A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

It took a while to calm everyone, even Myropsis had for a moment forgotten to breathe. She was certainly more used to Eldrian's insanity, but that was a bit much. Especially the fact that he had recited a spell.

That was something new, and somehow it had brought forth such grand destruction. And, of course, the flames were now rampaging through the undead forest. Myropsis noticed this first and started slowing the fires. But it took Eldrian joining to stop the forest from burning down.

In the end, most of the forest around the fort was burnt down. Judith, daringly, had used the flaming woods to lure the undead to their deaths. The others had taken a step back and focused on keeping her alive as she ran around taunting the undead while waving the stick.

It looked ridiculous, especially with her hair burnt away. Luckily, her armor had survived the flames, though her clothes beneath had disappeared. Truly, an uncomfortable feeling. But she didn't want to waste the fire while it was there.

The important parts were still covered, that was enough. At least, that was what she thought in the heat of battle.

This only lasted for around ten minutes, at which point the stick's mana ran out and it shattered. Watching Judith's dismay, Eldrian felt conflicted. From desperately running for her life, to now staring at the shattered wood like she had lost a lover.

'I'll never understand her...' Eldrian shook his head and moved on. Those same thoughts were, of course, something that everyone thought of him.

'It lasted longer than expected though, must be because it doesn't take much effort to taunt an undead,' was his conclusion of events. It made him wonder just how effective such a stick would be on a person.

Around the same time that the forest fire was contained, and the stick had shattered, Vivian and Theas returned. Killing a revenant was a tall task, but only because of its resilience.

Theas would even be capable of taking down a Tier 7 revenant. Only such a fight would last hours, according to him.

"Right, then let's clear the surviving undead. I'll leave this to you guys." Eldrian smiled as he handed the job to Elizabeth and the others. They groaned, but accepted the request since their reward was being allowed to keep whatever they found inside.

While they were raiding and clearing the rest of the fort, Eldrian and the others secured the keep. The old church was just rubble and of the magic tower, only two floors remained.

"Still better than nothing." The state of the fort was worse than Eldrian had expected. Of course, it had been through numerous battles, with little time for repairs in between.

"True, I'm most curious about the magic tower, however." Myropsis explained that the Magic Crystal might still be in the basement room. Especially since it can only be entered by a registered personal.

"Does that mean we can fix the magic tower?"

"It will take some time, but if the crystal is still there, then it is possible." She replied with a confident nod.

Part of Eldrian wanted to claim the crystal, but he decided against that. He would rather ask for one as compensation once things calmed down. The fort they were going to manage sadly had no magic tower.

"Right, Theas, do you think the Ganalin dwarves will be willing to offer their support?"

"I'm not sure. We are fighting the subterranean, we can't spare many hands... However, if you are to ask only for a few craftsmen, it might be possible."

'Oh, that would be nice. I also hope Boran can help me make some equipment. I kind of feel naked only in clothes.'

After around an hour, the players finally returned. They looked exhausted, but thrilled. "Good haul?" Eldrian asked with a smile, leading everyone back to the mini-tower. After ensuring that everyone had a bed and was settled, he returned to the keep together with Myropsis.

"A ruined magic tower... Let's see if the array still works." Spreading out a thin veil of mana, Eldrian activated the array on the floor used for teleportation.

"Right, I need your help in setting the coordinates... I don't actually know any." Eldrian asked Myropsis for help as he started analyzing the array engraved on the ground.

"This is the calibration of position, leaving that to you... that there is cost calibration... those are the emergency crystals..."

Confirming that everything was fine, Eldrian poured all his mana into the array. It brightened and shone through the ruined first floor, illuminating the two of them.

"As expected, you still have plenty of mana to spare." Myropsis said while rubbing her head.

"Yeah, well, I mean, if it is the mana flowing through my body. I can recover it all in about half an hour." Losing his equipment had certainly hurt in that regard. Luckily, he still had Crystoi.

"Seems it is enough for two or three trips..." Myropsis sighed.

"Right, so this is set onto the third magic tower in Kynigo? Any idea who is on shift?"

Getting a shrug in response, Eldrian activated his titles and disappeared in a flash. Leaving Myropsis in her own thoughts.

"To be able to activate a long distance teleportation array with only the mana flowing through his body... How fearsome. If these readings are correct, he has more mana than me, despite being a tier lower."

"That is to be expected, but... It feels strange. Like the gap between us will only continue to grow."

...

"Right, so that is the gist of it. The Chosen are still feeble, but their management abilities are good. We are going to need at least fifty Tier 5's to secure the fort."

"Only fifty?" Pelaros asked. Sofiera and Evale were also here.

Pelaros had promoted them to division commanders as the only Tier 7 people still in the city. Pelaros had to remain in Kynigo to ensure it would not fall to a sudden attack, and Evale would take command of the east.

"Yes, only fifty," Eldrian replied. "Since Sofiera will be stationed in Llyn, she will be able to offer support should things go south. With the player's communication network, we shouldn't run into any trouble."

"Of course. But only fifty? How many other soldiers do you require?"

"I'm thinking if you can spare five thousand, then we can secure the fort as required."

"Are you sure you can hold the fort with that few?"

"Yeah, it's on the edge of a cliff, so it should be fine. We should station as few as possible in the forts to increase the patrols."

"That's true..."

"Eldrian, what about if the undead group and attack en force at a weak location?" Evale asked.

"That's why I want all villages between the front line and Llyn to evacuate. If we must use the land, we should send off-duty soldiers to protect and work the fields."

"That..." Pelaros hesitated.

"Actually, I have an insane idea. I want your opinions on it." Eldrian outlined his plan to form the framework for a region wide wall.

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