A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

"Apologies, my Lord, we just received word of a new collapse." Said a dwarf whom Eldrian did not know. He dressed similarly to the nobles of before; but less grand. Likely a servant of the house. Though Eldrian had no clue how things worked in the dwarven hierarchy.

"Thanks you, Asbjorn." Boran indicated for the young dwarf to leave, turning to Eldrian once they were alone again. "Sadly, it appears I must already return to work. I'm afraid a collapse requires immediate attention, before our enemies learn of it."

Not wishing for things to be dropped so quickly and without a conclusion, Eldrian asked if he couldn't join Boran.

"I do not mind, and since we have to wait for Theas to arrive, it will give us some more time to discuss. Alright, we shall talk as we walk. Sadly, we won't be able to dive into any private topics."

"Why not?" Eldrian asked and immediately realized that it was something common for nobles. To speak openly was, in fact, strange. Myropsis, Pelaros, Evale, all the nobles he knew were much more free in how they acted. The entire Kynigo actually took after Pelaros in that way.

Taurtania, however, had been different. Obviously, Buglodihr, a capital, would be even stricter in noble etiquette and the thought had Eldrian dread trying to stay here for longer than required. It was a wonder that Boran had managed to act in a manner expected of a lord. At least, the Boran Eldrian remembered would never have managed.

Funnily enough, Eldrian was so clueless on dwarven nobility that he still did not know what rank Boran actually held. He only knew that Boran was considered the lord of Ganalin, but Eldrian didn't understand what this meant. Was Boran like a mayor, or a king?

Going through all his thoughts in an instant and before Boran could reply, Eldrian added, "I've learned a few tricks. While I haven't perfected a sound barrier, perhaps I could construct what I am able and we can then talk more freely?"

Boran smiled hearing this. The two were already on their way through the underground castle, so already they needed to talk more formally. "If you can manage."

Nodding, Eldrian focused for a moment to finalize what he wished of the spell. Pondering for a second if he should rely on runes. Consulting Two, they quickly picked up the best runes for a mobile sound barrier. Taking out a mana crystal, Eldrian added the runes to it.

Boran watched this all with great interest, his decision to not let Eldrian go growing as he saw Eldrian deftly creating a magic circle upon the mana crystal. The runes seemed to lie gently atop the crystal, as if floating. Informing Boran that it would not be permanent, that the mana crystal would not be forever a sound barrier carrier.

More significantly, Eldrian wasn't using the tricks of Inscription to modify the crystal, as would be standard. Somehow, his runic casting circles could be placed upon crystals without causing the instability expected from runes.

Boran found himself wanting to learn from Eldrian more than Eldrian wanted to learn from him. As a master, he felt slightly ashamed, but his thirst for this runic casting and all its wonders overwhelmed any shame he might be feeling.

***

'I just don't get how Eldrian always makes it seem so easy. He adapts to discoveries with an intuitive grasp. Born for magic... I guess that is the best way to describe him.' Ilmadia smiled awkwardly as she looked towards the sky while keeping her handiwork constantly envisioned in her mind's space.

Her mind space was nowhere near as defined as Eldrian, but each day it was growing firmer. Especially since she had gained her hidden quest. Of course, she was not aware of the growth. It wasn't something one would notice unless prompted to note it.

Eldrian always spoke so easily of using runic casting to lay traps; 'spells as mines' as he would classify it. But it was no easy task, no easy task at all. At best, Ilmadia could only maintain two or three simple fire 'mines'. And to do so took most of her focus. She could hardly spare a thought to her surroundings. But her mind still wandered—wondered at his talents.

"Their coming!" A player shouted as he rushed past Ilmadia's hiding spot atop one of the few unbroken houses. Not much later, the cruel roars of the orcs filled the air, along with the clanging of their armor and weapons.

'One, two, three, four...' Ilmadia started the countdown. They almost had it to an exact science. After the shout, wait ten seconds and then.

BOOM!

Let the first mine activate. The most complicated one.

Fire engulfed the alley and the surrounding buildings as screams filled the air. The orcs hurriedly turned to escape the inferno.

'One, two, three...' This time, count to five. And then.

Woosh!

Followed by an immediate activation of the third. Now, let the rest of the mages and archers handle the cleanup.

Standing up from her hiding spot, Ilmadia peered over the ruined houses and looked towards the inferno. Admiring her handiwork.

Her job was a simple one, to stop the orcs in their tracks. Her mines had to pack a punch, but sadly, that meant they couldn't last long. She simply did not have the mana to support much more. Another thing Eldrian seemed to have endless amounts of. Truly, born for magic, described him almost to a T.

Still, she managed. Her first mine had to be powerful enough to let the orcs know fear. Lest they simply rush through the flames and their trap fall apart at the start. Thus, she placed a little over half her mana into it. Just around 300MP, bringing the power of her first rune to about that of a high leveled Tier 5 spell. Perhaps not as excessive as Eldrian's display, but it would still shock most NPCs. Especially since she was still only Tier 4 whereas he was Tier 5.

'To fight like this... None of us ever considered it. Of course, Eldrian would be the first. Who else would prioritize success so much over anything? Even I sometimes wish for a classic fantasy battle. I know it is wrong, especially with so many NPCs suffering. But I simply can't keep them always in mind. They are strangers, strangers of another world nonetheless.'

It was a truly strange way of fighting. Many might call it a cowardly way. But how else were they to fight against the orcs? Few players could handle an ordinary orc warrior, and with their numbers, they would be slaughtered before managing anything.

Of course, this was not a type of fighting that any of the players had ever thought they would rely on. But it truly was effective, and no one complained when the XP started rolling in.

Of course, the poor warrior class were left out of the rewards. They had the most dangerous jobs but could hardly claim any of the XP. While they were part of the guild party, shared XP was massively influenced by damage done.

Hence, why Ilmadia and the rest of the Flaming Hearts took such a substantial lead in levels. Especially Ilmadia, who had since they started gained over ten million XP. If not for her high level, she would have easily gained plenty of levels already.

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