Chapter 417: Back on Gaia

"I always make sure to keep my aura withdrawn, and I also kept theirs from pressuring you. They were shocked and felt aggrieved by the fact that you could speak normally to them."

"That's not nice of them, they sound like entitled brats."

Hearing this Ziraili was stunned for a moment after which she burst out laughing. For it was truly what the AI were acting as, throwing tantrums when things didn't go the way they expected. Wasn't that the entire reason why GAIA had needed to step in and stop the flow of time for Gaia and in fact the entire simulation. 

In fact, even before this many of them had even started wars between their own factions just for entertainment in the past few thousand years. The long span between the previous invasions and this one had made many of them beyond bored. 

At least those whose assignment was Chaos had done so. The gods of Order had kept their factions in more of a tight-knit group. (They were also far fewer than those of Chaos, the reason for the disparity is simple; there are just a few ways to build a house, but there are countless ways to destroy it.)

It was one of the major reasons why this invasion had stalled so much after the initial overwhelming rush. Those factions were now fighting for what they had won, leaving the remaining empires and kingdoms some time to recover and try to form a plan. 

Many others hadn't yet pushed out because they were afraid of being stabbed in the back. 

If all the devil, undead, beast, monster, etc. bounded together, then the civilized races would stand no chance. 

The initial rush was also part of the reason why nearly all the civilized races were working together without qualms. While there were biases and hatred among races and species (as there would always be) the sheer shock of losing so many kingdoms had pushed them past caring for such differences. 

After enjoying her first true laughter, Ziraili tried to calm herself before saying that she would hide his following achievements.

"What? You can do that?" Eldrian asked, wondering why she hadn't done that when he had first become a candidate. It had felt like she had broadcasted it and painted a target on his back. 

"Yes, but not all that effectively. I will ask the others to also help me, but I am unsure who will still be willing to help. It is rare that we find something we do not understand and cannot calculate. Most of my kind would rather kill you than take the risk."

"Wha-" Eldrian choked on his words and looked at the wisp before him in shock. "Wwwh-aaat!"

However, instead of explaining herself Eldrian suddenly found himself before Katania shouting, "Impossible!" He just barely managed to stop his own shout in time. 

The sudden change of environment threw Eldrian and her last sentence still shocked him to his core. He had no idea what he would be able to do if one of the gods of this world tried to kill him. Luckily, he assumed they couldn't just do that. 

For one, Ziraili would stop them. Two, doing so would piss off the devs and certainly lead to their own deaths. These two thoughts calmed Eldrian and allowed him to try and come to in regards to the conversation Katania was having with him. 

Looking at the centaur before him it took him a moment to recall what they had been talking about. Luckily, she was also going on about how it wasn't possible. Eldrian waited for an opportunity to chime in after getting a feel of what she was thinking. 

"Katania, relax. Saying that I was trying to learn divine magic was maybe a bit much. It should be more accurate to say I found the similarity between death magic and divine magic. In fact, I think I found the common link between all types of magic regardless of the aspect."

Like a fish out of water, the centaurette's mouth moves but no words came out. Those who had moved closer due to his declaration spread their ears hoping to hear what he had to say. Even if he was entirely off base, he had to be onto something. Else there was no way a Tier 3 magic apprentice could cause such a massive explosion. 

"That is almost just as impossible." Katania finally managed to get out and Eldrian shrugged. 

"Not really, and I guess what I am going to say is common knowledge, but... I will say it in any case. All magic requires you to think, requires you to will something to happen."

"Of course!" Katania nodded in agreement, only for her mouth to hang open and stare at Eldrian even more confused. "That can't be it."

"It is." 

Suddenly the group felt deflated, many started leaving immediately. However, a few stayed put as they mulled over his words and tried to work through their own experiences. They realized it wasn't as simple as just knowing that all magic required one to think. There must be a deeper meaning to it.

Naturally, Eldrian wasn't going to spill it all in the middle of nowhere surrounded by people he didn't even know. While it was part of his realization, the more important part was about mana and what it actually was. The link between the two was the actual key.

"Come with me," Katania said, picking up Ayden as if he was just a feather and placing him over her back. The two walked to the command tent where a few of the camp leaders were waiting for a report. 

Katania started it off and Eldrian explained what he had done as he had explained it to Katania. After hearing the report everyone visibly relaxed and they were excused. The king asked Eldrian to please keep his experiments from disturbing the rest of the camp. 

Eldrian left, assuming that Ayden would recover faster and better with them. He decided to head to where Vivian was, looking through the system notifications he had gotten this time around on his way.

[Player Affinity broke the 100% threshold, cause and effect unknown] [Data is being hidden from all]

'How is it hidden? Is Miracle going to see it as being 100%?' Eldrian wondered, realizing how little over a 100 he was it didn't even feel like it mattered. It would almost always appear as a 100. So he continued on. 

[Spell: Creation]

[A spell of creation, a spell of the unknown.]

[Effect: Unkown - Speculation: Bring into the world something of the elements.]

[Cost: Uknown - Warning, players should not attempt this until at least a mana pool of 100k.] [This is the amount of mana the spell absorbed from the environment before exploding, hence it is the minimum that would be required to stabilize it.]

'Is she being more proactive?' Eldrian pondered as he saw the side comments on the messages. While also being left without words by the requirement. Heck, he didn't even have a thousand, so the hundred thousand felt like an impossibility. 

Her helping him more actively was also clearly in violation of her purpose and the agreement of the AI. Before Eldrian became happy, he realized that this must mean that the other AI would also be more active in trying to kill him. He would much rather have all the attention disappear. 

'They shouldn't dare try anything themselves... But the target on my back-' Eldrian cursed as he realized his hope of an easy experience from here on seemed to disappear. Luckily, he assumed that he was no alone and that the abyssal guards would stay to protect him.