While Eldrian's condition was baffling, the more concerning news was what Miracle had recently been up to.
With the third tournament around the corner, they had announced that it would be one to remember. Giving little teasers of information about how they have been working on trying to bring magic to the world. And they were seeing success.
This, naturally, ignited conversations about Eldrian's appearance in the last tournament. Which had thrown everything into chaos. Naturally, everyone also reconsidered what Eldrian had said, and the entire interaction he had had with Zaprheal.
People were watching the recordings of their fight and the negotiations beforehand. Wondering why, if Eldrian had spoken the truth, Miracle had wanted to deny it.
Many had thought him a lunatic when he said magic existed. And Miracle's follow-up had made them ignore what he had said. Sure, a few ten thousand had tried to follow up, but nothing much came of it since Eldrian didn't share more information.
Though he had shared plenty of information on how to better use magic.
The reason for Miracle's actions were quite simple. They wanted to control the flow of information. The contract Eldrian had signed had ensured just this.
They didn't want people to know that magic already existed. They wanted to make it seem like they had discovered and brought it to the world.
They wove it quite nicely with all the other interviews they had done since ANW's release. Now almost four years ago.
To those who knew the truth, everything was laughable. More than that, it was concerning. They knew it had to be why Eldrian was pushing himself so hard, but they didn't know why.
Eldrian hadn't shared all that Ziraili had told him with the others. He felt it would needlessly worry them.
Perhaps it would be better if he told them everything. Sadly, none of his friends showed the same inclination for magic as he did. Ilmadia was the closest to mastering control over her mana.
Heck, she had even found a new way to control it and form magic. Yet, she couldn't weave mana effortlessly. Even now, she needed a medium through which to do so. Be this a spell module, song, or rune.
Eldrian understood why, too. Magic was not something that people were naturally attuned to use. At least not for those born on Earth. The natives of ANW were modified to be more attuned to magic.
They were humans (or demi-humans and others), but the humans were not the same humans as could be found on Earth.
Now, some people on Earth were exceptions. The families who had founded Miracle made up the majority of them on Earth, but there were the occasional magicians and heroic warriors. People who awoke a dormant ability to feel the flow of mana within them.
Eldrian was an exception for two simple reasons:
One, he used a Magic Crystal to learn how to control his mana. That he did this so early made the process easier, he had no bad habits that could lead him astray. Though he did have his own fair share of bad habits in other regards.
The second reason was the damage he had sustained to his soul. This, along with his awakening through the use of Magic Crystals, had allowed him to gain access to the Magic Abyss. A feat that normally required mages to reach Tier 7 before they could even attempt it.
From there, he gained a further affinity with magic as he learned to freely access his soul. And this was the key difference.
At this point, Eldrian could now channel his auras. He finally had control. However, even before the improvements he had made in the last month, Eldrian had access to lifeforce.
Sure, he couldn't access it directly. And when he tried to force the issue, things went terrible. Still, simply having access to it allowed him to control mana with ease, which was unique.
His control of mana far surpassed even those from Miracle. They, however, had better control of their bloodline abilities.
At least, that had been the case when Eldrian had fought Zaphreal in the last tournament. Should they fight now, the outcome might be completely different.
'Should I tell them?' Eldrian asked himself.
While he had gone to his bed, he hadn't fallen asleep. After hearing Nikki and Erik talk, he had to listen to hear what they thought of him. Such was human nature.
Honestly, Eldrian asked himself this question every day. It wasn't fun keeping everyone in the dark. But since no one had the experience needed to be capable of helping, he didn't want to burden them with an unsolvable problem.
And there was no way he would ask them to face situations that would damage their souls. The possibility of dying was too high. Not to mention the pain that it was associated with.
Without the mutation that came with that damage, his friends would forever be a step behind.
'No, it is better I shoulder this alone.' Eldrian concluded, once again. Like he had every day, he asked the question. And with that, he drifted off to sleep.
—
"Do you think he will ever open up to us?" Nikki asked after a while of silence. Long enough for Eldrian's exhaustion to catch up to him.
"I don't think so," Erik said, explaining his difficulty in understanding Akarui's struggles. "Even if he tells us, we might not understand. We might not be able to help, either."
"Still, we can help give him some advice."
"Do you think we can?" Erik asked.
Eldrian had at least told them of his training with Ziraili. And Erik doubted they could give Eldrian advice that would surpass that of an actual goddess.
Whatever they might offer up will be limited by their lack of experience and understanding.
They might be able to understand Eldrian's struggles better than Ziraili, but that would only allow Eldrian to vent. And if he had wanted to do that, he would have.
"Ugh! This is so frustrating."
"The best we can do is make sure the kingdom is doing fine," Erik said, shifting the topic. "What is our plan for when the roads are built?"
Currently, the players were being given missions to clean paths through the Chaos Lands.
Naturally, soldiers were also assigned to this task. Though, the soldiers were focusing more on clearing the invading armies that were wandering into the kingdom from the Chaos Lands.
"The others have been talking of controlling another fort. With the new update, it's gotten easier to do. And it would also help during construction since the system can build it quickly."
The guild recently reached level 6, which meant they now officially unlocked the settlement development functions. The member limit jumped from 5k to 10k; they could also include NPCs in their guild now, up to a thousand.
Naturally, since NPCs were natives of ANW and actual people, it wasn't as simple as sending a recruiting event and getting recruits. Getting anyone to apply required the guild to have made a name for itself.
The guild had to be reputable and deemed stable. Simply put, if a lot of people died, no one would want to join the guild.
Players dying was fine; after all, they revived. NPCs dying, however, was permanent.
Sure, there was resurrection magic, but it had so many restrictions that it often couldn't be put to good use. Not to mention that any soul attacks would basically disable resurrections.
Also, the guild now received 50 gold per month. Which, with the current exchange rate, was about a thousand dollars. Not much, but it was enough to pay for the electricity, food, and other necessities for the warehouse and Eldrian.
He had gotten too used to stealing. The fact that he used magic casually to pocket whatever he needed had made the others aghast.
While they understood the necessity and reason he did so, that he had thought it normal after living on the run for so long had been deeply troubling to the group.
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