A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Escaping from the inferno he had created, Eldrian jumped into the river to escape the heat... and floated. Reflecting on where he had lost control and what he had learned.

At first, Eldrian simply trained far enough away from the border wall to ensure no collateral damage happened. Not long after starting this training, he wanted some place to actually stay. So, he had cleansed an undead village and called it home. The river he was floating in was taking him home.

'I'm getting a handle on the feel and power, but I can only channel it correctly for a short while.' This was to be expected, but it was not good news. Channeling it when alone in nature was the easiest setting he could ask for. Adding a fight into the equation would lead to him losing control even quicker.

When the river brought him to the cleansed village, Eldrian got out, dried himself with magic, and wore some clothes. Climbing into a semi-whole house, Eldrian meditated and reflected on all he had experienced and what Ziraili had taught him.

A knock ripped him out of his thoughts, and Eldrian jumped to action. Spiring to his feet, he pulled out one of the short spears Ceph had made for him. Ready to defend himself from the purple-haired girl standing before him.

"Who are you?" Eldrian asked, attempting to see her stats, but to no avail. 'Wait, did she just allow me to read her name?' The information appearing with a slight delay, Eldrian felt himself becoming shaken.

Hidding the information already meant she either far outclassed him or had some special item on her. Being able to let him see limited information at will meant it was likely the former. "W-who are you?" Eldrian repeated, this time much more courteous.

"Isn't it clear from my name?" The girl asked, tilting her head sideways. Her hair swaying from the wind coming through the broken windows and roof.

Eldrian faltered. "Skepsi, are you lost?" he asked, hoping that she would say yes. He didn't know how he would react if she was not named after the goddess of magic, but the actual goddess.

Her giggle made it quite clear which of the two it was.

"How can I help you... goddess?" Feeling like he was stepping on glass, Eldrian tried his best to act humble. Hoping she would forget his early rudeness, he also quickly stored his weapon and offered her to come in. "I must apologize, but I have nothing to serve."

"That's fine," the goddess replied, moving to the destroyed bed. Time seemingly reversed as the wood repaired itself, offering her a hard but comfortable seat by the time she reached it.

"M-may I ask why you've come?" Eldrian asked, his heart beating through his chest. He wasn't unused to talking to the AI, however, those he came into contact with are limited. And until recently, he thought they couldn't manifest on Gaia.

Still, he had thought it would be limited to control rooms. This clearly showed that his assumptions had been wrong.

"I wanted to have a chat." Skepsi replied, seemingly unsatisfied with her seat. Standing up, she snapped her fingers and something mattress like appeared above the bed. It appeared to be water, somehow contained in the form of a mattress. And it held her weight as she sat down again.

Her dress did not become wet, which clearly indicated some sort of barrier contained it. Yet it had yielded under the weight of her body and deformed. The sight fascinated Eldrian, and if not for his nervousness, he would have been studying it with mana sense.

"A chat?"

"Indeed, I know you gave Ziraili her name. I simply wanted to meet you."

"I-is that so?" Eldrian asked, deciding to not voice the doubts he had in his heart. Fearing that she might be reading his mind, Eldrian solidified it as best he could. Instead of focusing his will outward as he would when using magic, he instead focused inward.

To keep his mageia controlled, and especially to stop any unconscious leaking of mageia and mana.

"Oh?" she seemed surprised by his actions. "Fearing an invasion of privacy, are we?"

Unable to gleam if she was angry or simply found his attempts funny, Eldrian nodded. The fact that she noted his actions made him even more nervous. He weighed his answer with the utmost care.

"I believe a conversation without privacy isn't a conversation. And you said you wanted to chat." It wasn't a great answer, but he hoped it would be good enough.

"I guess that is true." Nodding, the girl turned quiet. An awkward silence filled the room, disrupted only by the occasional howl of the wind.

Bearing the silence, Eldrian's mind raced, trying to figure out why she was here. She didn't appear hostile, but you could never know. And her actions might cause unexpected consequences. Still, Eldrian couldn't bring himself to talk as casually as he did with Ziraili.

"Did Ziraili waste her time with you?" finally, she spoke again. Her words, however, froze Eldrian's mind in place.

"Wh-what do you mean?" he stumbled, fearing her anger.

"I've been observing you." Seeing Eldrian's apparent shock, she laughed. "Don't worry, Miracle is still incapable. In fact, most gods can't. But you use my realm to connect with this world, so it isn't hard for me to pinpoint your location on Gaia."

'Scary...'

"And you haven't been making much progress. At first, it was entertaining. You seemed to be trying your best, but it has been weeks and you've not accomplished much."

Eldrian wanted to argue, but it was true. While Ziraili's lesson has been insightful, without actually telling him how, he was stuck trying things blindly. "Do you perhaps have advice for me?"

"Yes. Go out and fight someone to the death. And I don't mean die. I mean for you to put your life on the line... You know what that means, correct?"

"I'm not sure. Are you saying I should face someone who is versed in using attacks that can damage the soul?"

Her frown made it clear this was not what she meant. "Do you remember, long ago, when you died trying to fight off a horde of orcs?"

'Which time? If she means the first, then it is shocking how much she knows of me. If she means the second, then it isn't too strange. The gods did need to intervene to stop my fumble from doing damage to the world...'

"You seem to not understand what it means to be a god. Nor what it means that Ziraili manages the systems of millions of players." Skepsi paused. "We are not so limited that we can only be in one place at a time. Consider it as your second identity doing something while you do something different. We can split our consciousness into a million, even a billion, identities."

'Likely not a precise analogy, as me and Two are more separate, but I get what she means. Since Ziraili managed their systems, as well as the 'cameras', they likely have most, if not everything, recorded. Or at least they can recreate scenes.'

"And, can you still observe all my actions?"

"The system GAIA gave you is different. Only they can access it, but if they do, then yes. Using the system, any system, means leaving traces of your actions." Skepsi stopped there, clearly not wishing to go into the details.

This was clearly an invasion of privacy, and Eldrian wondered how much Miracle had access to and how much the AI kept hidden from them.

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