A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

"More or less, that is what I understand at least," Eldrian confirmed, continuing on to explain, "I assume the first part of your quest simply requires you to master enough runes and form them into combinations that can be evoked as spells. I have no idea how many you will need to do, but from experience, I know the system likes threes."

"It's tricky though since some runes aren't Tiered. But you'll just have to experiment and figure it out."

"What about the second part?" Ilmadia did not wish to give up on an optional part of such an important quest.

"That..." Eldrian wasn't sure if he should help her dive deeper into magic. There were so many dangers, but having an ally would be oh so nice.

"For that, you'll have to dive much deeper into things. Instead of simply learning a bunch of runes and combining them to certain effects, you will need to come to understand what makes a rune. How runes work, probably make or discover ones on your own."

"In this regard, I don't think the runes need to be new, ever before discovered. But you will have to discover it with no guidance from anyone or anything. It will have to come from you and only you."

Ilmadia frowned, that would be difficult indeed. Since runes didn't seem to form any set pattern and could be words, characters, or even visual representations, it truly would be difficult to discover the reasoning behind it. Especially without guidance.

"But I don't think you need to fret about it." Eldrian's words caused Ilmadia to frown even more, this time in confusion. "I doubt going along the first path will block you from following the second. In fact, it is likely essential."

"However, becoming comfortable will make it impossible for you to ever go down the second path. You will need to question everything."

***

"Thank you for all your help, Ingvar. And Viggo, thank you for jumping to make things happen so quickly." Eldrian was truly grateful that the two dwarves had organized things so quickly.

"It was surprisingly easy. Lord Boran was momentarily confused. It seems your name used to be Haru?" Viggo prodded, "But upon hearing that you were a high elf, he immediately granted the meeting."

Eldrian blushed just a little, having completely blanked on the fact that his name change might have thrown old acquaintances off. Luckily, a Chosen High Elf was extremely uncommon. So much so that anyone knowing his race could basically identify him.

The chances would even be great, Eldrian wasn't certain, but he had heard from the Elizabeth and the others that his old post uniting high elves only had a few dozen members left. Naturally, since his disappearance, the post became nearly useless. They could share their experiences, but without his guidance, most of them were still stuck.

Almost no one was willing to go through the struggle that was being a high elf. Even these players had all basically given up on learning magic, but they had found comfortable lives in ANW. They didn't care for fighting and rather were enjoying a relaxed lifestyle.

Sure, they needed to work in the game too, but the work was easy. Truly easy compared to their own jobs. It basically felt like they were relaxing and they made more than enough to live comfortably. Some had even gotten married so naturally, they wouldn't think of remaking their character.

But this is quite besides the point, the point was that a Chosen High Elf who can actually use magic is with certainly Eldrian.

Not receiving a reply, Viggo smirked. Eldrian's silence spoke volumes. Taking the lead, the dwarf led the elf deep inside the city's keep. They passed guard after guard, many in pitch-black armor made of abyssalite.

Their stares were cold and the auras resonating from them were chilling. Eldrian dared not be so careless as to use mana sense upon them. Something told him that doing so would not go unnoticed and he was certain every single warrior in black could kill him with ease.

Finally, they passed through a rather massive door that could only be activated through magic. The activation mechanism was at the end of the room. Two guards stood at the entrance, ready to act should someone without the required authority attempt to enter.

'Isn't this a bit expensive?' Eldrian couldn't fathom why so many capable warriors were stationed inside the keep. He thought they needed people on the front. He had counted at least twenty guards, all above Tier 5. Each one of them could make a difference, twenty could change the tides of certain battles.

"This..." Eldrian stared at the room beyond the massive gates in awe. For a moment, he felt like he could understand. Just a glimpse of the next room made him fully understand just how important this place was.

'Is it alright for me to enter?' Eldrian gulped, hesitating but finally pushing himself forward as Viggo entered without even sparing the guards a glance.

The room was the definition of a teleportation hall, no, of a city core. It wasn't like any hidden magic room he had entered before.

Near the ceiling floated the magic crystal, a strange combination of shine and absorption of light came from the crystal. Covering it in a hazy mist of galaxies.

The walls all had a soft shine, much like the hidden rooms that Eldrian had visited, only the scale was beyond what his mind could comprehend. The room was massive, and arrays covered all eight walls from top to bottom. Densely packed, as was expected of such hidden secret rooms.

Eight walls... Eldrian was most stunned by this. He understood that each wall represented an element that could be seen from the soft shine of the carvings covering the walls. But the eight... There were only seven elements in nature.

Sure, there were hybrid elements, but if you had all the elements, why would you add a hybrid?

Viggo smiled, but he wasn't about to explain to Eldrian what the formation did. Stopping beneath the magic crystal, he called up what appeared to be a magical interface. Seeing it stunned Eldrian even more. He had spent so much time developing something similar, and now he discovered it indeed existed in this world.

'I really am a frog in a well,' Eldrian mumbled as he felt his location change. Yet the room they were in now appeared exactly like the former. No, there were now nine walls. The fact of which made Eldrian nearly experience a stroke.

He could accept eight. Obviously, the eighth was ether. But nine? That made no sense.

Before his mind could accept this, he found his location changed again. This time they found themselves in a rather fancy hall. Not an excessively large hall, but it exuded an heir of royalty, nonetheless. Viggo immediately knelt, but Eldrian's mind just continued to spin.

"It's fine." A calm voice stopped the guards from being rash. The source of which looked at the elf before him with a strange mixture of emotions. Sadly, they had to meet again under these circumstances.

For now, formalities had to be followed since this was an official meeting. Even though he hated such formalities.

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