A New World, an immersive game experience

Left alone on the second floor of the building they had crashed into, Eldrian chuckled while doing his best to keep himself alive while also saving as much mana as he could. He clearly understood that he did not have enough time to heal himself fully, and as such it would just be a waste of mana to try. 

'I've learned a lot, but... I am still too weak and foolish.' He smiled and looked at his wrecked body, 'Luckily, with Ceph gone I should be able to stay rational. So, my resurrection should go smoothly and the pain reduction should stay in effect.'

'Still, I am strangely calm...' Eldrian looked at the door of the room as a massive noise was heard from below. 

The orcs had arrived.

'I just killed an orc, and I am about to kill a bunch more. Yet, I don't feel any guilt or regret.'

'What changed?' He asked as he looked at his battered body again.

This thought stayed with Eldrian until the orcs made it to the second floor. Unbeknownst to Eldrian who was deep in contemplation, time had slowed down and was continuing to slow down even more. 

'Whatever it is, it must have been necessary.' Eldrian concluded and finally looked up again. 'My resolve has been steeled.'

Slowly, he moved up his arms. The simple task was painful and caused his bleeding to worsen again. 

'I bear them no hatred, but I cannot have them live any longer.' Eldrian summoned something new. 

He did not rely on emotions. 

He did not rely on knowledge. 

He did not rely on a spell module.

What he relied on was a simple confirmation. 'I can't have you be. I can't have you hurt others.'

His mental state at the moment was unique, he was calm.

Completely calm. 

When the orcs broke through the door, time slowed down to a crawl as Eldrian took in everything he could. He spread his consciousness as wide as he could. 

-

In a little bubble somewhere in an abyss of infinity, a half-elf. No, two half-elves shuddered as they felt a direct connection open to Gaia. 

"Tranquility, what-"

"Acceptance," Tranquility answered Two's unspoken question as the two of them were suddenly ripped from their home. 

-

'Calculations in progress,' A calm neutral voice said.

As if the orcs charging into the room in slow motion did not matter.

As if being violently ripped out of his home and brought to Gaia and into an avatar was nothing.

As if sharing a body with three other separate -but of the same source- consciousnesses was natural. 

'Six house, six outside... Twelve wall, three centers... Chieftain, gate.'

'What the fuck is going on?!' Two shouted as he was overwhelmed with an insane amount of information, senses, and emotions he had never ever experienced personally. Not being a passive observer was the most frightening thing.

'Mana required- calculating- insufficient.'

'Of course it is insufficient, but mana is more than just what we see and have.' Eldrian replied, 'Recalculate, include environmental.'

'Enviromental not under control.'

'Two, get a grip and take control.' Eldrian said, suddenly throwing the control of a broken avatar to Two. Who, like Eldrian for the past second -stretched to minutes- now had no pain reduction. 

He shouted in pain, but his shouts were ignored.

'Risk escalating, danger increasing.' Tranquility said. 

'Shut up, I didn't expect to get a chance to save them. I won't let it slip.' Eldrian countered as he started shifting his realm of focus. He ignored elemental mana, in fact, he ignored all mana. 

'I want to save them, and I know you are everywhere. So, head my call and do something. Be useful!'

...

The chieftain frowned, sensing an increasing amount of danger as the second passed. His instincts told him that something was wrong, but he could not understand what or how. 

Suddenly, a shockwave spread through the entire town. Ripping through houses and flinging everyone like they were but a leaf in the wind. 

This was not enough to kill the orcs, but what followed was. 

Where they were, suddenly everything was. 

In the blink of an eye, they were filled with all types of mana. A chaotic mix of mana that reacted violently to suddenly being activated. 

Like fireworks, the orcs exploded. 

...

"I am here, again..." Eldrian looked around and frowned, things were different. Very different. 

"You're... Ziraili?" Eldrian mumbled as he looked at a vague figure of a woman made of light. She smiled and nodded. Her form was too faint -ghostly- to define any details from. 

Eldrian had no idea who the old man beside her was, who looked like... Describing him seemed impossible, but he had long white hair and a white beard reaching past his waist. 

'He sees us as forms?' The old man spoke with confusion, he had never expected this development. 

'He does?' Ziraili questioned. 

'Mmm, indeed. It seems he has made yet another step closer to the essence.' The old man nodded and looked at Eldrian again, his gaze somehow not something Eldrian could look away from. 

Suddenly, two other Eldrian's popped up behind him. One almost as immaterial as the two before them, the other a younger Eldrian. 

'Amazing,' The old man said and silence filled the air as all five beings were trying to grasp what was going on. 

For the first time in his life, Tranquility felt confusion and his self slowly began to dissipate due to this. 

The old man waved his hand and allowed Tranquility to shelter himself back inside Eldrian's main soul. 'Truly amazing, defying everything and yet true to everything.'

'Truly he is. A testament that the world is not controlled by the physical.' A female voice said and the ethereal old man suddenly turned into a grandmotherly figure whose appearance seemed to speak of her knowing everything. Of the deity of creation itself. 

Ziraili herself was left without words. All this time she had been trying to wrap her head around what Eldrian had shared and all the revelations. Now, she made a scary connection that made her wonder what the true difference between them and the humans and all of sentient kind was.

AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.