The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 74: The truth of that world. (Part 2)

"Ardent, this is the Core of Areithia," Articus gestured towards it. "The single most important entity in our entire world."

"I... I thought it would be hidden. My mother said it was hard to find even for Witches," I marvelled at it once more, hesitant to get closer.

"In previous times, yes. However, its power was needed and through some negotiation it has lent us its aid. This is what runs Areithia Online. That game world the people on Earth enjoy so much. It all stems from the World's Core."

I chuckled, "I understand now why it was so realistic." It also finally made sense why it had knowledge the Architects didn't. The World Core of Areithia knew more than anyone else.

Ratansi nodded, "Yes. To complete the Merge, what we needed most was for your world and its people to accept us. We observed your love for games and fantasy settings and came to a virtual game as the solution. The more people who care about Areithia, the more the Core of your world is swayed to assist us. To be honest, we have made much more progress than we had expected, and that is due to your influence."

Articus smiled and patted my shoulder, "Graytech Industries and the Virtual Body Helm. The largest issue we had was making Areithia work with your technologies and until you came about, the Virtual Pod was the only way. Because of what you made the attention Areithia Online has generated is far past our predictions."

I paused, my eyes lingering on the Core. My initial intention had been to prepare humanity for the Merge, to make it so as many people as possible could become stronger before the Rift Walkers arrived.

"What does that mean for the Merge?" I asked slowly. "What are the conditions to make that happen?"

Articus answered, "It means we can Merge earlier than expected. For us, the sooner the better. Even now Crysis and the other nations are suffering from the Rift's influence."

"I don't think Earth is ready...," I spoke hesitantly. "To us, it's all just a game."

"We know," Ratansi nodded. "We've begun the process of discussion with your governing bodies, discreetly of course. It's a hard sell but we want to minimise the impact of the Merge as much as possible."

I scratched my head and sighed, "I can put you into contact with some people who can help but even then, it won't be easy." Just thinking about all the problems that sprang up due to the Merge had my head hurting. In that future, they had several more years on top to prepare. As much as I wanted the Merge to happen, it would upset the balance of the world.

"We understand the stress we are putting on Earth," Atricus faced me sincerely. "I hope you understand that for us, there isn't another option. Even if your governing bodies refuse to accept us, so long as we have the permission of your World, we must take it."

"Our World..., do you mean it's people or the Core?" the question came out harder than I had intended as the memory of the Witches words rang in my head. Areithia's core consumed Earth's.

"Both," Ratansi replied. "From what we've seen, your Core more than others harbours the feelings of your people to a high degree."

"Have you actually seen the Core?" I frowned.

"No, but our Core has communicated with it."

"I see...." I paused again as I framed the question that popped into my mind, "Tell me, from what I know, a World Core is basically like a dungeon Core but on a much larger scale. Earth has little to no mana, we don't need to process mana, how do we even have a Core?"