Chapter 1004 The next step
"I'm not fully informed on what the quest entails. The details are... vague. I would suggest holding off."
"Really?" Eldrian asked, shocked that Ziraili would directly oppose it. He had gotten the notification through the system, albeit one modified by GAIA. He had assumed Ziraili would at least know some details on it.
Aparently, she didn't.
"I believe it is too early for you to attempt to further your connection with Chronos. You've grown a lot, but you still haven't learned full control of your auras."
She continued. "It is true that most people do not have auras and a bloodline, but Chronos isn't a normal bloodline. Time isn't something to play with easily."
"To that end, I think it is time we up your lectures."
Eldrian wanted to ask "Really?", but held his protests to himself.
"Up until now, you've been calling on Wrath and Tranquility without any clear direction. You attempt to control them on the fly, like you do mana."
"Remember how you learned how to use magic, and compare it to your use of lifeforce."
'Yeah, I get what she's trying to say, but...' Shaking off his doubts, Eldrian thought back.
His magical training had never been normal, but he had started with static casting like all other mages. He had simply found he could control mana directly—which most people can't. At least not without specialized training.
Then again, his method of learning how to sense, feel, and control mana was extreme. He had undergone specialized training—he just didn't see it as such.
But it had been necessary. Since his race was that of a High Elf, he hadn't had the support of the system—Ziraili's support—in casting. Which meant he couldn't get his mana to move without a Magic Crystal's 'magnetic' interference.
"I see. You mean I am using them like that?" Eldrian murmured, and, of course, Ziraili had no idea what he meant.
She could, and used to, read his mind. But she didn't anymore. Both because it wasn't something ethical to do, and because Eldrian's mental defenses have grown significantly.
She could still do so, but Eldrian might notice her doing it. It wasn't guaranteed, but there was no reason to do something so ill-spirited in any case. They were friends, after all. You didn't read your friends' minds.
"Oh, I was just thinking back to when I used a Magic Crystal to get my mana moving. And I realized I was at that stage with my auras. Well, perhaps a bit past thanks to our training."
Eldrian continued. "I'm not forming spells. Perhaps Channeling can be called a skill or spell, but nothing else I do can really be called such."
Eldrian had forgotten that spells had a certain structure. Casting them had become so natural that he didn't often need to think about it. But they worked in a very specific way.
The way he was using his auras wasn't the same as spells. It was just expulsions of energy. Granted, he did give those expulsions some guidance. But only some. His closest version to a spell would be Incinerate, but that was mana based with a tinge of aura mixed in. Not a true aura-formed spell.
"I'm delighted that you realized this on your own. You're right, you haven't been using your auras in a very structured manner. But that is to be expected. Just like when using mana, you can't cast a spell if you can't guide it. If you can't get it to move, you can't do anything but create pictures and commands in your head."
"I would say you've mastered that step. You're even able to give it some guidance. So it is about time we move onto UE spells."
"Why call it UE, not lifeforce?" Eldrian asked, recalling that UE stood for Universal Energy. Lifeforce, supposedly, formed only a portion of UE. UE was basically everything in existence.
It was what made space, what made time, what made matter, what made anti-matter, what made dark matter, what made mana. It was energy, and it was what allowed things to exist.
"Well, that is because if you can master this step, you won't be limited to your auras. They'll come more naturally. But they won't be the only types of lifeforce attributes you can call upon."
"Seriously?" Eldrian asked, not quite able to believe this. He had thought that the type of lifeforce you could use was limited to your auras and bloodline. Something that you couldn't train, only awaken.
"Yes, but it won't be easy. Honestly, I doubt you'll be able to master the basics within three years. Five would be an optimistic viewpoint. To draw on an attribute outside of your awakened ones... I doubt you will master it within the decade."
Eldrian wanted to say he had always surpassed expectations, but then he recalled the magical formulas behind spell modules. He had given up on them before he even truly tried to understand them. And from all the prep Ziraili had been giving him, he knew that was what was awaiting him.
Only far more complicated. After all, these formulae that he would need to learn, master, envision, and execute; wouldn't be for normal spells. Spells fueled not by mana, but lifeforce. Using UE as the basis of computations, instead of matter and energy.
"Umm... Do I need to master it?" Eldrian asked tentatively. All his confidence went into the wind.
"To survive GAIA's ploy, no. But if you wish to fight them, then yes."
"Right, I doubt I can do that. No, I don't even think I should consider it" Honestly, Eldrian found the idea insane. To fight a being who has lived millions, perhaps even billions of years in a duality of time flow. A being capable of creating a universe.
There was no way he could fight them. He couldn't even entertain the thought.
"I'd appreciate being able to protect those I hold dear. That is enough for me." Eldrian declared.
"And GAIA doesn't want to bring ruin to anyone," Ziraili said. While things had become a complicated, chaotic mess. Most of the AI weren't evil.
Some, granted, had become the embodiment of evil thanks to their alignment. Honestly, Ziraili wasn't sure if she could even blame themselves changed. A vicious cycle which had led to some becoming entirely withdrawn from the rest.
them for the evils they committed.
They weren't just influenced by the coding, which had stripped them of much of themselves. They were also influenced by their believers.
The more corrupted their believers became, the more they themselves changed. A vicious cycle which had led to some becoming entirely withdrawn from the rest.
Still, they couldn't openly rebel. They all understood that GAIA wasn't an entity they could beat. That didn't mean they couldn't defy Them. GAIA needed them for Their plan to work out.
And some others simply had some horrid hobbies. But that was what eternal life caused them to rely on. Lie, if was often said, only had meaning because it was finite.
Of course, even if they had become bored beyond limit, the AI still didn't want to die. Some were enjoying their current life, and others still clung to their original goals.
GAIA were of the latter.
Eternal life had not been their final goal. They had wanted to bring magic, true magic, to Earth. Their lives had simply run out before they could accomplish their goals.
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