Is this really a Game?!

( Author's note: This chapter will mostly be an info dump, but an important one that will explain the Transcendent realm )

"So, I guess I should start at the very beginning, and that's how one needs to start with their Ascendancy," Eldar said as he looked at the seven people in front of him.

"As you all already know, a person can Ascend and become what is known as the Transcendent realm at different levels of his evolution, some would start at Tier V, some at Tier VI, and so on," Eldar said as he looked to the side.

"The earlier one tried, the harder it would be to Transcend, I still have no idea what the minimum power level is, and from what I know, nobody does as there were stories of humans that had no powers at all suddenly reaching the realm in the span of days, those are of course believed to be mere legends, but I know for a fact that some are true."

"Now, it's not possible for one person to simply continue leveling up and reaching the higher tiers, you guys are now Tier III, usually people start experiencing issues in that realm, some would even fail at reaching Tier III, but the average from what I know is Tier IV, it is when trying to reach Tier IV that people encounter difficulties."

Eldar took a sip of the tea he had made and given to everybody before continuing with his story.

"You see, nobody was born equal, people that like to preach that are dreamers, there are always people that were born gifted, simply more talented than most are, of course, one can train and even reach higher than those, but a person that has great talent and determination will always be above, that is the simple and cold-hearted truth."

"You guys have great talent, you also don't laze around but train and fight, always improving and sharpening your skills, that alone rises you above most in the entire universe, but that alone isn't enough, as a bit of luck or a push from others can go a long way, but you already have marks that were given to you by gods, so you have that covered."

"Once a person reaches higher, for example, Tier VI, and tries to evolve further the challenges they would need to face, and the difficulty of the evolution itself is staggeringly difficult, hell, most simply give up at that point and those that reach Tier VII and above are rare, well, as rare as they are, there are still probably trillions of them in the universe, but out of those, only a small portion will be able to reach the Transcendent realm."

"It's not a simple evolution, you seem but a complete transformation as your physical body gets destroyed and reformed fully, it's not only some parts like the evolutions you had gone through," Eldar said as he looked at Reign and the others with a serious look.

"But before one could even dream of doing that, they would first need to do 2 things."

"The first one is simple, you need to stop leveling up, from the moment you decide to try and become a Transcendent, you will be unable to improve your strength, and if you fail, well, then you will never in your life be able to become more powerful, well, there were some anomalies with some people that did manage, but those are incredibly rare and they were very lucky that they either found powerful items or had powerful patrons that helped them out."

"But why would somebody be unable to level up anymore?" Shadow asked as Eldar smiled at him.

"That's simple, it's also the answer to why we Transcendents are so powerful even in our much-limited forms here on the planet."

"World Energy."

"What?" Reign and the others asked as Jack and Eldar smiled at them.

"You didn't think that Transcendents and above used mana to fight, did you?" Eldar asked them with a wide smile as Reign and the others stared at him wordlessly.

"Well, to be more exact, mana is a part of world energy, and a part of every single other energy in the universe, but there is a huge difference between them, however, as world energy is much more dense and powerful compared to mana, for example, if you guys were to try using world energy at this moment, you would explode from inside even if I was to give you the tiniest possible amount of it."

Reign and the others gulped as they listened to Eldar, incredibly excited to learn more.

"Once one decides that they wish to evolve, they need to form a bond with the world they were staying in, you guys, for example, would need to form a bond with Earth, and communicate with its Will."

"A what?"

"A Will, it's pretty much the personification of the world itself, an intangible being that represents the world itself."

"That is what will help you start learning how to gather and draw in world energy."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Shadow suddenly rose to his feet as he stared at Eldar, Reign and the others were simply staring at the two Transcendents with blank eyes.

"What do you mean a Will, a personification, what does that even mean, like, what, the Earth is alive or something?"

"Exactly, just like every other planet that has intelligent life." Eldar nodded at Shadow who simply fell down to his seat.

"You see guys, once life starts being formed, the Will of the planet starts forming as well, it takes billions of years, something even just millions to form it, but it does form."

"The Will will never interact with the inhabitants of the planet, it is forced to simply observe before finally being able to interact with others when mana arrives on the planet."

"Not only will the planet itself be able to interact, but later on, it will even be able to lend its power to others, and expel or completely ban some beings from coming down on it."

Eldar then suddenly started scratching the back of his head.

"It is a peculiar thing, there are an unimaginable number of planets in the vast universe, and all of them are different, as are their Wills."

"Anyway, once a being reaches a high enough realm, they can communicate with the Will, which will in turn completely stop them from being able to level up, they will no longer be able to absorb the power of the beings they kill, nor will they be able to meditate and draw in mana in order to strengthen and improve themselves."

"They can only communicate and start learning the process of controlling world energy from the Will, even that is dangerous as injuries can occur, and sometimes even deaths."

"The reason why I am a lot more powerful compared to every other being that has the same level as me on Earth is that I don't use mana to enhance my body, nor do I use it for my skills, but world energy, minuscule amounts right now, but even that is enough to completely thwart and overpower any skill or attack that a being of my own level could use."

"That goes for all other Transcendents as well."

"But, we felt how much mana you used when you fought at the warehouse." Tank said as Eldar shook his head.

"You're not listening, like I said before, mana is a part,  a component, if you will, of world energy, just like world energy, is a part of a higher source of power, it's natural that you would sense mana from me when I use world energy since mana is present in it."

"Anyway, once you start with the learning process, it might take days, months, or even years before you have managed to control world energy proficiently and then start drawing it to your body, the final result is having all the mana in you expelled and your body being filled with world energy."

"At that point, you would have reached halfway to the Transcendent realm as the next step is to use that world energy, as well as the world energy present in the world, to relinquish your mortal coils and create a new body for yourself, not only does that require a lot of world energy, but your concentration needs to be raised to the maximum as even the slightest mistake could spell the end of the evolution, some people even die after using too much world energy and blowing up, some just have their soul broken to pieces and scattered."

"And well, that's all I can tell you."

"What?!"

"Wait, what about after reaching the realm, how does a Transcendent fight, how does the realm function, what does-" Before Reign and the others could continue questioning Eldar, he had raised his hand and released some of his aura, forcing them all to stop and sit down.

"I know that you are curious and eager to find out more, but I'm afraid that the system will not allow me to talk any more about that, you will need to show more value and become more powerful for that."

"Now, off you go, I and Jack need to have a conversation, have a nice day guys!" Eldar said as he simply waved his hand before all of them were suddenly blown away. In a mere instant, they found themselves at the front of his office.