Chapter 982: nting The Seed
<span style="font-weight:400">Once Chel left, I met up with Tsubaki and the others again to begin to fill them in on what had happened. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Of course this would happen right as we wereunching our new game…</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Because of World Seed’sunch, I was now in a somewhat tricky predicament.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Oh, yes, there is an apocalyptic invasion on the horizon. By the way, the long awaited title World Seed has now been released!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> If I tried to release the information too soon with World Seed, it would only cause unprecedented chaos among the various worlds.
<span style="font-weight:400">I knew that I was going to have to take advantage of the time eleration in order to gradually share the news with the world. Just enough to help guide them towards the next step of preparations. “What do you wish to do, my Keeper?” Tsubaki asked in a serious tone, Dana and Lifre sharing her concerned expression on either side of her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Before the invasion, we have goals we need toplete. First, we need far more Fallen Gods at our disposal to fight the void beasts. Secondly, James and his team have to finish their new void generator. We’ll be needing it for the invasion, more than likely. Third, all of ours have to connect with the Hypene Network. Finally, we need severely upgraded void barriers around each realm.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Even with all of that, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to save everyone. This was someone who had been strong enough to worry a Keeper at the very peak of the Fourth Rank. I didn’t want to think about the number of casualties we’d have to face from this…
<span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki nodded her head, a look of contemtion on her face. “Regarding this matter, I have a suggestion, if my Keeper is willing to hear it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course, Tsubaki. You know that your input is always wee.” I nodded my head to reassure her, and her tails began swishing happily.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Before the invasion, we can evacuate people to Fyor. Fyor has never struggled with void monsters due to the variousyers of ck stone. Despite how many cling to its surface in the void, the effects can’t be felt within the world itself.”
<span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at that, and I quickly nodded my head. “Yes, that’s right. Though… I don’t know. Fyor has so much space, it can easily amodate all of the residents of our primary worlds. Even Lorek and Spica couldfortably move their entire poptions over to rest in the higher floors.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“However, the others… like the Network of the Metong, the March’s empire… Even if Fyor has so much space, it can’t fit two gctic empires.” Tsubaki’s suggestion was truly a good one. However, there were still gaps. For instance, the apocalypse could destroy all life left in the worlds that had been evacuated, crippling future production.
<span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki pursed her lips, then nodded her head. “In that case, I suggest that my Keeper at least move Olympus to Fyor before the battle. No matter how much damage the rest of the world suffers, there is still the possibility of recovery so long as my Keeper remains alive. It may seem cruel, but nothing can be allowed to happen to you personally.”
<span style="font-weight:400">My eyes widened at Tsubaki’s suggestion. It was logical, but still, it was hard to imagine Tsubaki suggesting that I run away from a fight. As I was thinking that, Dana sent me a brief, mental exnation. <i><span style="font-weight:400">We found something in the Meeting previously. It let Tsubaki be a Keeper herself until she hit the First Rank, and I became her System Companion.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">I let out a long sigh when I heard Dana’s words. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Ahh… I see, thanks.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Tsubaki had always been protective of me, but it hadn’t been to such a great extent that she was unwilling to let me fight at all. From what Dana said, she must have learned from her own time as Keeper, and gained a new level of understanding for what it meant.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Tsubaki… I can’t just sit the invasion out. An invasion of this scale is meant to target someone of my strength. If I don’t participate, there may not be a world left to save.” I spoke to her in a gentle tone, but Tsubaki shook her head.
<span style="font-weight:400">“As long as my Keeper evacuates arge enough poption to Fyor, we can rebuild after the invasion.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I gave a somewhat bitter smile at that. “And what if the apocalyptic void monsters invade Fyor, using things like the Fairy Rings? You can’t possibly expect me to destroy those and trap everyone on Fyor, can you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki’s eyes widened, and she bit her lip softly. Seeing that, I continued. “I will move Olympus to Fyor, but I will also participate in the battle in the void. That way, I won’t be caught in the initial wave of destruction. This is the best that I can promise you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki clenched her fists, before letting out a long breath and nodding her head. Her eyes came up to focus on my own. “Very well, my Keeper. However, until such time as the invasion, I will continue to strengthen myself, to ensure that I can fight alongside you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s what your Legend’s all about, isn’t it?” I asked her with a knowing smile. “My life is in your hands, Tsuabki. I trust you to guard it well.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki gave a firm nod at that, a faint hint of a smile returning to her. At the same time, Lifre jumped over. “Okay, now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get started with World Seed!” I blinked, looking over at Lifre.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now’s… not really the time, is it?” I asked, feeling a slightly awkward atmosphere. However, Lifre merely smirked at me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now’s the only time for it! All of those preparations that you talked about, how many of them can you actually do right now? You’ve got to release the game anyways, right?! Or what, are you going to wait however many years it takes to get everything ready, and then only start the game after it’s already old news?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I hesitated at Lifre’s rebuttal, not really able to find the words for it. This time, it was her turn to press her advantage. “You can’t do any of your preparations right now. The only thing that you can do to help yourself is try to have a bit of fun to take your mind off of things. Besides, you could get a super awesome seed from the game, and that could turn the tide of battle in the future, right? Right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Tsubaki’s head shot up at that, her eyes wide in realization. “That’s correct… items from the game may be brought out into the real world. If a sufficiently powerful Elemental Seed is discovered, it can be retrieved. So far, the only such seeds in existence are the imitations made by Lady Aurivy.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“About that… I’m actually curious to know what will happen.” Dana suddenly spoke up, causing the others to look over at her. “Well, think about it. The Elemental Seed system is supposed to be its own type of magic with its own rules. However, the ones Aurivy made are just a modification to Elemental Magic. Clearly, they operate under different rules, and were just the closest representation that Aurivy could make.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now, assuming that Dale hasn’t purchased the Elemental Seed system for the other worlds, that means that the Digital Conversion system will try to trante it to a suitable item following the same logic as when it sends a magic card into Fragments of Acidia.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s… a very good point.” I nodded my head at her words, now curious myself as to what that would create. “Will it make the same type of seeds as Aurivy, or something entirely new?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“In my opinion, I think it will create a new type of magical artifact capable of replicating the effects of the seed, as opposed to one that only enhances an Elemental Mage.” Dana spoke up with confidence. “That’s my expectation, based on my various tests with the Digital Conversion system.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right… Either way, we’ll need to get started on the game to find out. Once we get in and find one, we’ll be able to test it out.” As I said that, I took a deep breath, descending back to Olympus. Ashley had already uploaded the server information of World Seed, so it was ready to be essed at any time. All that was needed was the distribution of the software to connect to it.
<span style="font-weight:400">I sent a message to Ashley to announce the release of the game, and then one to Chiho to make sure that the game was fully ready. Finally, I sent a message to Gerard to update him on everything that was happening while I went with Tsubaki and the others towards the game room of Olympus.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of which, the Sylvans are an all female race… please tell me that Ashley set up both genders for the game.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I suddenly felt a pang of dread as I slipped the visor over my eyes. We could have logged in with our Virtual Selves, but they were in the middle of a mission to deliver high level materials to a neighboring empire, so it was best to do so with our real selves.
<span style="font-weight:400">To my surprise, there was no character creation period. When I logged into World Seed, the only option I had was which world I wanted to spawn in, as well as whether or not I wanted to do the tutorial. I asked Chiho to put us all on the same world, one that wouldn’t immediately be flooded with new yers when the game went live.
<span style="font-weight:400">There was a sh of light, and I found myself standing beneath a bright sky, atop a grassy ins. Looking down, I was relieved to find myself looking like a male equivalent to the Sylvan species. I had golden, nt-like skin, leafy vestment, and I could feel my long, elven ears. As I was confirming my own appearance, several other shes appeared alongside me.
<span style="font-weight:400">Looking over, I saw multiple female Sylvans appearing, though it was impossible to immediately identify all of them just by their faces, given the race change. There were… five shorter girls, and four taller ones. Those numbers did not seem to quite match up with the amount I was expecting.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Okay, everyone… roll call.” I spoke up, and the yers all began to introduce themselves. The five shorter girls were Lifre and Dana, who I expected, but also Aurivy, Sienna, and ra. The four taller ones were Tsubaki, Julia, Ryone, and Leowynn. I looked curiously at Ryone and Leowynn, only for Ryone to give me a knowing smile.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It takes ten to establish a tree, right? Or were you nning on abusing admin power for it?” She had a point… I hadn’t honestly thought about that. As for Aurivy and Julia, their reason for being here was obvious.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Should we set up the tree here, then?” Aurivy asked impatiently, grinning practically from ear to ear. “The spawn point will automatically change once the tree’s been established, so other yers won’t just appear here, even when they do start showing up on this.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod, and the ten of us all linked hands. Setting up the tree was rather easy, but also slow. Although, the process was not nearly as long as a real ancestor tree. Normally, having a tree fully grown would take a year, at which point the green Sylvans will appear together with the first golden. Instead, the growth of the tree this time would take twenty-four hours.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Do we need to have someone remain behind to guard the tree while we go explore?” ra asked curiously, though Dana shook her head.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Even if they stayed behind, it wouldn’t do much. Better to move on our own and find a seed, so we can start developing our powers.” Aurivy said with a shake of her head. At the same time, I had a thoughtful expression.
<span style="font-weight:400">“If Admin Commands are used to grant a seed, would that seed still be able to be taken out with Digital Conversion?” I thought aloud, Aurivy looking at me with a somewhat disappointed gaze.
<span style="font-weight:400">“<i><span style="font-weight:400">Technically</i><span style="font-weight:400">, yes, but that’s no fun!” She pouted at that, causing me to chuckle.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I only want it so that I can test the Digital Conversion system, not to use for myself.” That said, if I didn’t find a good seed before the invasion, I would most certainly choose to grant myself one through the admin controls.
<span style="font-weight:400">Aurivy blinked, having apparently had the same thought as Dana when it came to that system. “Okay… but we’ve got to get rid of the in-game seed afterwards! Those are the rules that… I just made up!”