A New World, an immersive game experience

'I missed a lot.' Two grumbled, not only had he been forced into the uncomfortable body for over a week. He had also missed so many interesting developments. He was not happy, though, he was content that he had missed what would have been an insufferable Eldrian. At least mentally.

'Why do you hate being in control of a body so much?' Eldrian found this truly strange. One would think that Two should want to have a body, to have a separate identity. That seemed to not be the case at all.

'It's soooo restrictive!' Came a quick almost bored reply.

'Isn't being just in my head more restrictive?' Eldrian had never been able to follow that logic

​ 'You won't get it, you were born with a body. I wasn't. It is only normal that it feels natural to you and unnatural to you. Imagine having your mind forced into a robot, it just won't feel right.'

'I guess that makes sense...' Eldrian still did not understand. However, he had to accept that being in a body just felt normal to him, when he was in the magic abyss or realm of souls it felt strange. Like his presence was not real, which made sort of sense since it was more of an I am everywhere and nowhere than I am here situation.

After all, when you are in your own mind you do not have a body. It was a similar concept, when thinking you are everywhere in your thoughts, but nowhere at the same time. There is no body, just thoughts.

Of course, he could focus and form his presence into a single point of being. Like when Ziraili forms herself as a wisp. Yet, that was not the natural state of being in the magic abyss nor of one's mind. It was still an extremely complicated topic, but Eldrian sort of understood what Two meant after considering this all.

Being restricted to a singular form, permanently. To someone who this was not natural would naturally feel restrictive.

'Yet, that time they did appear as humans... Or was that just my perception?' Eldrian was unsure, he felt it was about time to contact the AI again. Elizabeth had slowly been filling him in on the forum wars. It would be a good step if they could get the AI to have a voice. Though fear might prevail over reason once others knew of their abilities.

"Do you think that the AI would feel the same?' Eldrian asked after pondering a bit on this, accepting that it was just how it was. The answer to this could be critical going forward. But Two's reply did not help at all.

'Possible, I dunno.'

Eldrian laughed at how little Two seemed to care. 'Alright, let's drop it for now then."

'Ah, wait... Are we going back now?' Two asked, excited to be in contact with a mana-rich world again. Being forced to stay on Earth did not feel right. The past week had felt like being stuck in a cell on a desolate island. Absolute torture.

'That...' Eldrian looked around, the cave they were hiding in was not that deep and had no way to block the entrance. If they were both away then his body would be basically a corpse.

'What about Tranquility?' Two asked, definitely not wishing to be designated the caretaker. He had had enough of that trapped feeling.

'I don't feel comfortable leaving him outside again. I think it is partly the reason why I have failed to use that aura. Tranquility should be more than just a conscious subconscious aura living soul thingy.'

'Don't really get it, but then what are we going to do?'

Eldrian pondered for a bit, looking around to see if there wasn't anything he could use to close the cave entrance.

'I know mana isn't abundant nor stable, but do you think we can use magic to form a wall of sorts?'

'We'll have to supply all the energy since the environment has little to no mana of the element.' Two replied with a yawn, it was the same no matter the magic used. But morphing something was miles more difficult than just summoning some fire, wind, water, and especially light and darkness which came almost normally.

'I know, which means the cost will be higher compared to in ANW. But that is a given, shall we try?'

Getting a mental nod, Eldrian moved to the cave entrance. Placing his hand on the ground he envisioned the end goal while exploring the ground with his mind. Slowly, he started letting some of the mana inside his body enter the ground.

'Mmm, even mana control is harder.' Eldrian grunted, focusing hard. Having forgotten just how great the difference between the two worlds was. He was still confused about what ANW really was, but that was not a topic he would find the answer to any time soon.

This was naturally not the first time he attempted to alter the environment with magic, but it was still a struggle. Sadly the cave entrance was simply too large and according to Two's memories, the others were too shallow or had an uneven uncomfortable floor.

While there might still be a suitable cave somewhere in the mountains, Eldrian had no proof that it would be worth the search.

Sweat dripped down his brow as he slowly took control of the ground. He had no spell in mind and was relying on the method of dynamic casting to accomplish this. However, he found the focus required was too great. Stone was too different from dirt. The rise in difficulty too great.

Taking a seat, Eldrian looked at the foot-high mound he had created after his great effort. Exhausted, the task was far more difficult than he had imagined. Pondering, he wondered if runes might help.

'Runes... Runes of modification, no. A rune of storage and deliverance will help me focus on the end goal more. If I can find something to supplement my mana- if that is even possible.' Just this mound had consumed nearly a tenth of the mana he had in this body.

If he continued to attempt it without something to lessen the cost it would take days, most of which would be spent waiting for his mana to slowly recover. The recovery rate was abysmal due to the lack of natural mana.

Searching around, Eldrian found that there was an abundance of crystal-type rocks in the area around the stream. Sadly, none of them seemed mana rich. Naturally, this wasn't even something that you could really do in ANW even. Not all quartz was mana rich, normally such quartz would only be found in a mana crystal vein.

Yet, Eldrian hoped that he would stumble upon something here, on the mana lacking Earth. He felt he had to at least give it a shot, even if the chances were low. Understanding that if he found something it would be so much more than just a catalyst. It would be hope for a possible magical future.

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.