n

n

nThe mixed deity nodded, this was a good place to start this conversation.

"Dependant on Tier; no longer level. To revive currently will cost you 4 levels.

"

nNodding, Eldrian accepted the extra level loss without much complaint. It was a far better deal after all.

"How do I do it?

"

n

"You don't, using XP is not something you are capable of. At least not consciously and precisely enough to reconstruct your avatar.

" GAIA replied.

n

"Then?

"

n

"As I told Ziraili, I will be handling your connection from here on.

"

n

"You?

" Eldrian's tone carried his uncertainty. He no longer trusted the AI, but he would still rather have Ziraili. Better the devil you know, after all.

n

"Yes, me.

"

n

"Reason?

"

n

"Right, of course. Your connection is no longer through the system, Ziraili will have a hard time keeping up along with the strain of a billion players...

" GAIA sighed, the numbers were becoming ridiculous.

n

"I thought you had your hands full keeping the entire universe from collapsing.

"

nGAIA laughed at his confusion,

"Hahaha, I needed a good laugh, thank you... No, that is what I wanted them to think. The universe is in a stable state at the moment. I only need to act in times of peace-

"

n

"So that is how the wonky mana stays stable.

" Eldrian interrupted and the mixed deity of an extremely old and wisened grandfather and grandmotherly figure nodded.

n

"Indeed, however, I only need to step in when cases are extreme.

"

n

"Does mana somehow isolate the destabilized mana?

"

n

"In a way,

" GAIA nodded,

"It forms- I guess the best explanation would be a type of magnetic field containing the destabilized mana. Problems occur when the destabilized mana becomes too much and overwhelms this field.

"

n

"So, on Earth, where there is nearly no mana.

"

n

"It will be problematic. Depending on the scarcity, the destabilized mana might be contained for a while or none at all.

"

n

"Then, since it will react earlier. Will the results be lesser?

"

n

"Most certainly.

" GAIA nodded and Eldrian could finally breathe normally.

nOf course, it would still be bad, but... At least it shouldn't be to the scale of destroying an entire continent. Thinking in terms of fire and gas, if the gas is too little and patches far spread, then the fire wouldn't spread without end.

nThe two went on to talk about this a bit more, with the more Eldrian learned the more comfortable he felt. He naturally kept his criticism sharp, taking everything with a good amount of salt and comparing it to his own knowledge and experience.

nBy the end, Eldrian felt confident that GAIA was being truthful and not trying to trick him. Everything GAIA shared held up and made sense.

n

"Thanks, it is very good to know there is actually a way to stabilize the mana.

" This was naturally the biggest topic that they had talked about.

nStabilizing mana was not an easy task, GAIA said that to do it generally required an AI to act. It was not hopeless, however, as GAIA speculated that Eldrian might be able to accomplish a similar task through controlling his auras in a very specific manner.

nAnd of course, at least two auras would be required to do this. As such Eldrian would be the first person to ever try this; when he did.

nInterestingly, Eldrian would not be the first because he is the first with two auras, but rather that he was the first to survive so long with two. It was hard enough to not be consumed by a single aura, but having two. It was near impossible.

nIn fact, Eldrian had died from using his auras twice already. If he hadn't been a player he would have truly died in both cases, luckily he had not been consumed by them though.

nNevertheless, it went to show how dangerous auras were. Of course, he was more reckless than someone with just one life. But it still showed the danger.

nEldrian was confused why Legends would not be able to do it either. GAIA's explanation was that they were able to stabilize the area, but not the mana.

nLegends would be able to either exhaust or activate the mana, but not return it to normal. Both acts would stop the cataclysmic outcomes, as such, it was two other paths Eldrian could try if the first failed.

nThough, there were limits to what could be accomplished this way. If a critical level was reached then it would not be possible to alter it without risking activation.

n

"What about my time dilation ability? What is it?

" Eldrian asked, now that the most pressing problem might have more than one solution, he finally felt like he could take some time to gather some information.

n

"It's called Chronos and it is an extremely rare ability that very few people possess...

" GAIA paused,

"It is strange however, Chronos is a bloodline ability.

"

nThe entire area seemed to freeze in time as the meaning behind that processed itself through Eldrian's mind. Clearly, that answer meant it was not something he had gained in the game. Which meant...

n'No certainly not- But what if- Is it possible that magic used to...' Eldrian lost his metaphorical footing and fell onto a metaphorical floor in the realm of souls as his mind tried to make sense of this revelation.

n'There are so many myths and legends... What if, they are real- No, what if they are glorified but actually contain truth.' Eldrian's first thoughts were the Olympiads, then the Norse, and after Christianity and the many other religions making up belief on Earth.

nWhat if all those cases were actually situations of people gaining access to magic. What if in the Olympiads time magic was quite widespread, what if Christianity actually birthed a true religion much like those in ANW. What if the Norse gods were people who accessed non-elemental mana. Strengthing themselves and giving them godlike powers.

nWhat if... It was all theoretical but for some strange reason, Eldrian felt that this was correct. The most shocking part was he believed that if it was then so too were, for example, the other planets in Norse Mythology.

n'Midgard would be earth, not sure about the other planets, but... Asgard. It might have been something similar to the magic abyss, or maybe even just being able to enter your soul. Maybe they somehow linked their souls and made their own version of the Mageia Avyssos?'

n'And in that case...' Eldrian looked around him,

"Niflheim...

"

n

"Oh, that is an interesting thought.

" GAIA nodded and immediately jumped in.

"I've also thought that the details in the Earth's religions were interesting. Somethings were obviously made up, but others might just have been misinterpreted or glorified.

"

nEldrian cursed himself at this point for only knowing superficially about Norse mythology. Christianity was a more convoluted topic with all its branches, and the Olympiads were clearly glorified to high heaven. The other religions he didn't know much more than just their names.

nNorse seemed to be the closest to the truth, at least of the religions he knew a bit more of.

n

"GAIA, you know the mythology right. Please explain everything.

"

n

"That will take quite some time.

"

n

"An abridged version then.

"

nNodding, GAIA started with the tree of Yggdrasil, then moved on to how the realms were connected and how they came into existence.

n'Right, the last part was clearly made up or massively misunderstood. However, the connection and tree. There is something there.'

nAN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.

n