"Screw the developer!" Eldrian let out in anger. How can they be fine with letting the NPC die, why do they not help them instead? He found it hard to settle his thoughts.

  Sure the NPC's weren't physically real, yet from what Eldrian had experienced and the story they shared, he felt certain that they really lived. He himself did not know to what level he would admit their life. Are they equal to animals? No, they were more, but are they equal to humans on earth? Humans in reality? Was this the only reality?

  Eldrian struggled with these thoughts, time passing and his food getting cold. In the end he only managed to come to a conclusion, which itself was still a question.Does it matter, is life not thought?

  While the process of how the game had been made was fascinating to him, as both a gamer and an IT student, it also scared him. He wondered what else they had also managed to do. Obviously, they have more secrets which they did not want to share. This frightened Eldrian, making him wonder how powerful Miracle Corporation actually was.

  He also realized that they were heartless, or else he could not grasp the news he had heard. A part of him hoped that they had overplayed their opinion and that they would not let the entire gaming world be destroyed, or rather conquered.

  He had never really done much research on Miracle Corporation. He only knew that they were a science-based company that dabbled a bit in gaming for the last few years. He now understood why they did not claim to be a gaming company, no other gaming company would treat their game as a secondary product.

  That is likely it. It was just an experiment and the game is another. Fuck! Did I sign up for an experiment?

  The more Eldrian thought of everything, the angrier he became. Yet he could not stop playing the game, he did not want to condemn all those inside to death. Recalling the story Erik had told him about the little girl in the garden, Eldrian's resolve grew solid. Far more solid than ever before.

  Not in a mood to finish his dinner Eldrian logged into the game. Determined to try his best. He hoped that other players also would do so.

  Waking up, Eldrian knew that it was too early for Dave to be awake. But instead of going training, he spent his time going through the spell modules Dave had given him. He knew magic was more important than his drills, without it he would never manage to be truly strong.

  He tried to cast each spell a few times, nothing happening after each cast. Contrary to this he could feel, somehow, that he was close. Close to finally finishing his first task in using magic.

  After around an hour of trying and failing he stopped and decided to clean himself. After a few days he had learned to simply keep his bath filled. While he could fill it himself, the walk to get a bucket took around 5 minutes each time. He did not want to spend half an hour just to ready his bath, nor did he want to bother Dave every time.

  Naturally this was not favorable but he preferred cleaning himself, even in used water, over just going on with his day. It helped him wake, even more than he already was, readying himself for the day……

  In the dungeon Eldrian focused as before while casting Anthos, quickly finding himself in the magical abyss again. Knowing what to do he allowed the stem of the spell module to break off, reattaching it only seconds later. He repeated this and soon felt his control spreading over the module.

  A few more tries later, where he had been expelled from the magical abyss, needing to rest and recast the spell. He finally managed to feel his control over the entire module. Yet he had no idea what this control was, he believed it was mana, yet he could not feel it physically.

  Even more tries later and he managed to start playing with the module. After a few experiments he tried to make it bigger. Failing to control the expansion it soon grew hundreds of times its normal size and he was immediately sent out of the magical abyss.

  "You managed, something……" Dave said, excitement clear in his voice. He had been wondering how much longer it would take Eldrian. While his speed was actually insanely fast, Dave was starting to miss his mornings to himself.

  "Yeah, but I still can't feel mana."

  "But you can control the spell module?"

  "Yes?" Eldrian himself was unsure as he answered.

  "Well, you do that with mana." Dave hinted.

  "But I still don't understand how."

  "Keep trying. I am sure you will manage soon." Just as Eldrian was getting ready to cast the spell again Dave added, "Remember to find the nodes!"

  Nodes, right.

  Back in the magical abyss he again tried to enlarge the module, focusing on only enlarging it to twice its size. After a few seconds he actually managed, yet he still could not find the spell's nodes.

  Maybe they are microscopic? He thought, spending the rest of his time playing with the size of the module. Strangely he was kicked out of the magical abyss sooner than he expected.

  Does the spell module size impact the time I can stay? He wondered, deciding to experiment more on it later. For now he would not increase the size of the module, he needed all the time he could get.

  He repeated this a few times. Each time trying to size his perspective instead of the module. Somehow he managed after around an hour of attempts.

  Just an hour left. He sighed, knowing that that was the time he had before his magical fatigue would be too high for him to gain anything from his training.

  On his next attempt he managed to massively change his perspective, the module looking similar to his first sizing attempt. Yet he managed to not get kicked out of the magical abyss.

  I did it?

  I did it! Happy, he started floating around the module in curiosity. On his next attempt he tried to find the spell's nodes, failing in this task. On the following attempt he managed to find a node.

  As he did he felt something. He felt like his heart was beating while he could feel something similar to air, smoothing and cool, moving through him, instead of over him. Concentrating on the node he almost managed to figure something out. Only to be kicked out right before he could.

  Seeing the excitement on Eldrian's face Dave warned, "Remember to rest between casts."

  "I know."

  "Yes, what is it?" Dave asked, easily spotting the question in Eldrian's eyes.

  "What do I do now that I found the spell's nodes?"

  After which Eldrian explained to Dave how he had to go about everything to have finally found it.

  "I believe you need to size it. Increase the size of the nodes, until it is similar to the spell module I drew for you."

  "What do you think will happen?"

  "I suspect you will manage to cast the spell correctly, I am not certain of this though. You said you felt like you almost figured something out? I think you will figure it out when you do this."

  Rested Eldrian cast Anthos again, quickly shrinking his perspective. He managed to find the node quickly after shrinking his perspective.

  Looking at the node he wondered how he was supposed to increase its size. After a few failed attempts he managed to increase one to the size it should be -According to the drawing. Yet as soon as he did he was kicked out of the magical abyss.

  That was quicker than it should be. So this also impacts the time I can be inside the magical abyss?

  Frustrated that accomplishing something made it harder, Eldrian entered again. Taking his frustration out on the nodes. He first focused on finding them all, then trying to enlarge them from his memory of their location. He managed to enlarge two this time, yet the following attempt did not yield more.

  Around half an hour later he finally managed to enlarge three. Continuing his attempts he tried again and again.

  Last try. He was already over what he normally allowed his magical fatigue to grow to. If he did not succeed now, he would have to wait until tomorrow.

  Eldrian hoped he would succeed. Taking his time to rest, he prepped himself and cast Anthos. Quickly without even changing his perspective, he enlarged the first three. Having memorized all the nodes' positions, not needing to see them to do this. Guess the time spent getting familiar with the pieces helped greatly.

  Focusing on the last he hoped it would enlarge before he was kicked out. Soon he finished and felt himself being refreshed and awakened.

  Confused he looked at Dave who said while grinning widely, "You managed to cast the spell."

  [Quest completed: A Veterans Training; Part 2]

  [Quest giver: Dave]

  [Quest Description: Player must learn how to wield magic.]

  [Quest Progress: 1/1 spells or skills cast]

  [Quest Rank: B -> S]

  [Quest Time limit: None]

  [Quest Reward: 5000 XP, [XP for B-ranked quest]]

  [Quest continuation possible, speak to Dave and Old Sword]

  But how? Eldrian, befuddled looked at the message and then to Dave again.

  "How?"

  He just barely managed to see the last node enlarge, getting kicked out immediately after it did.