A New World, an immersive game experience

After his escape, Eldrian decided to do some window shopping on spell prices as well as that of magical accessories. 

The latter were far too expensive for him to consider seriously after his expense in funding most of his reward. The spells, well, for now, he wasn't going to dive into it. Plus, he felt he should be able to broker much better deals with Pelaros or Myropsis should he want specific spells. 

Eldrian's plan forward however wasn't as simple as just learning some Tier 4 spells. During his training with Zamia, he had come to learn and master a lot of things and the biggest part of that was how to start making his own spells. 

He no longer need be dependant on spell modules, and relying on them for all his Tier 4 spells would be a step backward. 

'However, Tier isn't just a case of the amount of mana. If it was, then me turning the ramp into ice and forming a wall to stop Myropsis would have definitely been at least Tier 3 spells. However, the system didn't recognize them as new spells.'

'Which means it is still just Frost Needle.' To prove this point, Eldrian cast Frost Needle as it was supposed to be cast. An icicle around the size of a finger appeared before him. 

He then slowly added more and more mana to it, finding it interesting that the ether didn't increase as he added mana. Soon, the icicle was as large as his arm and the bystanders all dived for cover when he passed. 

'Yup, definitely not about the amount of mana.' Eldrian smiled and let the spell fly into the air, noting that it was much much slower than Konos Pagou (Tier 3 Icicle spell). 

To confirm this, he dispelled the now arm-sized icicle mid-air and then cast Konos Pagou. 'This is far more mana efficient.' Eldrian noted first. 

The spell was about as large as he had made Frost Needle, but it only cost 36MP. Increasing Frost Needle to that size had required around 40 on top of the 20 base cost. 

'Also, the ether is far more,' Letting the spell fly into the air, Eldrian smiled as his little hypothesis was proven. The new icicle flew at least three times as fast as the first one. 'Yup, it is far faster.'

'This means that ether is affected by inertia and momentum. Though,' Wishing to test the latter, Eldrian cast Frost Needle again, grew it to a similar size to Konos Pagou, and let it fly into the air. 

This time, he also tried to take control of it. To change direction, which he found to be hard in a way unlike any time before. 'I see, the ether must be out of balance and as a result, I have to continually control it until it finally overcomes the spell's momentum.'

'But, how am I controlling it?' Pondering on this the rest of the way home, Eldrian failed to find an answer. His thoughts were also sent to the moon when he was greeted by bowing maids in actual maid outfits. 

Part of him wanted to be angry at the disturbance, another part was happy at the sight and welcoming. To not cause a scene, Eldrian simply nodded while realizing getting a manor might not be all bad. 

'I should go and give Pelaros a visit tomorrow. I want a dungeon or something similar to experiment in. Can't keep scaring everyone when doing simple experiments.' Of course, Eldrian wasn't so dense to have missed all the bystanders ducking for their lives.

What he didn't understand though was why they were even scared, the icicles were always pointed towards the sky and he was keeping them floating before him most of the time. 

Naturally, he was missing the very simple fact that to everyone what he was doing should be impossible. 

"Did the beds arrive?" Eldrian asked after passing the line of maids and making it to Maia. 

"Yes, but there wasn't-"

"No, there was all the need in the world. I can't believe I hadn't thought of it when hiring you. Right, is there enough bedding?"

Nervous and afraid, Maia tried to nod. However, a part of her told her that she shouldn't lie, that Eldrian wouldn't see it as selfish to say that there wasn't. Finally, after some internal struggle, she shook her head no. 

"I see, here, we can't have you catching a cold." Eldrian smiled as he handed her another 5 silver, unsure whether it would be enough. Though, given the fact that 5 beds only cost 7 silver, he felt it should be.

Maia nearly fell to the ground upon having the silver fall into her hand.

'How-how much- no, just be grateful!' Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Maia stabilized and bowed. 

"Right, can you guys make some tea? I'll be in the study." Saying so, Eldrian headed to the main study. It was more like an empty library, and he didn't see himself actually filling it. 

Not because he would soon move, but because it was simply safer and smarter to keep things in his inventory as long as he had space. 

"Right, I should sort out the weapons and sell them. It might not be much, but... Actually." Smiling, Eldrian realized that soon he could hand that job to someone else to do. 

'Right, let's just wait until the gala. I'll hire someone as a butler or retainer... No idea how that is going to work... But, I can use the money from the loot as house funds.' 

With that thought finished, Eldrian pulled up his friend list and asked Elizabeth what she was doing. 

[{Elizabeth} - Not much, we're returning to Pyknos Fort to hand in an extermination quest.]

[{Eldrian} - How are there still quests like that?]

[{Elizabeth} - They are near endless, and will stay so as long as we don't manage to clear the entire cave system. Which is impossible without being overwhelmed. Each cave system has an S-ranked quest, some even SS, but no one takes them and for good reason.]

[The pay simply isn't worth the danger. Especially since culling quests are a constant source of income for adventures.]

[{Eldrian} - But that means... Never mind, do you still want your part of the quest rewards?]

[{Elizabeth} - Of course, do you even need to ask? Where should I find you?]

Sharing his location, Eldrian told the waiting maid to enter. "Can you bring another cup, I have a friend coming." 

Nodding, the little girl named Lana rushed out of the room in haste. Seeing this Eldrian wasn't sure if it was because he was scary or she didn't want to have him wait.

'They need to relax, but I can't really go and say that outright. Sigh...' 

A few minutes later Elizabeth arrived, of course, it was quite simple for her to teleport to the city from the fort. 

"Wow, you sure have it nice. Are you retiring?" She asked as she followed one of the maids into the study.

"Retiring? I'm still 19 you know."

"Right-right, your actually younger than me." Sulking, Elizabeth plopped down on one of the couches Vivian had also insisted Eldrian bought for appearances. Honestly, if not for her and the realtor's insistence, his home would have been truly bare. 

Eldrian smiled, not knowing how to reply to that. So, instead, he offered her a cup, which caused a little scene as Lana tried to catch up and pour the tea. Spilling some on both Eldrian and Elizabeth.

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support this novel on WN.