A New World, an immersive game experience

Chapter 450: Suspicion

Only now, after answering, did Eldrian realize that it was night. Looking around he smiled and laughed, "Haha, sorry. I entered a state unlike ever before and I guess I lost track of time."

Trying to stand up, Eldrian nearly fell. Luckily, Gengxin was right next to him and quickly offered his support.

"I really need to get something to eat." Eldrian said, accepting the help without argument.

"Since when were you here?" Gengxin asked as he and Eldrian moved to the ANW department.

"Morning, I assume last morning. You would have long since taken me into the medical ward if it was two days ago."

Gengxin nodded, indeed they had realized something was up when Eldrian hadn't entered the game even after midnight. When they confirmed that he hadn't left the grounds, they started becoming worried.

However, even after finding them, they hadn't wanted to move him immediately. Instead, they had first tried to ascertain what was going on.

"Thanks, sorry for worrying you," Eldrian said as they arrived at the cafeteria. Naturally, there was no one serving food at 3 in the morning. But there was the station to make oneself a snack. With how many people in this building had to work at night, there was almost an entire buffet.

"It is quite alright... If you wouldn't mind."

"Oh sure, you can join me. I guess you have some more questions." Eldrian smiled as he grabbed himself some muesli and yoghurt, along with a slice of bread and some jam.

"I do, but let's eat first."

Nodding, Eldrian finished the slice of bread first before mixing the muesli and yoghurt. Eating it slowly as he told Gengxin to go ahead and ask his questions.

"I just have a few questions. But they can't really wait."

"Sure, go ahead." Eldrian nodded and tried to make it clear he didn't mind.

"In this meditation, what had you so entranced that you failed to even realize that someone was asking you if you were alright? And how could you have meditated for nearly an entire day?"

"Right... That isn't so easy to answer." Eldrian pondered on how he was going to explain this.

He certainly didn't want to share with Miracle that magic, or at the very least, mana, existed on the planet.

It was faint and basically useless. But it was here if they knew they would likely push even harder for people to succeed in the game. Eldrian had this feeling that it would make things really hard going forward.

He also had no plans to explore magic on Earth, at least not for a long long time. His focus was on the game. The discovery of mana on Earth hadn't changed how he viewed ANW.

"I don't really know how to answer. You know how people talk about finding enlightenment. Well, it was like that. I just had this flash of inspiration and started focusing on it with all that I have."

"I see, do you then have any idea how the headset didn't detect much, or any, brain activity?"

'Shit!' Eldrian nearly panicked, luckily he remembered that his meditative state always had strange readings.

"I have no idea. After the epiphany, I had simply cleared my mind. Entering a state where time didn't mean anything. It is almost like sleeping, but I am meditating. Maybe that's why?"

Gengxin nodded, he was uncertain if Eldrian was holding something back or just didn't know how to explain it. However, thinking about how monks talked about clearing their heads and also then being capable of meditating for hours. Gengxin felt this might be something similar.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Eldrian asked, hoping that the questions were done. This was the least prepared he had ever been to be questioned.

"No, that was the most concerning... Actually, do you think you will be able to replicate it? It might help us gain some insights into comatose patients."

Eldrian didn't rush to answer, he thought seriously on it for a good while. While trying to replicate it might help Miracle realize what he had discovered, he wanted to help people if he could.

However, he also realized he might not be able to replicate it even if he wanted. Indeed, he had truly had an epiphany and that was the only reason he had entered such a state.

Luckily, Gengxin wasn't pressing him on what the epiphany was. It was what Eldrian feared the most, as he had no good answer to that.

After nearly a minute of serious thinking, Eldrian finally replied. "I wish I could, but without another flash of inspiration I doubt that will be possible."

"I see..." Gengxin sighed, having expected the answer. "In that case, I will leave you to enjoy the rest of your food."

...

"Do you think he is sharing everything he knows with us?" Joren asked as soon as Gengxin joined him and Constantin.

"No, but whether this is a conscious decision by him or not, I am not too sure. He might simply be unable to formulate it into words, or he might not be aware of it." Gengxin replied.

"It is useless to question. As far as I can tell, he really wants to help others learn magic. Over the past 2 months he had been training insanely hard under the alicorns. However, he never stopped helping those on the thread on magic control."

"Indeed, it is now always the top-ranked thread. A large part is thanks to him trying to guide others, and as the thread grows, so do the number of people succeeding in feeling mana." Joren nodded in agreement.

Eldrian doing so much to help others learn magic was counterintuitive if he was trying to keep things a secret.

However, even now with nearly a thousand players having reported being able to feel their mana. Just three had stated that they were capable of taking control of the said mana. Yet this control was far too rudimentary.

Constantin had reached the same level as these three, but the control they had was basically useless. They couldn't even form Tier 0 spells with their control. They could only move the mana inside of them, and only slightly.

This, naturally, excluded Erik. But his case was different with having a hidden class and an alicorn teaching him.

Even if they wanted, they as the developers are unable to give everyone such a rich environment to master magic in.

"We might be able to make hidden classes more available." Constantin proposed after some consideration.

"Do you mean to have more people be able to control mana like this new player, Faust?" Joren questioned, and Constantin nodded.

"That won't really help. His control is only in relation to his class, and while that is better than what we have ever managed, it is a far cry from what Eldrian is capable of."

"Then... We need to make getting a class such as his easier."

"Impossible, he learned how to control magic before gaining the hidden class. We don't even know how hidden classes really work. All that we do know is that it requires a certain amount of control over mana, and a unique perspective relating to the class."

"Then, what about making some tests available for players?" Gengxin proposed and the two quickly perked up their ears.

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