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Determining to not buckle under Zaphreal\'s stare, Constantin looked at him and asked, "Do you have any proof?"

"No, you\'ve hidden your tracks well." Zaphreal paused, looking at Constantin and saying, "But I don\'t need any proof."

"Are you going to fire us — or will you kill us?" Constantin asked next. Steeling his resolve to not falter, no matter the answer.

"No, nothing so barbaric. Not all of us are of the same mind." Zaphreal replied. "In the end, ANW was developed with a few simple ideas in mind. Ideas that every group in the company could agree with. The first and only fully supported was that it would be a simulation to assist in training and mastering magic."

"Of course, certain groups within the company wanted to monopolize magic. Others wanted to open it to the rest of the world. And others still wanted to prioritize the experimental value of the simulation. In the end, the latter two groups came together to push for the release of ANW as it is now."

"We couldn\'t directly declare to the world our existence. We would have been viewed as the illuminati if we did something so rash. Perhaps not a terrible thing, but the stigma would have made it difficult to move as we wished."

"It is the group valuing the experimental value of ANW that was originally pushing your department for further developments. Sadly, they have now aligned themselves with the wrong people in their pursuit..."

"I can\'t say with certainty what their aim is, but I fear the methods they will take to reach their goal. They wish to bring your knowledge to a level where you can be helpful. It is sad, but inevitable that they became more and more demanding. After all, progress has been slow."

"What are you saying?" Qiren asked, trying to follow and make sense of what she was being told. "Are you part of the second group, then? Did you wish to introduce magic to the world?"

"Not at all. This entire debate happened while I was still but a child. I had no say back then and could only watch from the shadows as the adults moved to change the world. Not caring whether the world wanted to change."

"Perhaps they did have their reasons, but I remember thinking to myself; \'Why won\'t they let things stay as they are? Why couldn\'t they let go of their so-called powers? Why must we live separate lives from normal people?\'"

"I quickly learned why we must live separate lives. Why we must keep our powers a secret and why at most we should showcase magician\'s levels of power. Something entertaining, but utterly unthreatening."

"Persecution." Constantin mumbled, and Zaphreal nodded.

"Indeed. The world has perhaps changed a great deal, but there was a time when an all out war was held against magic. Of course, before that there was a time when our ancestors were gods who ruled the planet."

"But in their vanity, they had disrupted the balance, and the world had changed. Magic became harder to use, our powers fell, and with it, we fell from grace. In time, our ancestors learned to hide their powers and use it to their benefit in secret."

"They grew more powerful, and in time one group met another and a few generations later, Miracle was formed. However, the fear of history repeating itself has contained our group...until now."

"I remember reading in one diary that the true aim of Miracle was to ensure neither instance came to be again. That the goal of Miracle was to ensure a balance is kept. That magic would not be misused, and that those who posses the power to wield it would not be prosecuted again..."

"We\'ve failed."

"When you say you failed..." Qiren couldn\'t quite finish her sentence. So Constantin continued from there, "What do you mean?"

"In the end, the release of ANW to the public has destroyed the balance. As you can probably assume, the group wishing to hoard magic held a typical supremacy view. And with ANW, they saw a chance to return to the earlier days."

"While originally opposed to the release of ANW, they are now working with others to understand and reverse what had caused our original fall from glory."

"They are pushing for a way to restore magic to our world. And in their pursuit, they\'ve run countless experiments through GAIA to test this feasibility."

"What is it you want from us?" Constantin asked, no longer able to hold his peace. If what he was imagining was correct, then Zaphreal was talking of something truly dangerous.

"I need your help. We need to ensure that whatever they do, they don\'t destroy our world in pursuit of their goals. As they have countless in the simulation." The last sentence caused the two to shudder in horror. Both clearly remembering the plethora of destroyed worlds within ANW\'s simulated universe.

"How can we help?" Qiren asked, keenly aware of how powerless she and Constantin were.

"I\'ve contained things for the moment. However, my power is limited and I am under constant watch. You two, however, can move without being seen."

—

"What now?" Ceph asked. He and Eldrian had talked for hours and the sun was starting to set. It was time to move.

"I\'m not too sure." Eldrian paused, looking towards the distance where a few dark masses were still moving about. "I still can\'t make sense of what happened. But first things first, we need to warn Taurus and help them prepare for yet another invasion."

"Agreed."

"But how is your training progressing?" Eldrian asked. Compared to before, Ceph appeared even older. He still appeared a teen, but now closer to being a young adult than a child.

"I need to get some practical experience if I wish to push through my last few hurdles. So this couldn\'t have come at a better time." Ceph smiled.

His dad had been pushing him in physical training while his mom had grilled him on theoretical knowledge. He had been holding out and waiting for Eldrian to contact him so he could escape.

Of course, he understood why they were concerned and why they pushed him so hard. In fact, the first few weeks he had been overjoyed. But after months, he was drained. He needed some fresh air.

This was the perfect excuse to give his parents. They also constantly reminded him that actual combat experience was miles different from simulated matches. So it would work just perfectly.

"Then, let\'s go greet your parents. I also wish to ask them a few things about the voidstone fragment I took last time." Eldrian smiled. Noticing the spring in Ceph\'s step, he realized his friend must have been feeling cooped up here in Avgi.

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