A New World, an immersive game experience

This seemed much more plausible.

Of course, in his pondering, Eldrian forgot that humans weren't naturally on the Astral level. Nor any of the other levels. Humans were typically stuck to their point of view.

With the tools of science, they could gain insight into that which lay beyond their physical sights. But that, too, has its limits. Humans weren't made to understand how the Fabric worked. Even the Quanta was beyond the comprehension of most. And many struggle to grasp the inner workings of the subatomic.

Magic might be the flip side of the physical world, but it came even less naturally to them. Learning how to control mana, even at the superficial level of Tier 0 (equal to normal people's point of view of things), took a tremendous amount of effort.

Humans were typically stuck to their life's POV in the three dimensions for most of their lives. And this had held for Eldrian too. Even now.

For most of his waking moments, he was stuck to his natural point of view. Only when he focused could he escape it.

But if he was simply relaxing, all that he experienced was what any human experienced.

It was simply how humans had evolved. Even if they understood that everything around them was made of atoms (with mostly empty space between the nuclei), they would never look at a thing and actually 'see' that reality.

Yet, somehow, humans have managed to unravel much of the universe. Even if they can't escape from their normal POV, they can use the tools of science to escape their bounds.

For magic, Eldrian had used a similar method. By using a Magic Crystal when learning magic, he had forced himself to be, not just aware, but fully cognizant of mana.

This was what separated him from others. And, later on, through continued use of a Magic Crystal in his training, he gained access to the Mageia Avyssos. A space between lifeforce and mana. Made by the goddess of magic to help those with special talents to further develop their magic.

This access allowed him to skip even more steps. Walking in the dark, he threaded the abyss right into the Astral. Of course, this wasn't all random luck.

The fact that player's souls were stored in the Magic Abyss was his saving grace. If not for that fact, Eldrian's consciousness would have been lost in the depths of the Mageia Avyssos.

This access to the Astral allowed him to grasp the more basic steps of magic with ease. It was the equivalent of giving a medieval scientist a microscope.

That simple tool would bring them endless discoveries. Whether they lacked the true skills to maximize the tool or not. It would, without a doubt, bring them discoveries.

Unless, of course, they were stupid enough to destroy it. But Eldrian had avoided the truly fatal missteps, and so too can the scientist.

Now, here he was. Not only with access to the necessary tools but also under the tutelage of Ziraili. A veritable god—a being on a higher level of 'life' compared to humans.

Sure, the concepts were beyond Eldrian. Even when she shared them directly into his mind. His mind, sadly, simply couldn't fathom the reality she wanted to show him.

'I can't come to understand it until I master my soul's power.' This, Eldrian believed, was an absolute. Without that mastery, he would never be able to understand the Fabric.

Strangely, his approach to understanding had become the opposite of the norm. Instead of appropriating the physical to the magical, he found it easier to appropriate the magical to the physical.

The ease of experimentation and direct feedback played a massive part in this.

Sadly, like with the medieval scientist, while the tools would help the scientist immensely. There would be a limit. A limit where the scientist's lack of knowledge slowed discovery and advancement. Until, finally, it came to a halt. Waiting for inspiration.

The question then becomes what classifies as mastery. For science, it might be the development of more powerful microscopes. Allowing one to view deeper into the world and its mysteries.

This, however, required knowledge of how the first microscope worked and what could be done to be improved. And even then, physical limitations would apply.

Watching Vriski summon spell after spell, Eldrian realized mastery of the Astral wasn't any more difficult. Sure, he needed to improve his current efforts, but that was nothing new.

"I need to master bringing the energy from my soul to the real world." That was Eldrian's conclusion. 'Not just bringing it forth, but also controlling it. Perhaps even to a level similar to my control within my soul.'

This would mean being able to bend the rules of the world to his whims. An impossible ask.

Yet, Eldrian had already done so. His bloodline did exactly that. 'It really is like a key. And, thinking of what it allows me to do, it becomes clear why it is so dangerous to mess with.'

Regardless, Eldrian now had a clear difference between his auras and bloodline. The former worked still within the framework of 'reality'. Reality, of course, with allowance for magic and all its rules.

A bloodline, however, allows the rewriting of the very reality that everything else is based on. Changing the very rules to suit the user's own wants.

"So, that is the difference."

'What difference?' A curious—and bored—Vriski asked.

'Nothing. Thanks, Vriski, you can stop.' Eldrian replied, giving the pup a few affectionate pats and a nice slab of meat as a treat.

Watching the pup happily bolt off with his reward, Eldrian smiled. A massive weight had been lifted from his shoulder.

He did not have the answer to his problems. To the problems of the world. But he now had a feeling, a certainty, that he knew how to find them.

Sadly, this method would take time. He needed to keep training. Keep learning. Continue to experiment.

'But what I truly need to do, is intensify my training within my soul.'

Up till now, Eldrian had avoided making any more split personalities. He had the tools at hand to fragment his consciousness. However, he felt it was wrong. He believed it would be an insult to Two.

'But with these stakes, I can't let my personal feelings slow my progress.' As difficult as it was for Eldrian to do this, he felt he had no other choices.

Jumping into his soul, he looked at the world he had created. Keenly feeling the emptiness. The lifelessness.

No matter how many blades of grass, shrubbery, trees, or roses there were—this world remained lifeless.

Everything here was created by his imagination. It lived and died according to his mental image. It was not actually alive.

And this was why Ziraili always told him he should focus on improving the reality here.

But doing so isn't as simple as playing with some formulas in his 'world's' makeup.

"Whu." Sighing, Eldrian steeled his resolve. There would be no going back.

"I already have the spells developed. But I couldn't get them to work without going past my wish to keep faithful to Two. But it is time."

Calling upon his saved formulas and spell modules, Eldrian gathered a truly complicated magic hypersphere. This spell was beyond anything he would ever be able to cast outside. But here, inside his soul, he had a chance.

"Hope I don't die. But it needs to be done." And with that thought, he pushed 10 Billion XP into the hypersphere.

Sadly, that was not enough. The spell failed to activate, instead going haywire. The energy lost and the explosion from its failure tore a hole in his soul.

The world below was shattered, and Eldrian's consciousness was but scraps fighting to survive the pressure from the outside. To not be scattered across the void of the Astral plane.