A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Eldrian finally started coming too after some more time passed. Through the fatigue and confusion, he tried to pry open his eyes, not knowing where he was. He could feel the motion of movement carrying him around, similar to that of a horse. Once Eldrian could see he realized that he was slung over Evules's back.

He quickly became embarrassed by this, realizing that he was even more of a burden than just a simple noncombatant. He even needed help to be moved, causing him to feel dumb for having dared to meditate during a mission.

Luckily none of those in his party seemed to care, once they realized that Eldrian was waking they stopped and quickly helped him down. Evale quickly went to making sure the surrounding was safe, while the others started asking what had happened.

"Sorry for being so useless." Eldrian apologized before anyone could say anything. As he stood he felt quite unsteady. Everything felt slightly off to him, as if this body was no longer the one he was so used to. It might be because of how long he had been conscious without a body, with just his consciousness; or maybe it was something else.

"No problem, what happened though?" Evules replied as he looked at Eldrian who clearly still had some trouble keeping himself from falling over. Causing everyone in the group to wonder just what Eldrian had done to put himself into such a position.

"I'mmm... Not too sure myself. I had thought it would just take a few hours though... How long have I been out?" Eldrian replied, trying to recollect all his memories. He knew that if he was being carried then he was out for at least the entire night.

"A few days now, but again what happened," Evules replied with little care. He was curious about what Eldrian had done to incapacitate himself for so long. He didn't really mind, though carrying Eldrian would have soon become a problem as the enemies in the area became more and stronger.

"That's too vague. Haru, you have been unconscious for just over three days. Tonight would have made it four." Katania chirped in, quickly approaching Eldrian and checking that he was indeed okay.

By now her pure white clothes were slightly stained in brown and green, though no blood was to be seen. Seeing this allowed Eldrian to calm down as he realized that no one had been in danger due to his actions.

Hearing how long he was out though, Eldrian't couldn't help but sigh. Knowing for certain that Gengxin was going to give him an earful later about this. He had to explain himself now too, so he quickly tried to figure out how to explain it all without sounding crazy to NPCs. Realizing that he just had to say what he did, even though most wouldn't believe him.

"I wanted to try and breakthrough to Tier 2, and as such, I entered the magic abyss and then tried meditating..."

"Magic abyss? Are you joking?" Thesolis asked in complete disbelief, having rifted close when Katania had gone and checked up on him.

"No, I am being serious. It took me probably a few hours to actually succeed in meditating in the magic abyss. From where things took a turn I didn't expect. I am unsure what actually happened there, most of it is still coming back to me." Eldrian quickly replied as he looked around, Evale was slowly coming back, having ensured that they wouldn't be interrupted.

"So, did you succeed?" Evules asked, wondering if him carrying Eldrian for the past days had been for a reason or just because of foolishness.

Hearing the question Eldrian himself was unsure, he quickly used the system to try and confirm. Finding that he was still Tier 1, though his mana had again increased, along with his affinity.

His mana was now 204, making this single increase around 30 MP. His affinity had also increased by quite the amount, from 97.21 to 98.11. Eldrian wondered if the affinity increase was why he had felt so weird upon waking up, or if it was more complex. He pulled himself back before he delved into wondering; first needing to reply to Evules.

"No, I am still Tier 1. Though I did get a boost to my mana."

"How is that possible?" Thesolis asked with true curiosity. Normally, at least for NPCs, after reaching the next Tier their mana would increase for a certain time. This was the only increase she knew of outside of item boosts, as well as array boosts.

This increase through reaching a new Tier had limits though, and it never had big jumps in growth. Always being just a few MP every week, this also held for stamina and health though this is less observed by NPCs. This all was a large part of why players could jump through the Tiers faster than NPCs, their bodies, or rather avatars, didn't need months to get used to their new level. They received all the benefits at the moment of breakthrough.

"Haru, what happened once you managed to meditate?" Evale asked as she put her bow over her shoulder. She felt that what she was hearing was slightly familiar. Though what she was thinking of was simple legends she had read long ago, hearing someone using the magic abyss to meditate had jogged her memory. She had always discounted the legends, but now she felt she might need to look into them again.

"Ah, I don't really know. Two emotions seemed to pull me further in, manipulating my memories and letting me live through hell. After breaking through their hold, I simply saw my heart. Not sure what any of this means." Eldrian replied, not willing to explain too much as he feared this might be connected to hidden classes.

He felt most of the people in the party were kindhearted and wouldn't try anything bad. Yet he didn't want to go into detail, their current place certainly also not where one should do so.

"Mmm, maybe I was just mistaken," Evale replied, Eldrian's explanation was different from what she was expecting. Though it still shared some similarities to what she had read. Such as a trial being encountered, and then overcoming it.

Naturally due to how vague Eldrian explained she couldn't deduce more, but she was only slightly curious. For now, she placed the mission over her curiosity. "In any case, if you are fine now, let's continue the exploration. Katania, where is the nearest hunting cabin?" Evale continued without missing a beat.

Eldrian was quite surprised that they didn't press him for more of an explanation, naturally, he was grateful for this. To catch up to what was going on Eldrian made sure to listen well as Katania replied.

"I think a few kilometers further, it is near one of the lakes in the forest. We are also getting really close to where the corruption has reached, so we should expect more than just weaker undead."

"Got it, like always I'll take care of what I can. If we do run into a higher undead then Evules will rush to keep it, or its mob, busy. Katania will apply buffs to him and me, while debuffing the undead. Thesolis you will just ensure that no one can reach Katania, and Kydone you will keep looking for an opportunity to end the fight quickly." Evale quickly laid out their simple plan, slightly as a reminder to everyone but more to inform Eldrian of what was going to happen.

Upon mentioning Kydone her voice came from the treetops shouting that they could count on her. Evale had seemingly expected the reply and paused, continuing once it was passed, "Haru just stay with Katania."

She really didn't want him to step out into danger, he just needed to sit back and watch. With this they again set out, Eldrian quickly realizing how much the environment had changed. While most of the trees were still the same, as well as how far he could see through them. The number of monsters had drastically increased.

They didn't travel fast now, often needing to stop as dozens of skeleton and zombie beasts charged at them. After killing them they would burn each corpse, it being the only way to ensure that the dead didn't rise again. At least without going through an entire ritual.

Every now and then they would even encounter a living beast, the most impressive one Evale had quickly killed was a six-meter-long boar. Just its height when lying on the ground, dead, was probably as high as Evules (Nearly three meters). It was far bigger than anything Eldrian had seen before, the Alpha he had helped kill looked like a dwarf in comparison.

After a few quick battles where Evale would kill more than half the enemy before they could reach them, from where Evules would lay waste to most the other. After moving on after another fight the raging flow of a river could be heard. Upon hearing it everyone knew that they were close now, yet they didn't speed up. Rather they slowed down and let Kydone scout first.

They had learned that even the weaker undead could lay traps, and the ones they had fallen into had luckily not mattered as there had just been a hundred or so of them. But now, they knew there would be much more than just a hundred.

Some of the random hordes already having reached these numbers by now. Then there was also the fact that a higher undead could be with the horde, making scouting doubly important.