A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

But first, Eldrian had to give Boran a tour of the fort. It wasn't actually that much. A keep, tower, temple, and then some barracks and training fields.

What Boran was really intrigued by was the blue screen, which had asked him to agree to some sort of rules. To explain, however, was not so easy. Eldrian had never told Boran about him being a player, or rather, what being a Chosen actually meant.

Now, Boran might have learnt about it, or some things. But that their world was artificial, Eldrian was sure Boran wouldn't know about that. Luckily, he could explain things without needing to mention that.

"It's part of a new benefit the gods are giving to the Chosen. The blue screen and its prompt acts as a contract. Allowing us to minimize potential dangers entering the fort."

"I see. Is this also exclusive to the Chosen?" Naturally, getting the gods to help with city security sounded amazing.

"We are the only ones who can directly contact the gods." Eldrian replied, doing his best to explain things. Such as the fact that they had a gaming interface, and while not directly talking with the gods, they could access divine powers through them.

"I see. How fascinating. I've also heard recently of dungeons popping up all over the place. These also seem to exclusive to you Chosen. Is the reason the same?"

"Yes, I think so. It uses the same type of magical interface which only we Chosen can access. Though I haven't entered a dungeon yet. So I'm not sure what the restrictions are exactly."

Thereafter, the two retired to the keep. Which was actually decently furnished. Considering it was the place where diplomatic meetings with the vampires would be held, that much was to be expected. Though, Eldrian rarely came here and had had no hand in the furnishing.

Asking some of the servants to prepare some drinks for them, the two caught up with one another in the dining hall.

—

The next day, they had set out for Ganalin. And just like last time, the gate-city of Pordor was a sight to witness. The floating stalactites and many crystals embedding the cavern, which shone light onto the stone city. It remained as beautiful as when Eldrian had first seen it.

"Ah, Eldrian, good to see you again." Ingvar greeted, shooting to a salute once he recognized the dwarf Eldrian was with.

"Be at ease." Boran replied, his aura shifting to a far more regal stance than it had been during their journey. The shift almost made Eldrian think that the dwarf was a different person.

However, his blue scaled right arm was as clear an indicator as any for his identity. It was also something that the entire population likely knew of, and thus, no one would fail to recognize Boran and their kind.

Which, naturally, caused them to receive the royal treatment. Even though Eldrian had become used to more formal events, he still couldn't relax when things were formal. Luckily, he already knew both Ingvar, one of the highest ranked dwarves in the city, and the lord of the city.

Their meeting with the latter wasn't too long, either. Apparently, Viggo wanted to confirm a few things with Boran. Eldrian wasn't privy to their private talk, but he had learned through Borge about the general situation of the dwarves.

While their war was not won, they had secured their borders thanks to the cannons. They had even started to develop alternative types of cannons. Some players had apparently come to the dwarves to learn smithing (mostly from Artis Guild), and they had brought up the idea of guns—and missiles.

The latter was a bit too ambitious, but apparently cannons had been made small enough for a dwarf to carry in hand. Though it was unwieldy, it was much more mobile than cannons that needed a group to move, or someone with a dimensional storage.

When their meeting ended, Viggo quickly organized a carriage for them, along with some guards.

"Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the various sights." Eldrian said. "But why didn't we just teleport?" He felt like this was taking slightly longer than needed. Especially since Boran would have a meeting with every city lord as they passed through said city. Their guards shifting and the Spilio (a bear like monster capable of changing its size) drawing the carriage changing in its largish form.

"Security reasons." Boran replied. "Teleportation between kingdoms has been locked. Besides, the trip will only take a few hours." Other than the two, Solvi was here as well. She had caught up to them after the meeting.

Eldrian had thought to contact Ceph, but he was helping out in the war. Ceph's help wasn't necessarily required, but his help certainly relieved the front lines. And, for now, things were looking up. Especially for Navedan, which had reclaimed their outer walls and were raiding the siege camp around Tripeak.

It was expected that the undead would retreat or go for broke in the next week. And everyone was naturally waiting for that shift. Luckily, with other players now having a map similar to Eldrian's, observing the moments of the undead was much, much easier.

As for Virski, Eldrian had asked him to stay near Fort Phoenix until he returned. Promising the pup some delicious high grade food if he did. It had demanded something at the level of a Bloodline creature, which was fine with Eldrian.

Finally, after seven hours—during which Eldrian had played with his spells, often causing the guards to flinch—their carriage reached the capital.

A massive gate, probably a hundred meters or more in height and width, was the first welcome. It covered the entirety of the cavern, and naturally, it wasn't opened for their small party. Instead, a smaller gate existed in this gargantuan gate, which they had passed through.

And through that small gate, a sight straight out of fantasy welcomed them. A sight far grander in splendor than Pordor.

"Wow." Eldrian let slip. It really was impressive. Pordor had three floating stalactites. The capital, Buglodihr, had too many to count. They acted almost like lanterns in the massive cavern that made up the entire city. Massive didn't even account for how insanely large the cavern was.

At the sides, and even in some placed in the middle of the cavern, were waterfalls. With building built around them and vegetation growing. There were even massive trees, hundreds of meters tall, sprouting right here in the cave.

Bridges connected most of the buildings, with massive chasm occasionally separating parts of the city. Likely in case of defense, the connection could be broken, and an invasion stopped right in its place.

"This really is something." Eldrian commented, intrigued most of all by the floating stalactites. From what he recalled, they functioned like magic towers. Though not all were for defense, some were for luxury restaurants and inns, or high-class smithies. The sight truly put into perspective the difference between the dwarves and Taurus.

Though, Eldrian had to ask if this was normal for dwarves. From what he knew, Ganalin wasn't even that large of a dwarven kingdom. The sight before him seemed a bit  too much.

"It sure is." Solvi echoed.

She was not from the capital, and while not her first time visiting, it still remained quite the sight. Especially beautiful were the different finishes to the floating stalactites. Some shone like mithril, others like diamonds.