A New World, an immersive game experience

Chapter 541 - New Reality (Part 1)

"You should have immediately reported any changes in the subject!" A military officer shouted as he rushed into the top floor of the ANW department. "Status?"

"Eldrian-"

"The subject!" The officer corrected.

"The subject just burned through the elevator and somehow managed to climb the fifty-meter elevator shaft."

"Response?"

"Micaela took the emergency response guards and are going to confront the subject in the interim room."

"Pull it up!"

Nervously, everyone scrambled to pull up the cameras of the interim room. It basically functioned as a massive holding cell. Meant to be unbreakable, but magic was never something they had accounted for. Especially not the type Eldrian was using.

They watched as the foot-thick steel elevator door started to glow and slowly melted. The sight defied logic and caused everyone to shiver as they imagined what such heat would do to a human body.

The sight after was even more shocking as Eldrian scrambled through the molten hole. How he endured the heat and burns no one understood, yet somehow he stood up as if nothing was wrong.

The scene that followed left them completely dumbfounded. The wall turning to lava from an unknown source of flames was shocking, something that wasn't even normal in the simulation.

The ice shield blocking a barrage of bullets was stunning, it shattering and flying at the soldiers in counterfire defied logic.

"We have a problem." The officer reported over a secure satellite cellular, the recipient unknown but the call for more drastic measures was clear.

...

"Stop!" A man in military clothing and a missing eye shouted, behind him troops were quickly passing and filling the room. All aiming their weapons at Eldrian and Flavia.

The latter had long since passed the stage of shock, she was in the midst of having a heart attack as hundreds of guns were pointed right at her.

"Thanks, but this isn't something you can help with," Eldrian whispered in her ear and pushed her to the side. His strength was not something she could fight, she went sliding on the floor. Far out of the sights of the soldiers.

"Eldrian! Surrender! You're surrounded."

Eldrian smirked and looked side to side at all the soldiers aiming their guns at him. "Indeed."

"Surrender!"

"Oh, right. You have no way to secure me." Eldrian smiled and licked the blood trickling down his cheek.

Indeed, all the soldiers were quivering in their boots. Eldrian was a monster of an opponent. He did not need to move, did not even need to speak. He simply needed to think to kill them.

"Do you really want to die?" The man with one eye asked.

"No, but I'd rather die than be your guinea pig," Eldrian replied, entering an all too similar state of calmness.

'Sorry, I might not make it out of this alive.' Eldrian apologized to his friends and family, understanding that if he were to go down this path he would not survive.

The soldiers froze, fear overcame them as all their instincts told them should they do anything but stand still, they would die.

"You are going to let me leave, or well, we will all die. And, likely this entire premise... Maybe even the world will be destroyed."

"Nonsense! What coward would try to talk his way out of just punishment."

"Just punishment? For what?"

"Killing twenty honest men!"

"Ah... That was self-defense, just as this will be." Eldrian replied with a wicket grind, making sure to make eye contact with each soldier. As he did many lost their composure, over half of them threw down their weapons and ran.

The officer wanted to scold them, yet he couldn't. Standing right before him, Eldrian asked, "Do you really want to risk it, Arnald? First lieutenant, do you really want to leave your son without a father? Do you really want to risk your family's lives?"

"Monster!" Arnald held his pistol against Eldrian's head, shivering. He had no idea how Eldrian knew of his family.

"Am I? I just want to leave, this is self-defense. Don't you think your son, Kenn, would agree?"

Shaking from an unknown fear, Arnald lost power in his arms. His pistol fell next to him, his will to stop Eldrian destroyed. One question constantly repeating in his head, how could Eldrian know his son's name?

Stepping past the first lieutenant Eldrian kept his expression blank but he sighed inwardly in relief. Relieved that his bluff had not been called. He certainly did not want to die, and he feared what would happen if he went too far. His words had not all been a bluff.

'Two, you're right. This magic, it's not normal.' Eldrian did not want to think about it, he didn't want to think about how good their fear had felt, how it had empowered and strengthened him.

He did not want to think about what that meant.

As he reached one of the soldier's trucks Joren arrived at the front door of the department.

"Eldrian!"

Taking a deep breath, Eldrian turned to look at someone he had considered a friend. 'I might have kept a few things from you, but this did not need to happen.'

"Why don't we talk things-"

"What is there to talk about? Do you know why I kept the discovery of mana from you?"

Joren's eyes flew wide as the confirmation entered his ears. They had expected, but they had hoped they were wrong.

"It was because I worried you were working with the army... It was because I feared what you would do with the discovery..." Eldrian paused, "Joren, you know what magic misuse does. You've seen it."

"Do you really think we should have access to such a force? Do you really think we humans can keep ourselves in check?"

Left speechless, Joren watched as Eldrian climbed into the truck and drove away.

...

"His family?" General Axel asked.

"No contact, he disappeared."

"I refuse to believe it! How can a man just disappear, we have everyone looking for him."

"Actually, there are three teams who have not reported in, in the past ten minutes."

Silence rules as the reason behind this suddenly became clear. For them to not even be able to report the situation. Clearly, they didn't even stand a chance.

"What about the coverup?"

"We've procured a similar body type. We will proceed with the plan once the family becomes suspicious."

"No leaks."

...

'No', "No! This isn't true! He wouldn't!"

"I'm truly sorry."

"Get out! Get out!"

Falling to her knees, Jen tried to understand what was going on. She refused to believe what they were telling her and her family. She refused that Eldrian would take his own life.

He had his worries but he hadn't been depressed. He wouldn't...

'Eldrian, what's going on?'

...

'Two, you finally back?' Eldrian asked as soon as he felt his other half returning.

'How long?'

'A week.'

'Mmm, I see. Let's not do that again.'

'Mental overload?'

'Yeah, something like that.'

'...'

'Now what?' Two asked, quickly catching up with what he had missed. He was relieved that they had escaped and that it seemed like their family was not being questioned or taken in for experimentation.

That would likely raise too many questioned and the news was clearly being tightly kept under wraps.

'I haven't thought further than just avoiding detection.'

'Right, they're really looking for us with all they have.'

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