A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

'Thank you... But... I feel that there is still something wrong. Something missing.' Eldrian replied, trying to figure out what it was. Surprisingly Zamia was able to directly tell him what it was, making Eldrian feel that Dave really sucked as a teacher.

'That is likely because your mana is still static.' Zamia replied, seeing and feeling Eldrian's confusion she continued. 'You can't use Magic-Inspection yet, as it is a Tier 2 spell at minimum. If you could you would be able to,' Zamia paused realizing that he would not be able to actually see anyone's mana.

'Well, you would be able to see the flow of mana in those of the same Tier or lower than you. So the children... The really young ones.' Zamia added the last part as a joke, but sadly it was the hard truth.

Eldrian did not feel great when he was told that he was weaker than little children. But thinking of how they were all of the strongest races in the entire game world, he felt slightly better. Only slightly, since he was also supposed to be one of the strongest races.

'In any case, you need to get your mana to flow as ours does. Similar to when you are looking at a Magic Crystal. That is the true form of mana which all Ancient Beasts and stronger are born with.'

'High Elves are the only humanoid race, other than devils, who are also able to reach this state. Hence why they are seen as such a strong race. But reaching this state is not easy for you.'

'Devils have it quite easy, they simply need to feast on others' pain and misery. You on the other hand have to either practice till it becomes seconds nature or learn how it happens. Why it happens and what it leads to. This might allow you to skip a few years of training.'

'Okayy...' Eldrian stretched this okay, certainly not feeling great. She had just said years, something which he really did not like hearing. Her explanation was also not great. It was more an explanation of what the races were able to do than it was on how to accomplish it. As such he asked, 'Then how do I do that?'

'Like I said, practice. This is why High Elves take so long to actually use magic. They are normally forbidden from learning magic until they are able to cultivate their mana flow.'

'Why?' Eldrian asked, feeling that the answer was not going to be good for him.

'Simple, the higher Tier you reach. The harder it will be to reach a stage where your mana naturally flows through you.' Zamia replied, only needing to think a bit before remembering back when she last talked to the elves. A few hundred years ago.

Dammit! I knew it! Eldrian felt like cursing, this little fact would easily have ruined his character if he had not learned it soon enough. Taking a few seconds to calm himself Eldrian returned to the topic, avoiding this sidetrack.

'How do I do this? When I tried before, it caused me to quickly become tired. Draining my mental power.' Eldrian asked, hoping for some advice that would make it all easier.

'There is no shortcut, unfortunately. You will have to practice. Practice until it no longer takes any effort and is as easy as breathing. Something you are able to do without thinking of.' Zamia replied sympathetically, fully understanding the frustration Eldrian must be feeling.

'I was afraid you were going to say that.' Eldrian sighed, both mentally and physically. Hating that he had to train more, again.

Just when magic was becoming fun. This comes along and screws everything! Eldrian cursed as he knew now that he had to stop trying to reach a higher Tiers.

This had been his entire plan for becoming stronger. The stat growth aside, being able to cast higher Tier spells and skills was more what Eldrian had aimed for. This having been his entire plan.

He also realized this would add more time between when he finished the caves and linked souls with Cephaphyr. Luckily this disappointment was lessened when Eldrian thought of how long clearing the caves would take. Hoping he would have reached the needed state in his cultivation to then simply learn some more spells.

Eldrian excused himself, in a slightly better mood after thinking of the time needed to clear the caves. He knew that this was not something Zamia could help him any more than she had. Having already done all that she could for him, the rest was up to him.

On the way to Margit and the others, Eldrian was joined by Cephaphyr, who happily trotted to him.

'I hear we are going on an adventure!' Cephaphyr shouted excitedly, greatly relieved that he would be finally able to leave the forest. He had been stuck here since his birth, which had not been that long ago. He was still under the age of 1.

Eldrian also realized the last point as Cephaphyr joined him, causing him to truly understand just how weak he was compared to most here. Cephaphyr, who was so young, was already Tier 3. Something Eldrian was simply blown away by when thinking off.

It took him a few seconds to overcome this shock and actually talk with Cephaphyr. 'It isn't really an adventure. Your mom asked me to clear the caves of goblins.'

'Awesome, I hate them. They look so stupid and ugly.' Cephaphyr replied quickly, not even fully understanding what Eldrian was telling him.

Eldrian shook his head at Cephaphyr's reply, not knowing if he should laugh or sigh about the fact that this was going to be his partner. He felt that simple ignorance and child-like happiness would certainly be good to be surrounded by.

Then again the ignorance was bound to become really irritating. But for now, Eldrian felt it was comforting, something he needed after the news he just got.

'The real problem is that I have a friend who is missing somewhere in the caves. And I have no idea how she is doing.' Eldrian complained to the only one he really could.

He had a feeling Margit would take this too seriously and attempt some crazy things. Her intent to help Vivian had been clear. While he was happy about this, Eldrian wanted to make sure more lives were not lost in the process. At least if need be he wanted it to be worth something.

'That sucks! Why don't we go right now?' Cephaphyr asked, causing Eldrian to crack up a smile.

'Thanks, but there are too many goblins. I also think there will be a few strong ones.'

'I am sure I can beat them!' Cephaphyr proudly declared, causing Eldrian to simply shake his head as he chose to enjoy the child-like attitude. Using it to lift his own mood and got himself ready for some meditating.

Before going off he told Margit his plans. She had no problem, happy that they would start tomorrow. Eldrian also mentioned how logging out worked, explaining that his body would disappear once he fell 'asleep'.

Having sorted this Eldrian found himself a comfortable position to start meditating. He was not really sure what to call what he was doing, but he felt meditating was an apt description. Sitting comfortably against a tree he focused on himself, onto the pure mana in his body.

He willed it to move. Slowly leading it to his heart and then around his body, needing to control it for the entire route. If he stopped his mana would simply go straight back to the mana pool.

Eldrian found this really straining. Before he had simply tried to bring it to his heart, but now he was trying to also let it flow like veins and arteries. The further he got from his heart, the more he had to split the mana and his focus.

Quickly he started sweating from the pressure of keeping everything flowing. Even so, his mana slipped back to its pool every now and then. Eldrian simply could not focus on all the split paths.

Let's do it simpler. Focus only on one route. Eldrian told himself. Discarding his limbs he tried only controlling his mana to flow to his heart and from there to his head.

This was far easier, but Eldrian could feel that this was unnatural. Even so he continued, wanting to first get used to doing this. Once he did he planned to add his arms, then his legs. Later his fingers and toes.

Eldrian did not look forward to what came after fingers and toes. When the mana started splitting into tens to hundreds of smaller 'arteries' and 'veins'.

Other than this Eldrian talked with Cephaphyr when he was resting and trying to recover his concentration.

He would admire Cephaphyr's coat and feathers when they talked. Eldrian really liked the strong contrast between his pitch-black coat and bright green feathers. He felt the feathers would be really good decorations, he did not know for what. He also did not want to upset Cephaphyr by asking for a few.

In the end, Eldrian logged out as he was petting Cephaphyr's head. Causing the latter to look around startled when Eldrian disappeared. He had misunderstood what Eldrian had explained and rushed to his mom to ask for help.

It caused quite a funny scene.