A New World, an immersive game experience

'Ah, I forgot just how massive my jump between Tier 4 and 5 was.' Eldrian paused slightly after forming a party with the group and looking at their stats. The highest HP was Therdul at 546. Compared to Eldrian's 3.3k, it was sad really.

And Therdul was supposed to be the tank...

'Will they survive?' Eldrian wondered next. The group seemed to feel the question in his gaze.

Eldrian could clearly recall his past when he had a small HP pool. It certainly wasn't impossible to fight, but compared to now, the margin of error was so slight.

Sure, having more HP didn't guarantee survival, but as long as you didn't take a deathblow, you could fight on for longer.

Despite Eldrian being the only one with no armor, no one felt he was under-geared. Simply the fact that he could use magic made him a monster. And his basic stats more than made up for his lack of equipment.

"Hah! Don't look down on us." Judith shouted, stepping forward with fake confidence. "We only ended in that state because we were hurrying to make it in time."

She couldn't accept the change in how Eldrian was looking at them. Last time they had been together, they could still have been comrades. But now... it felt like he was looking at a group of noobs. Naturally, she couldn't accept it. She just couldn't.

She had grown used to the gazes of admiration, and some horny ones—which she ignored for the most part. But to be looked at with sympathy, it stirred something in her. It stirred her will to fight and be defiant. To say that those eyes were wrong.

Her words only made Eldrian more concerned.

'Even if that is the case and~ they truly rushed here, which I'll admit they made it before the appointed time. Those undead groups weren't anything tricky.' Of course, those undead were a mix of Tier 1 to Tier 4 skeletons with varying forms of different monsters.

Each posed a great threat, and they had outnumbered the group. That they had defeated the enemy showed their skill, and their state showed the difference between Eldrian and the elite players of Phoenix.

'Well, I guess when I was in Tier 4, the lower undead did still take three to four casts of Thora to be killed. Add that they can't cast without the system, its cast time, and the cooldown. I guess undead really are a tricky enemy for most people.'

'I never realized how far ahead I was, and yet I was limiting myself so much at the same time. I wonder just how much can improve given enough time...'

Judith's confident smile twitched as she saw Eldrian simply entering contemplation. She was about to shout again, but felt someone putting their hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Give up. We've fallen too far behind." Therdul gave a self-mocking smile. As a tank, he had received damage from the fact that Eldrian had six times as much HP as him.

Eldrian didn't realize how much his action of healing the group and his gaze had destroyed their pride as elites. His focus was only on the mission and what was to come after.

"Therdul, do you have any skills that taunt or something similar to that affect?" Eldrian asked. He had actually thrown away the notion of normal game-like skills and spells after coming to believe that ANW was not just a game.

His recent breakthrough, however, nullified this naïve belief.

It certainly made little sense for someone to taunt another person with magic. At least, it should not be possible to taunt them to the degree that was normal in games. Having the opponent discard all others and even defense to charge the caster.

That just wasn't conceivable to Eldrian.

But, if it were the undead -a mindless enemy-, or if the difference in strength was great; it might just maybe be possible. Considering that the spirit attribute regulated mind attacks, Eldrian wondered how the scale worked.

If the spell or skill overcame the resistance, did it work in full effect? Or would it only start to show effect and grow in strength as the difference increased?

Eldrian felt that a taunt on a person might not cause them to charge blindly, but it might rob some of their focus. Alter their emotional state, or bring them to some sort of illusion or altered vision. Dulling their senses or rational.

He had 'seemingly' experienced this with a curse, though he blamed himself for losing control.

However, another similar experience was when using his auras. The flames of wrath would amplify his anger and slowly lead him to a blind rage at everyone and everything.

If it was something similar, Eldrian could see the danger. A truly powerful spell might even cause someone to go berserk and suddenly target their friends in a bloody rage, as he had done in the past. Memories he would rather not recall.

'Thinking if things like this, there really is a lot you can do, if not exactly as one might first imagine.'

'I have no clue how the elements would fit into this, but that is why I don't need to worry. If I don't understand, it should only weaken the spell and lower the Tier. At least, this is what I think would happen if I force the issue, which I feel confident I can.'

It took Therdul a moment to answer. He did know a taunt skill, but normally it was quite useless. Its effective range was small, and it had only worked against mindless monsters.

He had specifically learned it to help while fighting the undead while in Kynigo, and it was only thanks to this skill that he could keep Ilmadia and Elizabeth safe while coming here.

Judith also knew the skill. She was actually better at using it than Therdul since she always practiced it, believing it fit the class of barbarian that she dreamed of so much.

Naturally, Therdul didn't ask her what she meant or what was inside her head. He knew well that anyone digging into her strange obsession wouldn't be able to leave for hours.

"I do," the dwarf answered, "but it only covers around ten meters around me. Judith is actually better with it than me since she uses it more often... even if it isn't effective against things with sense." Therdul added the last part as a small jab at her insanity.

"Can you show me?" Eldrian asked Judith, and everyone got goosebumps.

"You're?! ...What are you planning?" Ilmadia seemed panicked, Eldrian couldn't understand why. He didn't think Judith would actually taunt him, so there should be no risk.

"I want to see if I might be able to enhance the skill or copy it." Eldrian replied, his eyes lightly shining as he focused mana sense on and around the scantly clad barbarian.

Eldrian was impressed that even after almost two years in this realistic game, she still dressed like that and refused to put on more armor. Most shocking, perhaps, was her equipment.

Eldrian felt it fit her perfectly. A combination of regeneration and strength-and-speed increase. Combined with Gray's lifesteal ability, as long as she didn't take a vital hit, she should fare decently against opponents of the same Tier despite almost any hit on her body being capable of drawing blood.

Sadly, that ability of the greatsword was useless against the undead.

AN: Remember to vote and comment if you are enjoying the story.