He could analyze, learn, and adapt. 

—

"Certainly quite the predicament he has found himself in." The female commentator said, her voice as energetic as usual. 

"Indeed. And you have to give credit for Nihon's coordination. Not only did they manage to create this trap, they led Eldrian right into it."

"He probably never even realized he was being led to a trap."

"Would you have been able to think that far ahead? Fighting for your life? Watching your guildmates fall one after the other?"

"He should have just fought with them!"

"But what if they had a trap waiting for him?"

"Then face it head-on! I mean, he still got himself trapped in the end. At least then, he would have been standing with his friends."

"Very true. Surprisingly, Phoenix is still in the lead at the moment." Oier said, changing the subject. 

"Exactly. If he had stood with his friends, they could have killed far more of Japan's players. Perhaps then victory would be assured."

"I doubt it. The siege will eventually show results. Phoenix won't be able to hold out until the end of the match."

"But what if they scattered? Run and hide, flee. It would have its own appeal, don'tcha think?"

"Mmm, I don't know if our viewers would have liked such an outcome."

And so the commenters continued to comment. Keeping the audience as entertained as they could while there was a lull in the action.

—

"Right, I've sorted out my thoughts," Eldrian mumbled. "This trap works by detecting mana which interferes with space. In particular, the space-barrier. Which is actually a form of ether manipulation..."

At least, the barrier Eldrian always used was an advanced adaptation of ether. The closest form mana could take to space. There was no actual element for space or time. Not in regards to mana. 

Of course, a dense enough collection of mana warps space—which consequently also warps time, though only as an aftereffect. 

In any case, this warping of space normally happens with insane amounts of mana. Mov crystals with over 200k MP clustered into the size of an object smaller than a person's hand. At that mana quantity, the size of a finger. 

Teleportation, naturally, does not require such insane amounts of mana. And that is because of all the tricks that scholars have found. Tricks which Eldrian had happily made use of—without bothering to figure out their true meaning. 

The math was hard, the science was hard, everything was oh so terribly difficult. 

Instead, Eldrian had found loopholes. He used teleportation devices to figure out the feel of teleportation. He memorized the spell modules, and he trail-and-errored it. 

He was lucky it had only cost him a few limbs, and never a life. Albeit that life would only have cost him some levels. Still, he was lucky. 

But this was no longer the case. Ziraili had become his mentor, his teacher. And she wasn't about to let him ignore the hard parts. Not when he wanted to use his powers to alter the flow of time.

To face off against the gods. Against GAIA Themselves. 

No, he had to learn the math. He had to understand the science. And he had to make the knowledge of how things exist, his own.

Memorization was not enough. Sadly, Eldrian wasn't even completely on the step of memorization. Not to mention understanding, or making the knowledge his own. 

Still, he knew enough to dive deeper than he had before. To look, not at how the formation trapping him works, but how it works in conjunction with the world around it. 

"Everything exists on its own, and with the rest of reality." A bizarre statement, one that Eldrian still didn't understand. But he was getting there. 

You see, this trap had a barrier sealing it from the outside. This barrier even kept sound and, in fact, air, from moving between the inside and outside of the formation. Yet, it let mana through. 

Mana was something so, oh-so, strange. Time and time again, Eldrian found this to be true. Even when using the power of Tranquility at full blast, mana was not affected. 

That wasn't to say it stayed the same state as before. As Eldrian turned his surroundings to ice, the mana in his surroundings adapted to the environment. In that sense, it was effected. 

However, even at absolute zero (or as close as physically possible to that state), mana remained unaffected itself. It still floated through everything. The air, the ice, the ground, even Eldrian, and anything else in the vicinity. 

Mana was, by its very nature, immaterial. 

It was not captured by gravity. It did not react with light. 

It was an element of matter and non-matter. Invisible to the world. Invisible to reality. 

Until something living, something with a will, with Mageia, with lifeforce. Until something like that touches it. Then, mana turns from a free-floating, invisible, immaterial thing, to something else. Almost anything else.

'This circle will detect if I try to form a barrier to prepare for teleportation. And teleporting without a barrier will see me reduced to atoms.' Not an option, obviously. 

'But mana is still flowing through here. And it can't stop me from sending my will outside, which is just as free moving as mana.'

This, the ghosts could not detect. They would only notice him doing something once he started taking control of mana. 

'So, they can react. But only so fast. My spells are normally instant. But I still need to focus on making them, aim them, and control them. They can react in the time my spells need to travel. But what if...'

Eldrian withdrew his Mageia and refocused it into seven strings. Thin as can be. Which he sent towards the ghosts.

'Since this is most likely a power given by a hidden class. One likely obtainable from a quest of some kind. What would happen if I tried and steal their mana instead?'