A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Despite how curious Eldrian was about the process of evolution, he had let Vrisky use his laboratory alone. Evolution was simply too dangerous to not take precautions. The same could be said for Creation. Hence he had invested nearly everything he had into making his. 

'I was really shocked when I learned I could make mana crystals with Creation...' That discovery was what had allowed Eldrian to gain enough mana for a magic Crystal.

By using his mana excess to make 'batteries', he was able to gather the required minimum amount in the past few weeks. It was a bit more complicated, and he couldn't make an optimal amount to use all his mana—normally he could only manage three crystals a day. But it was still better than nothing. 

The tricky part was turning the small crystals into larger ones. After all, he couldn't rely on the small ones when he needed millions of MP. And since his lab was cut off from outside influences, he had to supply all the mana on the spot. Which made it far, far, far more difficult. 

Yes, his laboratory was cut off from the outside world (almost completely).

Eldrian had used the system's build functions to their limits. He threw all his spare cash (which the tournament had helped with massively) and even half the mana crystals he had made into it. Allowing a truly (somewhat) safe place for him to experiment. 

Still, he had needed to run a few dungeons to fuel his final goals. Luckily, his guild was more than happy to join him when he asked. And doing dungeons on cooldown was a great way to amass wealth. 

Now, thanks to that investment, his lab was safe from anything of the normal magic ethos. That is to say, magic depended on mana and mana alone. Anything involving lifeforce could still cause havoc, hence the 'somewhat' clause Eldrian had to add when describing his lab to anyone else. Not that he had, yet. He had been too busy preparing it. And then stuck using it once it was completed. 

'And because of the security, I can't observe what's going on inside.' On the plus side, not even Tier 10 spells would destroy it. Though spells of that level would cause damage. 

'But only for now. The next step is to add a Magic Crystal to the lab, then I need to figure out how to use voidstones. Making a separate space for the truly dangerous tests would be ideal. It will also help me understand spacetime. Nothing better than practice to truly 'get' how something works.'

For now, that was still too much and way too soon. Eldrian's grasp of physics wasn't such that he could understand the warping of spacetime even when he was the source.

Sure the concept he could somewhat fathom, but understanding what was happening and manipulating it safely... would require many more lectures. 

But it didn't feel like it would always remain out of reach. Which Eldrian often felt was the absurd part. He never saw himself as a genius, but somehow he was keeping up.

The laws of the universe were strange—very much so. But they weren't unintelligent. 

The truly difficult part was taking the complicated mess of reality and categorizing it into absorbable chunks. Without losing the interconnectivity between everything. 

That last part was what made it nearly impossible. But not completely so. Just exponentially more difficult. And luckily for Eldrian, Ziraili was doing that for him.

He just had to keep up with what she considered 'digestible' chunks. 

"Hey Eldrian!" Someone shouted, pulling the mulling high elf from his mullings and back to actual reality. 

"What's up Nikki? Rare to see you here."

"Yeah, things have calmed down. Especially since we decided against taking any offensive quests."

'Understandable,' Eldrian thought. After all, the guild had plenty of things they had to do already. What with managing two forts (three if Fort Phoenix was included). 

"I was wondering what you were up to. You haven't left this place ever since Judith managed to... you know."

"Oh, yeah. I guess." Eldrian replied, rather lackluster. Ever since then, his friends had also stopped pestering him so much about proper rest. The sense of crisis was spreading.

Deciding to avoid answering further, Eldrian looked towards the sky. Trying to connect with his familiar. 

'Where are you, Little P?' Eldrian sent the question out into the sky and got a response. Sort of. He felt a presence to the south, close to the border. Where the drylands began. 'What's he doing so far from the fort?'

Curious, but not enough to leave, Eldrian looked to see if anyone could run a quick errand for him. Sadly, not anyone would do. While the area immediately around the fort was safe, further away the case was not the same. 

The undead were still present, and various other monsters were also on the prowl. After all, the area was considered no man's land between the undead and Taurus. 

Little P often did hunting. So the numbers were less than they could have been. In fact, Eldrian was wondering if he would need to drop the 'Little' soon.

Sure, his familiar could shapeshift (its size, at least). So it could always be small enough to fit on someone's shoulder. But its actual size was a little taller than Eldrian at the moment.

Thanks to the tons of crystals it was getting from Levana and Jade—and the extra lifeforce injections thanks to Eldrian being more present—it had gone through a growth spurt. 

'Mmm, what level is Little P at now?' If Eldrian had to place a bet, he would say that his familiar was on part with Tier 7 Ancient beasts. Which was shocking, honestly. It meant Little P was stronger than its master. 

'Wonder if that really is the case...' Eldrian pondered, curious on the evolutions his familiar might undergo in the future. He was looking forward to them. 

"...Sooo?" Nikki asked. 

"...Mmm? Oh, I'm waiting for Vrisky to make a breakthrough."

"The wolf pup you had at your estate?" Nikki asked. 

"Yeah. He wanted a Magic Crystal, so—"

"Of course..." She seemed exasperated, which Eldrian could understand. Magic Crystals weren't candy... Were they?

'Do monsters and magical creatures consider them treats? No, no. Ceph would've asked for one if that was the case. Or is Ceph... different?'

"I'm afraid to even ask. But how did you get your hands on another one?"

"I made it."

Silence. Well, for at least three seconds. "...You never change, do you?"

Shrugging, Eldrian asked what she really was here for. 

"The next tourney is around the corner."

"Yeah, I know. It will be fully virtual. What's our current ranking?"

"Forty-nine."

"Mmm, not bad." Eldrian considered being below the top 50 a massive win for the guild. 

"Maybe, but it isn't great either." Nikki countered. The guild couldn't help but feel some shame for not ranking in the top ten. After all, they were the champions. Yet they couldn't even break into single digits. 

This just went to show how fierce the fighting was. Millions were being thrown into ANW. So much so that some people even feared an economic collapse. 

Luckily, Miracle didn't hoard their new source of income. Though whether them buying properties around the world could be considered a good thing... Eldrian's stance was a firm no. 

"You want me to join a few matches?" Eldrian asked. 

"Nah, we'll place. But we'll need you for the actual tourney."

"Sure. I actually want to see if I can bring a familiar and contracted beast." Eldrian replied. Sadly, he didn't think Ceph would be able to join. Their bond was something outside of the norm. Not considered taming. Hence it didn't qualify according to the new rules. 

But there was some noise about allowing NPCs in the future. Once a few guilds have reached level 7. 

The bond, or rather contract, Eldrian had made with Vrisky—in return for the Magic Crystal—was a more standard taming contract. And boy did that cost him—or the guild, rather. 

Instead of taking a Tier 8 weapon, they had asked for a contract for taming Mythical beats. After all, the darn things could only be found in the Empires and at astronomical costs. Eldrian guestimated it would have cost him another Magic Crystal. So rare and expensive were the contracts. And only if you had the connections, too.