A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

"Is it possible to use XP, or lifeforce, as fuel for magic? I remember I once did, so it must be possible."

"It is possible. But not recommended." GAIA replied. "The act of using it as fuel for magic is the act of burning your own lifeforce. Lifeforce isn't just your connection with magic, but life itself. If you burn too much, the damage could cause an imbalance, which would lead to you being unable to contain your soul vessel. You will burn from the inside and dissipate into the universal energies. Disappearing forever."

"I assume you won't explain what the universal energies are?" Eldrian asked.

"We won't."

Eldrian paused. He wanted to get a clearer understanding of what the limits would be. After all, he had absorbed the lich's soul largely hoping to use it as emergency mana. "Are there any indications that you are burning—"

"We won't answer and we ask that you do not entertain this train of thought any further!"

Eldrian had never heard them refuse so resolutely. He wasn't sure if it was because of concern or something else, but it made him think of another magical imbalance event.

"Is there a connection between this and the chaotic storms?"

"We said to drop the subject!"

'Uh, there must be. Might be a key to what Miracle wants, or maybe it is too dangerous to know? Let's drop it for now.'

"Then, how about how everything is connected? Is lifeforce a stream of all life energy? Or is it more like a river or a tree? Can you at least explain that?"

GAIA took their time to ponder if the answer would be harmful. "Knowing more would make it easier for you to channel your auras and bloodline, which would be dangerous without proper training.

"But that is partly why we are here. Leaving things as they are won't work... For now, we will only say that you are on the right track, but your thinking is too shallow."

They planned to reveal more, as Eldrian proved he could control his abilities. The amount he knew would alter how much power would rush through when he tried to connect with his bloodline. Thus, until he had at least an acceptable amount of control, they did not wish to explain too much to him. Else the power would be too great and another event might occur.

'That is the second time they referenced why we're in this locked space. Still not sure what's coming, seems they want to first gauge me through my questions... Too shallow, hey?' Eldrian smiled.

He pondered for a second and turned to his soul questioningly. Currently, it was in the form of a tiny wisp floating in the air. His consciousness moved with the wisp, but he could separate himself and gain a third person perspective.

'My soul is large, but to think it can be represented as a tiny wisp—that's... something.' Turning his focus to the locked space they were in and thinking of the realm of souls and how everything fit, Eldrian slowly formed a picture in his mind.

Scale was insane and often a hurdle to overcome. But if he ignored size, things made more sense.

"Is it then more like the sea? With different currents forming rivers within the ocean? Our lives flow along these rivers, which represent streams of lifeforce. Perhaps per species or bloodline or realm, or maybe something completely different? Perhaps each life could be represented as an air bubble in the rivers in the ocean. Part of the ocean, limited to the river, uniquely different from its surrounding water...

"And all the streams might have unique..." Eldrian recounted his previous epiphany, only this time he didn't care about the different realms, rather he focused on the ocean itself. The container of life -all types of life- in his metaphor.

The motherly deity sighed, waiting for Eldrian to end his dialogue before commenting that it was closer to the truth. Of course, he used a metaphor to explain this to himself, but he was shockingly close.

Change the matter in Eldrian's metaphor, the form of energies, and add a few more complexities. And viola, he had stumbled upon the core connection of all things in the universe. Simplified to an ocean analogy, which itself was unique.

Normally, people made connections with trees or plants to explain lifeforce. The branches representing the currents, leaves representing souls, and so forth. Of course, there were many variations.

But somehow, Eldrian's was closer to the truth than the normal metaphor. By keeping everything of a similar form (water), he did not form hard barriers between things. Which was closer to the truth.

It showed his intrinsic understanding of magic. He truly was an anomaly.

To think, all it took for him to gain a deeper understanding was them mentioning that his thinking was too shallow. It gave the deity a headache, something they almost never experienced. Truly, he was more trouble than en entire empire going to war. And Eldrian was still not done.

"Then, if lifeforce represents our current in the ocean, what is the ocean? ...I guess that isn't something you can answer..."

Continuing to throw questions at GAIA, Eldrian gleamed some information and also gathered some actual answers. When he asked how abilities work, referencing to Brazan who could manipulate actual flames without accessing mana, Eldrian learned that this was truly because of a bloodline as suspected.

Naturally, he then asked how bloodlines worked, how it could exist. GAIA had pondered for a while whether they should explain. In the end, they decided it was better to explain now than leave Eldrian questioning. It would also make the next step easier and would be necessary if Eldrian showed enough growth. Which the deity expected he would.

Shortly, the deity explained that a bloodline could be considered a colored stream within the current. A simple explanation was the merger of two currents, both now containing a small stream of the other inside the larger current. The results of interspecies relations.

These unique colored streams would bind the souls (bubbles) within it to the current of its origin. Allowing them to access unique abilities of this different current. But sometimes, a bubble can have a tinge of a different current's color but not be within the reflective colored stream.

"You can think of these streams as lines of blood relations. It isn't that simple, but it is easier to understand and it will also be easier to explain if we continue along with this analogy."

'There it is again. GAIA must really think I'm too dumb to follow the actual explanations...' Eldrian sulked for a bit, but didn't let his mind wander. He didn't want to prove them right.

"Understanding bloodlines was an important task that Miracle had given us. If there is an inherent power that can be handed through offspring, the natural thought is to build a perfect lineage.

"This, however, is impossible. Too much mixing and either the bloodlines cancel each other out, the resultant children become infertile, or madness consumes them. In some extreme cases, the first unlocking of their inner powers results in their lifeforce being overloaded and the children exploding. Taking the surrounding space with them..." GAIA paused.

"Indeed, there is a connection between lifeforce and the chaotic energies. Never attempt it! Never!"

It took GAIA a while to calm down. Eldrian could only imagine what it was like being forced to carry out Miracle's experiments.

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