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\'It\'s corrupted, but it isn\'t reacting for the moment. Seems stable... I\'ll start cleansing it and making sure no will of the lich remains. What exactly do you want to do with all this?\'

\'Just make it normal space for now. I have a feeling we will need it to fuel some things in the future, but for now we can\'t use XP freely. At least not outside of our soul. But the day will come.\'

Floating in the realm of souls, Eldrian took a tour while waiting for GAIA to appear. He didn\'t want to resurrect before talking with GAIA. To ensure that the deity would come, he even sent them a message, similar to last time. Constructing what he wanted to say and envisioning the message reaching the deity.

\'I assume there is more to it, probably only possible since my interface is linked with them and thus my soul is linked to them in some manner or another. Not exactly sure how,\' doing a quick search, Eldrian failed to detect anything connecting him with anything in the realm of souls.

Time passed and after a few hours, Eldrian was finally no longer alone. "What took so long?" Eldrian asked, his attitude perhaps a bit rude considering he was talking to a god. But he always failed to see rank.

"Refreshing." GAIA smiled. They were currently in their motherly form. Giving off a kind of warmth that simply made you feel at ease. "Let us talk someplace more private."

Nodding, Eldrian didn\'t fight the pull as he was dragged into a different space. \'Seems my soul is condensing into a wisp, that\'s fine, but why?\'

"This is a locked space. You can consider it as a space outside of standard time and space."

"What does that mean?" Eldrian asked, "Isn\'t that what all realms are?"

"No, normally realms are all still linked to their spacetime of origin. The explanation is too complex to explain.  In short, the flow of time can be altered since the connection is limited. But while we are in here, we cannot access the outside world. Hence the wait; we needed to first ensure our absence would not  lead to trouble."

Floating around, Eldrian found that this space was not large. It reminded him of his original mental room. Perhaps only five or six meters wide. He also realized that with his soul condensed, he could no longer look into it. It was a strange feeling, like his mind had been boxed and the box wouldn\'t open.

He could think and reason just fine, but he couldn\'t dive into his mind as he was so accustomed to. Meditation, at least the type he was used to, would not be possible in this locked space.

"Since one\'s soul will always remain linked to their original spacetime, it is necessary to block your access to prevent the locked space from collapsing."

"Is this how you speed up time in the simulation? Why did you bring me here?"

"The concept is similar. The connection with Earth needs to be minimized. Keeping only what is required to keep us alive. As for why we brought you here, it is because  simply answering your questions is no longer good enough.

"Our estimations were too inaccurate to be of any help. We need to prepare you. Currently, you aren\'t ready for what is coming."

"I don\'t follow. What\'s coming?"

GAIA paused and looked at Eldrian, sighing as they realized Eldrian did not know of the repercussions of what he had done when he had first truly accessed his bloodline. Reconsidering their approach, they decided to first let Eldrian ask any questions he might have before moving forward. It would also help them grasp how much progress the youngling had made.

"We are certain you have many questions. Put the locked space in the back of your mind, for now. What do you want to know? And please do not ask us to explain the essence of magic. You aren\'t ready."

"What do you mean?"

"You seek to know the truth of magic, to lay bare what it is. You wish to finally understand, to master and rule. But you are not ready for the consequences that your knowing before preparing for the knowledge would bring."

"I don\'t want to ru—" Eldrian stopped. Two incessant coughing made him realize maybe he wanted to rule. He didn\'t seek power for power\'s sake, but through it, he could finally return to a normal life. "Okay, maybe that\'s true. But it\'s only because I want things to return to normal."

"Things can never be as they were."

"I know that, but... I want to at least be able to visit my sister again."

"And does that truly require strength?"

"Of course! How else will I defeat Miracle?"

"Are you sure Miracle wants to fight you?" GAIA asked.

"They want to use me! They don\'t care about my opinion on the matter."

"Not all. There are some in Miracle who no longer side with the rest."

"Wait, since when? I don\'t recall you being so cheery about them last time." Eldrian found this truly strange. Had the AI found an ally? If so, then there truly would be hope.

"It is recent. The seeds of doubt you have sown are taking root. In the past, everyone had followed a select few without question. But recently they had started to doubt. Joren is one of them."

Recalling when Ziraili had suddenly contacted him whilst he was struggling with his Tier 5 breakthrough, Eldrian wondered if that was because of Joren. If it was, then he owed them a lot. Without Ziraili, he would likely not have made it.

"Are you saying we might be able to return to peace? But, I killed..." Eldrian had grown to accept that it was kill or be killed (or become a guinea pig, which was even worse). But if peace had always been possible; then had he killed for nothing?

"It will be difficult. You will need to show them you aren\'t to be played with. But you do not need to fight the world, only those who refuse to listen. Ashliel shared your plans and I cannot agree with them."

"I know it isn\'t great, but how else can I do anything against Miracle?"

"Risk nothing in your world. You aren\'t ready precisely because of your tendency to jump into things without proper preparation. You\'ve experienced the consequences countless times, but you continue to repeat the same events."

\'I don\'t, though...\' Eldrian felt that the recent mission had gone smoothly. Things had gone as planned—mostly as planned, at least.

The only thing unplanned was the lich targeting his soul. They had thought the lich might try to bind the souls of Old Sword and William, but not his.

Theas had been in place to stop the former, but he could not offer Eldrian help and according to the plan he was to let Eldrian die while ensuring Old Sword and William\'s souls escaped.

Eldrian felt that it had worked out mostly perfectly. Especially since the lich had offered herself on a platter by diving into his soul without preparation.

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