A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Having confirmed all the changes he had undergone through, Eldrian was keenly aware that he had to be careful when moving. Having to constantly remind himself to act slowly and softly, the growth in strength and agility that he had gained was simply too much.

If he forgot to be conscious of this he might end up like Axel's group. Eldrian could just imagine what they looked like, while Ziraili had not said much, just thinking back on his previous struggles brought a smile to his face. He hoped they would quit, but he doubted it.

Still, he felt that this general was truly incompetent. And Eldrian was not relieved by this, instead he was becoming worried because of this. He couldn't imagine that Miracle would actually rely on someone who thus far has only given them failures.

'There must be some strange reasoning behind this? I can't imagine that he is the best they have?'

'Perhaps he is the best that they can trust?'

'Maybe...' Eldrian didn't feel like it was the case, though it would certainly be hard to get someone who is competent and able to accept all the mysteries of the organization. After all, they couldn't risk any leaks. 'Perhaps they want to lower my guard? But why let me escape in the first place?'

The more Eldrian thought of this the more his instincts told him something was wrong. He was getting this really nasty feeling that he was stepping right into a trap. 'Should I postpone when I try- I can't, if I postpone too long things might go past the point of being fixable.'

'What do you think, Two?'

'Something is indeed not right, there is no way that Miracle is really relying on Axel. Why this farce then?'

'Maybe it is to create dissatisfaction within the company?' Eldrian realized that it might not be completely about him. Clearly Ziraili had received help, Eldrian assumed from Joren and Constantin.

Ziraili hadn't explained how she had come to be near enough to him to send the message, but those where the only two Eldrian could think of who might do something like that.

Qiren, even if she was dissatisfied was in no position to act. Too much focus was on her, Joren was certainly the one most able to do things in secret. After all, he was the sole connection with Ziraili. She refused to work with other programmers. Eldrian was still unsure how she had managed to stand her ground, but now it likely meant that he had at least one ally inside Miracle.

He also had at least two AI on his side. All things considered, Eldrian realized he might have some strength behind him if the issue was truly forced.

'Actually, I am sure Flavia would also be on my side. Though she is just an intern. I can't trust Gengxin, even though I want to. Constantin I doubts he is fully convinced. I believe he is uncertain and is helping to try and figure out what he beleives.'

'In which case, there are only two who are likely already on my side fully. Joren and Flavia. My words last time must have really shaken Joren's world and Flavia was never that involved. She might not even be working there anymore.'

But the question remained, why Axel was given control of such an important mission? 'Do they want to find out who is loyal? Is this just something that will be shown coincidentally? Why have someone like Axel try to capture me? He is flashy and prideful, he wants to gloat even before success. That debacle last time, if he had doubled his soldiers and left out the tanks...'

Eldrian really couldn't figure it out. Thus, even though he had grown so much stronger he felt no security. 'I can't stop, it is time to bind with Crystoi. If they become able to contest with me inside ANW then it will be a real problem, but... Doesn't that cross a line with the AI, won't this bring too much light to the importance of ANW? If players found out that the developers are attacking a player inside the game...'

'Is there someone else in the ANW that they might want to bait out?' This thought shocked Eldrian, but it also made sense. He had never considered himself as someone all that special. He felt it only natural that there should be others capable of using magic.

Or perhaps there is even more going on that he did not know about.

Clearing his head, Eldrian focused on what he could control. Without hesitation he added some free attributes to his strength. He was lacking 14 strength, so he added 14 of his 45 free attributes to it.

'Ah, I forgot about that.' Eldrian laughed seeing his strength going past 480 to 483 with the 14 points, from 466. He forgot to consider the enhancement giving him 25% addition strength. Though he had been unsure what the addition was calculated from.

He was still unsure, but he now at least knew that free attributes were also counted in it. 'I wonder if Crystoi's [Attunement] ability is the same.' If it was it would be another massive increase, as it would give him a 15% raise in attributes across the board.

'Now, how to connect?' Taking the spear in hand, Eldrian pondered for a while.

Unlike with all previous items, he did not get a system prompt at this time. He knew this was not because of the interface, since the Tier 4 breastplate he had recently gotten he had equipped and thus bonded through it.

'Let's see if I can connect with it like with the artifact.' It did not take him long, the connection was almost precisely as that with the artificat. Upon connecting he slowly came to understand the spear, the information of how to use it being directly implanted into his mind. Though there were still a few unknowns.

As Eldrian focused on these unknowns, he was transported to a void similar to the other realms he had visited. An abyss of nothingness, darkness as far as the eye can see. A true void. This time he felt that something was different, that this void was not a realm. That is was just a void, nothingness.

'Is this?' Eldrian was kicked from this strange place before he could finish his thoughts. For now it seemed that the unknowns would remain unknowns. He did not wish to experiment to confirm his thoughts on this strange ability. Not unless he had a legend nearby to contain things if things truly turned south.

Once the information share was over, Eldrian finally received the system notification. Of course, he immediately chose to bond with the spear.

[Note, bonding with Tier 5 items and above is different than bonding with weapons below Tier 5. Bonds with Tier 4 and lower items are superficial. Something created to allow players to equip items. However, bonding with items at and above Tier 5 is done by linking the item to your soul.]

[Due to this, there is a limited amount of items one can bond with at one time. The limit is dependent on your Tier, thus currently you can only truly bond with five items.]

[To bond, please imagine the spear becoming one with you.]

[Warning, it will not be easy to undo the bond once created.]

'How exactly?' Eldrian questioned and he immediately started attempting a few things. He was not too worried about the warning, there had to be ways.

Plus, this was his current limit. He might be able to bond with a slightly stronger weapon but Crystoi was made for him, Solvi had worked so hard and made use of the materials he had given her. Especially the voidstone, Eldrian felt he had to figure out what secrets it had given the spear.

And the pressure of not understanding the reasoning behind Miracle's lackluster attempts to recapture him was weighing heavily on his mind. While this would not translate directly to strength on Earth, through bonding with Crystoi he might learn more about stronger magical items.

After a few failed tries, Eldrian tried to imagine the spear entering his soul space. He did not suspect it to succeed since his own understanding was that physical objects couldn't enter there. But he had to try since he was attempting to soul bond with the weapon.

Luckily, his understanding was not brought into question and he also succeeded.

Though envisioning the spear in his soul space a copy of it had appeared. It quickly joined the solar system, floating at the edge amongst the icy mists. Absorbing some of the surrounding mana that occasionally was left behind by the planets.

Shockingly, Eldrian could not find the mana that is absorbed. He had no idea what became of it, he suspected it had something to do with that voidspace. And upon thinking of it the spear slightly shook, nearly giving Eldrian a heart attack. He quickly changed his focus before he accidently activated the ability.

Taking the spear in hand, Eldrian smiled. With this, he got another massive boost in strength, immediately after reaching Tier 5. And that strange ability was certainly something truly insane. It was after all from a material at the same rank as a Magic Crystal.

Looking at his stats, Eldrian felt even more confident. Though Two reminded him to not become blinded.

'Of course, which is why I need to look into making some items for emergencies.' Eldrian's plans had not changed, he would not become reckless just because he was stronger. He understood well that from here on each Tier would be a massive hurdle and a massive increase in strength.

And his lack of training was going to show clearer and clearer as his body's strength and speed increased. After all, it would be far harder to execute a skill perfectly now that he was twice as fast. It would require at least twice as much practice, but likely even more than that.

Thus, his best bet for becoming stronger was still magic. And after the artifact creation, maybe magic items too.

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