A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

"S-surely we can't assume that things will develop as they do in ANW," Qiren said, trying to find some hope.

"I-I'm s-sure the size of Gaia is what makes the storms in ANW so massive. If something is to happen on Earth, it would be logical to assume it is scaled to our planet's size."

"Logical, perhaps. But this is magic we are talking about." Julius countered. "If we knew all the variables that can influence our future, then we could speculate. But we don't."

He let that sink in. Countering their hopes with harsh facts everyone tried to find a loophole to give themselves some hope. Only once everyone realized that any assumptions made couldn't hold up. Only then did he go back to the original topic. "This is all assuming there isn't any outside influence. Like the AI manipulates the storms in ANW, there might be something similar happening here."

He had started off the meeting by saying the world was collapsing. Something they had convinced themselves was a figure of speech. Something said to get them to understand the gravity of their situation. Not the actual reality. "Saying the world is collapsing was a tad inaccurate." He admitted, but that didn't settle the storms in their hearts. Contrary, it made it brew all the greater. "But there was something that kept magic from developing on our planet. I couldn't analyze it. I 'think' it is the core of our world. At least the magical core of the planet."

"I can't say with certainty. I only know that it contains an insane amount of mana. And it is leaking."

Julius had simply stumbled upon one of these leaks. And then went to investigate without any concern for his own safety. Whether his backups would have saved him, no one could say. But they had given him the courage to dive into the unknown. And report back what he had found. "I have no proof. But I think this 'core' prevented mana from being collected on Earth. And is thus why our planet is so mana dry."

"And since we have mythos of magic once existing on the planet—on a wider scale than just a few bloodlines," Zaphreal said, taking over. "We believe something happened. Something that changed how our world functioned."

"Don't forget to mention the fact that these 'powers' our families have have been growing in power."

"I was getting to it," Zaphreal said. Explaining that as few as four or six generations ago, their powers were far less effective. Currently, Zaphreal could call upon lighting. Certainly an amazingly powerful ability. But he could only summon a handful at a time and was limited to a few dozen a day.

In ANW his power was far more pronounced. There he could call upon hundreds at any given moment. Of course, if he was to be pushed to his limits, he might produce shocking results. But few people willingly sought such risks for personal interests. Regardless, he was one of the more powerful individuals within Miracle.

Of course, power shouldn't mean much in the current modern era. But it still held some sway. Even if he wasn't the strongest, he was strong enough to pose a risk to anyone he chose to fight. And that risk was what kept everyone from ignoring him. It gave weight to his voice in their meetings. And, normally, it had allowed him to give direction to the company. Until recently, that is. Patience had run dry, and people had decided to go behind his back. As if to test how far he would go to stop them. And he had done nothing. Doing something would have been even worse than doing nothing. "Hey, it's not your fault. Their idiots. You can't control idiots." Julius said, frustration clear in his voice. "Besides, killing isn't the right solution here." Joren offered.

He did think it might have prevented things from entering the slippery slope they were now on. But there would have been someone after who would try the same thing. It would be impossible to keep an eye on everyone. And if they did something in complete secret, then their group wouldn't even be able to plan for the dangers the 'idiot's' meddling would cause. At least with how things are now, they were getting some (not all) information. And some information was better than none. "I agree." Constantin opined. "I would rather avoid a war with what most common people would consider superhumans."

"This is completely off-topic," Julius said, probably trying to lift the mood in the room. "But how strong do you think Eldrian is? Do you think you can beat him, Zapreal?"

"Honestly? I doubt it. Not without using the element of surprise."

"Really?"

"I truly don't think I would be able to win. We fought a year ago in ANW, and I was able to push him to his limits back then. But he had found a way to kill me while surviving himself. Despite his lack of training and control over his auras."

Zaphreal continued. "I can't think the results would differ much if we fought today. In fact, I believe it would be much easier for him to win."

Simply the ability to use mana, and thus use all branches of magic, made Eldrian an incredibly tough adversary. Zaphreal also had a strong belief that Eldrian could teleport IRL, on Earth. Which was a cheat card no one else could wield. And then there was his auras—and his other power. A power that allowed him to alter the flow of time. Albeit not stably. But if he truly wanted, Eldrian could use its instability to destroy their surroundings while teleporting away. He had used that exact method when conquering the Epic ranked Dungeon. "I would have no way to survive. My offense is strong, but that is only when a fight is limited to our powers. Once magic enters the fray, things can easily go south. I bet Eldrian would be able to use more potent lighting spells than I."

That last bit came as a shock to Julius, but he nodded after some thought. "True. Eldrian is Tier 6 now. Probably close to breaking through to Tier 7. This means he should be able to cast Tier 6 spells with ease. Control them too, from the data we have."

And from what they knew, Eldrian could adapt spells to the situation he found himself in. Which meant his spells, while perhaps not as strong, would certainly be more dangerous. "It won't be as strong as an actual lightning bolt. But it would certainly be enough to kill anyone it so much as grazes. And its speed would be equal to normal bolts."

"Indeed. Which would more or less nullify any advantage I could try to claim with my power."

"But wait, you can control electricity, right? Can't you just control his spells then?"

Hearing that, Zaphreal offered a small shake of his head and an awkward smile. "Perhaps if it was a legendary grade spell. Perhaps even if it was Tier 8, though that might be too low."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that bit."

"What now?" Joren asked, unable to keep his curiosity to himself. "A power to wield something that exists, like mine, is limited to what exists," Zaphreal explained. "Low Tier spells, as you know, do not exist. They mimic reality, but aren't the real thing."

"And the higher the Tier," Constantin jumped in, a conversation he had had with Eldrian springing to mind. "The closer to the real thing it is. Which means you can't control the weaker spells. And since you can't control mana, you can't do anything about them."

"Correct."

It was a baffling situation where the weaker a spell, the more it would slip past Zaphreal's grasp.