A New World, an immersive game experience

Eldrian woke from this dream-like experience with the memorial flower giving light to the now dark room, night had arrived. A massive burden had been released from his shoulders. Standing straight under the lesser weight, Eldrian smiled as he marveled at his creation.

Somehow, he knew that this was beyond what he should have been able to make. It was similar to how he had made the mirror, he had laid the foundation and then prayed that his end goal would be reached. But the results were so much more magnificent than that.

Eldrian felt confident that he had made a masterpiece.

"It's beautiful," Myropsis mumbled as the memories slowly started fading above the flower, as the light retracted into the memorial flower and the petals even slowly moved to close. Encasing the crystal as Eldrian removed his mana from it. Deactivating it.

"Can you try it?" Eldrian asked, indicating for Myropsis to step forward.

"How?" She asked after placing one of her hands on the memory drops- the balls designed for recording.

"I'm not sure, try to connect with it as you would with a dimensional storage," Eldrian replied, taking her hand and placing it against the stem instead.

"Don't you think that's a bit too-" She stopped midway as she felt herself being pulled into a different world, replaying her memories. Unable to stop herself, she cried as it all came rushing back. As she even managed to remember long-lost memories of her younger sister who had died in an accident.

"Eldrian... This-" She had no words to express how she was feeling after experiencing this.

"Do you think it will help people?" Eldrian asked, nearly moved to tears himself from the memories that had been playing above the memorial flower. This function might not be the most ideal as it could reveal things you might want to keep secret.

However, it was still so much more than he had ever imagined. Instead of simply recording a message for someone or of someone, it could help you experience those precious moments you had spent with the person you loved again.

Of course, the standard function was still there. "That was the... Well, I don't have a name for it." Eldrian paused, finding it strange that he knew how it worked. Not even needing to use the system to gather information.

"Try activating the memory bead instead, simply send some mana into it." Eldrian suggested. Nodding, Myropsis did just that. She smiled seeing the video come up, their efforts having born fruit.

"But does it save correctly?"

"For that place your hand on the stem and envision the memory you wish to see," Eldrian replied, showing Myropsis how by recalling the video she had just taken.

"How?" She failed to wrap her head around how everything had worked out so perfectly. They had still lacked so many required techniques. How could it work without them?

"I'm not sure myself. I think it is to do with the fact that mana- No, that I believe mana is alive." Eldrian replied, "I don't consider it to be a living being, but... It can react to our will, it can react to our emotions... And it can react to our memories..."

'This must be how it works, each of us is part of an archive of memories. Part of the collection that is magic. Ideas, thoughts, memories, experiences, emotions, everything is part of this.'

"So I simply asked it to work."

"You simply asked it to work?" Myropsis felt like that should be a joke, however, somehow she felt confident that it wasn't. "Can you repeat it?"

"I have no idea, I doubt it would be possible immediately." Much like when Eldrian used spirit magic that used emotions, he felt that this had used his memories. However, unlike spirit magic it had not drained his memories, instead, it had strengthened them.

Still, he felt that this would result in a similar situation. Somehow, the lack of clarity had been what had fueled the creation. Since he now had perfect clarity he could not repeat it.

'Magic sure is weird.' Eldrian mumbled, taking some time to re-evaluate his condition after the weight had been lifted. He was happy to find that his mana network appeared to be stable, shocked to find that the anomalies he had found last time were mostly gone.

Calling up the interface, Eldrian found that he was still under soul fatigue. He could have guessed that from the fact that he still had a number of burn marks. Shockingly, the curse was gone.

'Is it really that easy?' Turning to the memorial flower, Eldrian finally decided to inspect it.

[Artifact, Memorial Flower], 'Artifact? That's new'

[Unique Function]

[Memory Relive: A unique ability, capable of helping people live through traumas without suffering from all the conflicting emotions they had at that time. Giving them a fresh and new perspective while also supporting their minds to stay strong.]

[Standard Functions]

[Memory creation: Through using the memory beads, it is possible to create and store a memory. Either as a tribute to those who have been lost or as a last farewell when going off to death.]

[Memory recall: By concentrating on the one you have lost, all memories of this person will be collected and shown. Allowing one to grieve at their own pace, to share their burden and share the joy they have had with the person.]

'No Tier?' Eldrian question, confused. As he pondered this he got this strange feeling that there was yet more to the artifact. Concentrating more on it, Eldrian stepped forward and touched the stem. Somehow understanding that he needed direct contact to get access to the hidden information.

[Creator Note: Creation was possible due to the unique connection and faith that the creator has with mana.]

[Creator control function - Take root: Through activation, the artifact can be installed in a set location. By doing so it will be capable to connect to the natural flow of mana in the area.]

'Will that help it maintain the energy drain?'

[Hidden Functions: Due to the titles of the creator the artifact has the following hidden functions]

[Curse Removal - Curse breaker title]

[Alert - Devil's Bane]

[Sharing of burdens - Manipulator of Chaos, Sharer of Wrath, Hero]

Eldrian had no idea what these functions meant, the first however seemed straight forward enough.

'Is it really that simple to lift a curse?' Eldrian questioned, however, his had indeed been lifted. He was still unsure how it had affected him and currently, he felt quite the same. No, there was one clear difference.

'The constant intrusive thoughts...' Constantly, Eldrian had had this voice in the back of his mind, reminding him of how the recent events were his fault. Telling him that he should just give up, should stop caring, should run away. It was gone, and it felt weird no longer having that constant wish to hurt himself.

'No, this is normal. It's insane to be happy with your own pain. I get how I rationalized it, but no matter what you shouldn't wish eternal pain on yourself...'

As Eldrian was thinking this, he also found that his Tier up progress had finally started again. Wonderful news, until now it had been stuck at just 2,578%.

And upon realizing this he was not sad. Realizing this, he was shocked that he had expected he would be. 'It really seemed to have fucked up my mind.' Eldrian mumbled, realizing that it had made him see the world as a bleak place where he could only focus on his faults.

'But there were happy moments too in the past week...' Not understanding how curses really worked, Eldrian decided to move on before he ended up bringing himself to the same self-destroying mentality.

'It's great that I can finally reach Tier 5. But that's not enough, I need to work smarter not harder. I wonder, can I make weapons too?' This experience had certainly taught him a lot, but Eldrian wasn't sure if he could dive into forging just like that.

Making a weapon was quite different from making a memorial. 'But I should try, I want to see if I can make floating swords...'

This was not born out of a wish for a fantasy-like appearance or anything, no, it was because Eldrian felt that by controlling ether and implementing it into the design he could make weapons that he could control like magic.

This was sure to be far stronger than him trying to fight with a spear, while he had trained diligently, he couldn't measure up to people who have spent their entire lives training to become great warriors. And more importantly, he would never be able to bridge the gap in stats physically. But through creation and ingenuity he might just be able.

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support the story by simply reading on Web, voting for the story, or sharing comments. It is all greatly appreciated.