A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Oier didn't even need to expand on his last statement. The footage was proof enough. 

In it, magic was split into two states. Mana and Mageia. Most players gathered mana within themselves, slowly moving it to the outside world, keeping it in shape with their Mageia, and then activating their spells. 

Conversely, Eldrian sent out his Mageia without mana. He used them like feelers, seeking out his surroundings. And, when the time came, he used those distant tendrils of Mageia to gather mana from his surroundings and form his spells. 

This last step took longer. Naturally so. The density of mana in the environment was limited. But with his control, he could expand his zone of control to call in more mana. Lessening the time requirement at the cost of some more focus. But it still took longer to cast this way than normal casting. 

And while it was a completely different method of casting, it was not an unknown one. 

Most players were still struggling to master controlling their own mana. Taking command of the mana in their surroundings was completely beyond them. 

But some NPCs were capable at 'distant', or 'remote', casting. That Eldrian had already mastered this seemed truly logical in hindsight. 

"Nihon, sadly, forgot to take into account that Eldrian could attack them from outside while still inside their trap," Oier said, quickly backtracking his initial statement. 

"Saying they forgot might be a little harsh. I assume they believed that he wouldn't be able to cast without triggering the functions embedded in their formation."

"But since they didn't craft it as an anti-magic barrier, Eldrian managed to slip his attacks past the trap. Heck, he would probably have been able to do this against any standard anti-magic formation."

From there, Oier continued to speculate while the production team showed footage of the battle. After some time, the other host joined the conversation and some questions from viewers were also brought into the conversation. 

This continued until the two teams could be brought to the arena. Where a post-tourney discussion was to be held before the rewarding of the medals and all that. 

Of course, it started with the teams commending their opponents. Stating where they could have done better, and what they planned to do to secure their victory in the next tournament. 

"Ah, yes. It isn't that we didn't account for it." Nihon's guild master said when asked about their trap failing. "But we speculated that Eldrian would be able to gain access to the formation's 'code' if we tried to block all magic."

"We all saw him 'hack' formation barriers before. We aren't sure how he does it, but we thought if we limited our formation's functions, his methods of accessing the formation's code would be limited."

"With teleportation being as difficult a branch of magic as it is, we believed it impossible for Eldrian to cast it while also corrupting our formation."

"That he attacked with a remote spell tells us our assumption was correct. Sadly, we had underestimated how powerful his remote attacks would be..."

It was clear the guild master greatly regretted not having set up some sort of protection for the crystals feeding the formation. But that was easier said than done. Its complexity had already been at the limit of their player's abilities to construct in unideal circumstances such as a forest. 

Especially since the number of crafting players were limited. The tournament was a battle. Having too many players specialised in support would be detrimental to their chances of victory. 

"Eldrian, would you care to explain what exactly you did? We are all quite confused and would like to understand what happened in those last few seconds."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say," Eldrian replied. "I knew their formation was too strong to be broken from the inside. And with the ghosts of the seven players watching, I couldn't try destroying the formation from the inside."

"Thus I decided to take them out first. Knowing that if I tried to cast a normal remote spell, they would simply cancel my spells out and heighten their guard, I took my time."

"Is that why you didn't do anything for nearly an hour?"

"Indeed. I needed time to construct my attack. Had they decided to kill me while trapped, I wouldn't have been able to take my time."

"But if they attacked, you might have been able to kill them regardless."

"Yes, indeed. We were both placed in difficult positions." Eldrian said, but few believed him. "Regardless, I spent my time to formulate my attacks."

"Yes, and would you explain to our audience what you did?"

Hearing the question, Eldrian gave Oier a look that begged the question "Are you stupid?".

"I'd rather not. But I won't mind giving a little more information."

Asking for the footage with Mageia to be called up, Eldrian had them show the precise moment he sent out his 'attacks'. 

"Quite simply, I formulated my attacks beforehand, sending seven out at the same instance."

Refusing to explain further, the interview slowly moved on. Speculation on what Eldrian meant by running wild. 

Finally, with some of the confusion dispelled and viewers a little more satisfied—though still very much without concrete answers—the rewards were given out. 

Once this was done, Eldrian and his friends hoped to leave as soon as possible. However, they were 'cordially' invited to have a talk with the developers of ANW. 

A public streaming, along with the winners of the other categories. Where they could ask some questions directly to those responsible for ANW's creation and development. 

Miracle's promise to answer any question that came up made many players mad with jealousy. Many tried to reach out to those who had this honor. 

Eldrian had no interest, but he had been 'cordially' invited. Along with Elizabeth and Nikki. 

'Ugh, guess I am 'technically' a vice-guildmaster.' Begrudgingly, Eldrian attended the meeting—with quite a few familiar faces.

It was rather hard to keep his thoughts to himself. So he sat silently as the others talked. Bringing up suggestions to improve gameplay, asking questions on magic and some system functions, and—of course—asking about the development of the game. 

It felt like a farce until Joren gave quite the shocking answer to one of their questions. 

"Yes, we've made great progress in our research. We've confirmed the existence of mana. Well, this you already know. You also know that we've started trying to increase the amount of mana on Earth."

"But we are truly happy to announce that we've succeeded in casting magic!"

Like a bomb (the second of the day) had gone off, all discussions ended and silence ruled. Followed closely by pure chaos as everyone rushed to ask if that was true. 

And to dispel any disbelief, Constantin came to the front. Held out his hand, and summoned a small flame. 

It wasn't much. A simple flame, Tier 0 magic. And as basic as it comes. 

But it was magic. 

Of course, those who weren't there dismissed it as a hologram. But then the players who had been invited were each allowed to test the flame for themselves.

Eldrian went last, and as he walked towards Constantin, he felt a pit in his stomach. Miracle was moving faster than he had expected. 

Reaching out his hand toward the flame, Eldrian forcefully created a telepathic connection with Constantin. 

'What's going on? Why is the company revealing magic to the public?' Eldrian asked. 

There had to be reason. The tournament was enough publicity. Which meant this was to prepare the public. But for what?

'Is it already time?' Eldrian thought, his mood plummeting.