Upon logging in, Eldrian found the world to feel far more vivid than before. Not that he had thought that it was possible, everything had already felt completely real.

The difference was, now it seemed that things weren't just real. But their essence was also real, and he could feel and connect with it.

This amazed him, leaving him staring into the distance, Looking at the trees, the centaurs, the ground. Everything seemed just so much more... Substantial.

It took Eldrian nearly ten minutes before his amazement came down to a level where he could actually process it. Slowly standing up, he felt like he could feel each and every muscle moving. Every breath he took, he could follow the air going into his lungs.

Upon feeling this Eldrian sat back down and started meditating. Before this strange and extremely wonderful state would leave him. Fearing that it certainly would.

As soon as he entered his body, everything came to him. He no longer needed to search around to find his mana. Instead, he knew where it all was. He could even feel the mana from outside slowly trickling through his skin, but far more coming in through his lungs.

Casting Anthisma, Eldrian expended as much mana as possible. Never exiting his meditative state, casting the spell on himself. Feeling the mana leave, or rather gather and then spread through him.

How it invigorated each part of him, and of how, even though it was mana, it never interacted with his pathways.

'What a wonderful feeling.' Eldrian thought, capable of seemingly spreading his consciousness out to cover his entire person. After enjoying the sensation for a few minutes, Eldrian attempted what the past few days had seen no improvement.

Upon focusing on one path, instead of it fighting as usual, the mana seemed to know what he wanted to have happened. It followed his will, splitting into two pathways. At first, forming a bend but Eldrian quickly felt that this would be ineffective.

So he started constructing what he considered a node, but more resembled a traffic circle. Like traffic circles, this one did not just have one path. Instead, Eldrian made two. Placing the one below and the other atop.

He then let the two also meet in the middle via thin lines, while at the same time having the correct path connect to the correct circle.

The bottom circle he made the connection for mana coming in, the top for mana going out. The center was a chaotic mess where the mana could bubble. There was no particular reason for it, Eldrian just felt having another place for mana to gather might help. Maybe he could gather it there and unleash it at once in a devastating spell.

With the first pathway done, one to his right arm, Eldrian moved to the second. Finding that this was much harder. He knew from experience that such alterations were not permanent. He had to keep them in mind while forming the others.

As a result, the more he made, the harder it became. On the fourth path, he could barely hold the other three together. In fact, they would often start collapsing. Leading to him abandoning the fourth to fix the errors he was facing.

Hours passed. No more progress was made. Eldrian continued to fail as he reconnected the pathway. This process was the hardest step, with pressure building in the previous path as he adjusted them.

On the first path this had barely been a distraction. But now, when he needed to concentrate to maintain all the others, this caused him a massive headache. The limb in question also crying out in pain.

Gasping for air. Eldrian stood up abruptly and started coughing blood. "That's not good." He mumbled through an extremely sore throat. Staring at the dark red blood in his hands.

The pain was bearable, and significantly less now that he had stopped forcing it. But it still took some time before Eldrian could form a smile.

"Still, it worked!" The smile grew as he thought of things he could already quickly fix. The first of which was to start with the path going to his head. At the moment it stopped where his neck ended. Similar to how the others stopped at the wrists and ankles.

'That should cause the last step to be easier. While I failed to even finish four, I certainly do not want the last to be my neck.' Eldrian thought, continuing to think of what else might help.

After making a complete list, he stood up on wobbly legs. Almost falling, just barely taking his spear out and thrusting it into the ground as a third leg. This little action caused Eldrian extreme exhaustion, making him slowly slide down the shaft of his spear. Until he was again on the ground.

'The hell?' Calling the interface, he started at the message and then at the data.

[Player has reached 100% affinity. Please consult with Miracle for reality confirmation therapy.]

Reading this, a small chuckle escaped Eldrian's efforts of containment. He found the words very interesting, but not so much as to stop him from looking at the other information.

Somehow he had racked up a fatigue level of 6 from just meditating. Flabergasting Eldrian and making his tiredness make sense. He felt it far more than before, he felt tired to the bone. Just breathing was draining his energy.

Searching his inventory, Eldrian pulled out some of the leftover Alpha meat he had long ago prepared. Luckily nothing spoiled inside his inventory, so it was still just as good as fresh. Digging in, Eldrian could feel himself being revived. Quickly pulling out some water to go with it, as well as some fruits.

"This is the life," Eldrian mumbled as he maneuvered to make his spear a backrest. Letting his body and mind relax. He knew there was no more practicing for today. This was not a bad thing and he was not upset.

Now that he truly knew what direction to go, all other things could wait. Finishing the last of his meal, Eldrian stood up and started searching for Katania. By now many tents had been constructed inside the walls, making his task far harder than it would have been a week ago.

Luckily, there were a few central tents around the miniature tower. A good place to start his search for one of the leaders who was also a healer.

Asking those he passed, Eldrian found her just a few minutes after starting his search. She was busy treating someone in one of the larger tents. Not a medical one, but one that has been repurposed as such.

Smacked in the face by a horrid smell, Eldrian nearly fell unconscious. His exhaustion certainly did not help and he soon found himself on the ground. Gasping for air, making his condition worse. The horrid smell invading him more and more.

As unknown hands picked him up, Eldrian could feel the urge to vomit rise. Just barely managing to first cast Aeraki, sending the smell out of the entrance. Giving him a clean breath he desperately had been needing.

"I'm fine. It's just... The smell." Eldrian said between gasping for air, recasting Aeraki as he couldn't concentrate long enough to keep it active. One of the centaurs helping him saw Eldrian's struggle and cast a stronger wind spell. Ridding the entire tent of any smells there might be.

"What smell?" The centaur asked, perplexed as he had been here for hours and the only smell was the metallic smell of blood.

"Death. The smell of death." Eldrian said, looking for the source and quickly finding it.

A centaur was writhing in pain on a large table. One clearly made for a centaur and not a human. The centaur's legs were tied, as well as his arms. He fought the constraints in pain, causing more wounds to form.

In his side, he had one long cut. It appeared like a clean one, if not for all the blood coming out of it. Its appearance was made worse by the fact that his blood was pitch black. Even the wounds on his arms and legs bled black blood.

"What happened to him?" Eldrian asked as he recovered from the shock. He had never smelled something so terrible. Not only did it smell like the most putrid thing he would ever possibly smell. It had also assaulted his mind, causing him to blank out for a few seconds.

As one of the centaurs replied, Eldrian also realized the cause.

"A ghoul has been trying to stop our advance. It isn't strong, but it is fast and agile. It also always goes for the weaker groups." Replied the one centaur, the other adding, "And all it requires is a cut."

Eldrian nodded, recalling what had happened with Kydone. This centaur was clearly in far worse condition. "Where are the others?" Looking around, Eldrian clearly saw there was just one injured person in the tent.

"Dead. He didn't even make it to the fort. A patrol found him by sheer luck. Saving his life... Hopefully saving his life."

"Certainly he will be fine." Eldrian encouraged as he looked at Katania whose back was wet with sweat. Her coat was an entire shade darker than normal, making the strain she was under clear to everyone.

"She's been at it for an hour." A sigh followed this, Eldrian turning around to see Thesolis arriving. "Do you know why a ghoul's venom is so deadly?"

"Yes," Eldrian nodded, recalling how he had almost killed Kydone. "It attacks the soul."

"Indeed. Now we know that its venom is not just that either. Haru, would you mind coming with me?"