A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Naturally, Eldrian could not help but want the flower too. Wondering if it would help him manage his icy aura or what type of bloodline he might be able to gain. He even went so far as trying to convince himself by saying that by the sounds of it there was plenty to go around.

'And that is certainly what everyone thought as they took one for themselves.' Eldrian countered his greed, yet it refused to lay down. However, he did manage to let it sit for the moment.

Yet as soon as he did another thought popped up, one he could not get to settle down so quick. This was getting at least one potion of revival. It constantly ate at his thoughts, yet Eldrian had no way of actually getting the potion. Having just the flower was certainly not enough.

"What about Akarui?" Eldrian asked, curious what Zamia had ended up saying about her talent and wishing to distract himself from his greed.

"I was truly worried too." Erik paused as he thought back to the moment after his amazement of the beauty had passed and he had realized what the discovery meant.

"Luckily, and somewhat ironically, Akarui saved herself according to Zamia."

"I see, the ice lilies?" Eldrian asked and got a nod in return.

"Yes, though it would not be enough on its own. She needs to learn how to use her mana, the cavern is so rich in mana though that it should not be hard for her to do. Zamia is currently busy remaking the cavern as a meditation space."

"Won't-"

"She is doing it quietly. Only Agamemas knows at the moment, she needed his help. With time they are planning to let their young train in the cavern, but only in the one."

Eldrian nodded and wondered if they would allow him access to the space if he returned. Truly curious about how it would change meditation for him. If it was similar to a Magic Crystal, or maybe the opposite. Instead of pulling at his mana if it pushed more toward his spell.

"It is actually truly lucky," Erik said after a moment of silence passed between the two. Both of them enjoying the sights the park has to offer.

"Zamia said she will also continue to teach me. It seems that the hidden class is basically just a weaker version of what Akarui has. Though in this case much much weaker."

"How do they rank her talent?" Eldrian asked, having completely forgotten what it is called.

"They don't in most cases. Normally someone is just a Fysi or not, but a select few are Eri Fysii. It can be considered a higher grade of the talent."

"And what does this mean?" Eldrian asked, his question asking both for Akarui and the difference.

"I am not sure, Zamia did not explain further. She had only shared that Akarui is part of a very select group and that she had to focus on preparing the cave. Before it becomes too late."

Silence ruled as both took in the meaning of this. It was not a pleasant topic and Eldrian did not wish to harp on it anymore. At least not until it was confirmed that Akarui would be fine.

Eldrian no longer wished to share what had happened with him either, feeling that Erik had enough on his mind. 'I hope it all goes well... What am I going to wake to when I log back in?'

The two sat in silence for around an hour, talking only a little about the sights the parked offered them. Finally, they parted and Eldrian headed back to his room.

While he did not look forward to logging in, he knew he had to. Taking a deep breath he climbed onto his seat, laid down, and spoke the activation phrase after trying and failing to log in mentally.

'It might only work from inside?' He thought as he fell asleep, only to wake a few seconds later.

...

Eldrian woke in a body riddled with pain, none of them extreme but all of them uncomfortable. Darkness welcomed him, so Eldrian cast Fos to see where he was. The spell lighting up a massive bird looking at him in curiosity.

"Wait, I know you..." Eldrian faltered as he failed to recall from where and the smells of his surrounding started registering. Quickly he wished he did not need to breathe, casting Aeraki with hast.

The slight breeze helped a little and gave Eldrian the clearance of mind he needed to cast Ischyros Anemos. The Tier 2 wind spell quickly got rid of the smell, but also caught a bunch of smaller rotting parts and sent them flying.

Learning about this the hard way when a piece of flesh hit him, Eldrian quickly stopped the spell and returned to the light breeze. Bursting out laughing when he turned to the Roc. All its feathered ruffled from the rough wind and covered in pieces of the most unpleasant kind.

Eldrian did his best to stop laughing after getting an unhappy stern stare from the bird. Though it still took him a few seconds. After which he finally decided to figure out where he knew this bird from, unfortunately learning its name and race did not help.

[Roc (Mneme), Bloodline]

[Tier 8 | Level 47]

[...]

[A roc, a bird from the bloodline of a phoenix, and hence its classification as a bloodline creature. A truly magnificent creature that might be able to survive forever if given the chance.]

[Like a phoenix it can be reborn from its ashes, however, for this to happen it must die a peaceful death. Normally, when a roc realizes it is at the end of its life it will start concentrating the magic within it to form a seed for an egg.]

[The egg will only truly form after the roc has died, the seed of the egg setting the bird aflame. The ashes from the fire will then form the shell around the seed. Which will take a few years to develop and hatch.]

'That seems like a lackluster ability.' Eldrian thought, though he still envied the ability to live forever. And unlike the normal situations where long life can become torture, clearly, the roc can decide at the end of its life whether it wants to be rebirthed or not.

After thinking of this for a bit Eldrian smiled at the bird, "Mm-M-m-... Mneme, is it? Thanks for protecting me."

The bird turned its head to the side showing that it did not understand him. 'Right... The system only translates the native language... Wait! I recall I spoke some other language before.'

Saying the same sentence multiple times, Eldrian failed to get the bird to understand. Until finally he gave up and cursed the randomness of it. The area surrounding him was still covered in darkness, a mix of the mist that has slowly been lifting and night.

It was not strange that no one had found him, Vivian was the only one looking. And she had given up in the darkness as her wounds caused her to collapse.

The others, after getting themselves treated to survive and continue on, had gone to chase the undead. This was not the only army that was coming, so doing as much damage as possible was imperative.

For now, the Blackguard has taken over in protecting the line. They were certainly spread thin, but that mattered little when the enemy was busy retreating.

After failing to see left from right, and finding that even his map was not working. Unsure whether it was a game-like function, or if the magic was actually interfering with it. The end result regardless was that Eldrian realized he couldn't just leave the place he was at. Not without Mneme's help but he had no idea how to ask her to help him out.

In frustration and with no better idea in mind, Eldrian searched through the player interface. He had not looked through it in ages. Especially not in detail. There were so many options in it, normally he just used a few functions and called it a day.

The start with most of the options being blocked to him had certainly made him less reliant on it.

'That's not going to help... Nor that, and why would I want this?' Eldrian mumbled as he searched through them. While he mumbled that it would not help, he still spent a few minutes getting more familiarized with the system.

He had long since stopped trying to record what he was doing in the game, yet he thought it might be smart to try and do so again. At worst he could review the footage, though he needed a 3rd person view for that.

'I see, so that is how it works. And that is how you unlock it, I should tell them it should be unlocked for me. Heck, they already use the function on me.' Eldrian continued to talk to himself mentally as he figured out how the streamer function worked. Paying the fee with slight irritants and activating it.

'Ah, so that is how I see where it is capturing. How do-? That's easy.' Eldrian continued to mumble as he moved the 'camera' around and got it to a top-down view. The light of Fos spreading a meter or so, quickly becoming absorbed by the darkness. The sight was actually quite captivating from above.

"Mneme, you are really big." Eldrian joked as he realized that three of him could easily fit on the bird's back. Though he had no idea how it would be possible to sit there considering the roc's wings.

"Ha, why am I even thinking of that?" Eldrian mumbled as he continued to explore the system. Searching for a spot less smelly while at it, but stopping when he reached trees.

"Let's... Let's just wait here." Eldrina mumbled to his companion who had followed him. He knew he had gone to the wrong side and he had no wish to continue searching for the right direction in the dark.

Luckily he had escaped most of the rotting smell, though it still filled the air. It was at least not as pungent here.