A New World, an immersive game experience

[The idea was to give this function to guilds upon them reaching level 6 and being allowed to take over the management of a fort. You, however, jumped the gun for your guild through connections and now this...]

Not being able to hear the tone in which Ziraili was speaking made it a difficult to determine if she was annoyed or simply stating a fact. Eldrian felt it was likely the former. The ellipses seemed a dead giveaway.

[Sorry—I guess? So...basically I need to recruit at least a Tier 6 formation master and construct this formation in what is basically an altered magic tower?]

\'Sofiera, can you make Tier 6 formations?\' Eldrian asked, only a slight silence having settled in the meeting.

Naturally, he believed Solvi would help in the tower construction, the idea in his mind similar to what they had done for the wall. Only a more advanced and larger tower. Theas, depending on his time availability, might also be dragged into this. Eldrian wasn\'t too sure of the dwarf\'s schedule.

Eldrian assumed Vivian would return to the front lines, and Myropsis would likely be sent hunting for resources again.

\'I can.\' Came Sofiera\'s reply. \'Let\'s sign a contract with the vampires first so we can talk openly.\'

Her reply was sensible. Letting Sofiera lead the talks, Eldrian only filled in the gaps where needed after they hammered out the details of what Eldrian felt was an NDA and a non-aggression pact.

​ His explanation, simply put, was: Ziraili, the true goddess of the Chosen, not Asteria — which was a massive shocker to most in the meeting — would construct the upon-contact contract barrier and they only had to complete the structure to supply it with mana.

It took everyone a while to come to grips with what Eldrian had explained.

"I see..." Sofiera was the third to recover, and her long sigh showed how absurd she felt things were becoming.

Vivian and Myropsis had been quicker to come to accept the explanation, linking it to how Eldrian made the artifacts. Which was actually a terrifying view. However, neither of them actually took part in the talks. They had only come for combat support if needed. So they had stayed quiet and waited for Sofiera to come to.

"I now understand why you asked us to first sign a contract before sharing all these details..." Alec mumbled, the old vampire a little star-struck.

Levana had informed him of Eldrian\'s peculiarities. But hearing of something and experiencing it were two massively different things. Eldrian being able to face off against Levana, even if she was holding back, had been quite a demonstration. Then there was the firebird, and now...

Not only had Eldrian talked with a goddess, the goddess actually agreed to help, and it was a goddess never before heard of. And her help would not be in a small simple manner either. This was as hands on as gods could be. It might even be past the normally accepted levels of involvement.

"As this is now much more complicated than our original plan, let us adjourn for today." Sofiera offered.

Thanks to the contract, things should stay calm for a while. Especially since all the vampires had signed the contract and the only other people capable of free thought were Eldrian\'s friends and the slaves.

The E-vampires couldn\'t go against their master\'s will. The thralls had little to no mental capacity left thanks to the ever consuming thirst destroying their sanity. And as for the slaves, it would be impossible for any of them to learn of this meeting.

"Agreed. We will prepare to vacate the fort." Alec nodded, having come to accept the agreement readily. His tone was now one filled with hope and excitement, instead of a begrudging follower following his master\'s whimsical ideas.

With the meeting ended, Eldrian prepared to leave. Sofiera was going to return to Kynigo to organize everything they would need to construct a magic tower.

This particular fort never having had one constructed because of its distance and all the problems that had been present before its abandonment. The fort was also about half the size of the other forts. Which made it seem more manageable in Eldrian\'s eyes. Though, it was still large enough to fit a town or two inside.

Centaurs really liked to expand the space of their constructions. Including farms and wide grasslands inside walled locations, both for animals and training. Helpful in a pinch, but making everything cover large expanses of land.

"A second of your time." Levana asked, having joined Eldrian in stride as he was heading over to check up on the firebird.

Thanks to his link with the bird, whenever he focused on it, he could tell its general direction. Like there was a thread connecting him and the bird.

Eldrian suspected that it had something to do with the bird having consumed some of his lifeforce. Excess lifeforce of emotions, part of what people seemed to be capable of using and losing without noticing.

In the little time Eldrian and Two had before being dragged into the meeting, they had considered it like the mist escaping from the vessel that was the soul. This mist did not decrease the total amount of lifeforce, hence the two felt it was likely something everyone generated through everyday life. Be it as simple as being gathered while eating, experiencing life, or sleeping; they did not know.

Like the heat the human body generates, perhaps it might even be the magical equivalent.

"Yes?" Eldrian looked at the vampire but did not stop. After all, he was hobbling and quite slow thanks to his lacking one of his legs.

"I hope we can start over. I believe our initial meeting wasn\'t ideal." Things had been shaky on both sides.

"Sadly, there is no such thing as starting over." Eldrian replied, "However, I do hope from here we will have a constructive relationship."

"I-I see..." Caught a little off guard, Levana quickly tried to recover. "Would you mind if I ask you about what you did to the firebird and how you froze the stage?"

By now, the stage had mostly unfrozen, except for the original trunk of ice. It appeared to be struggling to return to normal. Myropsis had told Eldrian that it seemed to be crystalizing into something permanent.

"Yeah... I don\'t really think we are close enough to share such details. It would be like me asking you about the darkness covered spells of yours that consumed my spell\'s mana and turned it into its own force."

Levana hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment. "I do not mind an exchange of information!"

\'She really does remind me of Jade. Minus the constant invasion of an aura,\' Eldrian thought, finding the aforementioned charm machine combing the firebird\'s feathers. Apparently, it had learned to full control of the flames that it existed out of.

\'This is certainly the application of mana mimicking the element, but not being the element. Investigating this will surely result in massive breakthroughs,\' Eldrian thought as he watched the scene. It was certainly a beautiful scene.

A stunning girl combing the feathers of a phoenix atop the walls of the keep. Showing the vast expanses of grasslands behind, seemingly welcoming the phoenix to take flight.

Realizing that Eldrian\'s attention had left the conversation, Levana took a few deep breaths to calm down. Again wondering if this was how her attendants felt when her mind wandered and her mood shifted.